The fire man

By - , Build 189

In his 26-year career, Trent Fearnley has gone from putting out fires to playing a leading role in developing fire safety understanding and knowledge. It is a journey that has gained him industry recognition and, most recently, an award from BOINZ.

Q. What is your career history?

I joined New Zealand Fire Service as an operational firefighter in 1996 but, in 1998, had a major car accident that sidelined me for a while. Instead of resting at home, I asked to do light duties in the Fire Safety Department and started technical training under the guidance of a senior station officer who encouraged me to sit the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) exams and get my graduate grade.

One of my projects was to transform our evacuation schemes and reports into electronic template versions, and to support this, I also developed training for fire safety officers.

This developed a passion that led me back to school to learn te reo so I could present the fire safety programme, Māuitinei-ahi, to kōhunga reo and kura kaupapa ki Tāmaki Makaurau. I progressed to station officer, joined fire safety again and was supported through the master’s programme at Victoria University.

I finished with a postgraduate diploma in building fire safety and risk engineering, then took 2 years away from Fire Service to work in Dubai as a fire engineer. This was an eye-opening experience as the average project was valued at around $5 billion. My favourite was Al Maryah Island, the new Abu Dhabi financial centre – 2.4 km of man-made tunnels, roads, trams, metro trains and an underground regional train. I was tasked with the site-wide fire design including fire modelling for the tunnel.

In December 2010, I rejoined the Fire Service as a station officer in Gisborne – back into fire engineering, then fire risk management and progression to the role of New Zealand Branch President of the IFE. I was on the senior station officer programme when I was asked to step up to Principal Fire Risk Management Officer for Region 2, and my last role with FENZ (Fire and Emergency New Zealand) was as the National Advisor for Fire Risk Management.

In 2018, I was elected as a Trustee and Board member of IFE International and the fire industry representative on the Board of Vocational Engineering Education NZ, which oversees the New Zealand Diploma in Engineering programmes and BEngTech (for more on this, see Diploma paves the way in Build 180).

I have now started my own business, Gordian Executive Consultants, doing fire engineering designs, fire risk strategies, fire risk assessments and technical fire training.

Q. What did winning the BOINZ award for the individual who demonstrates outstanding commitment to providing information and advancing the education of building officials mean to you?

It was a huge honour and reflected what I have been working towards. I wanted to make a difference to the safety of other people. Building officials have a huge responsibility in assessing and inspecting the fire and life safety designs of buildings. When I started presenting to them, I realised they wanted to know more. Hopefully, by educating the officials who review the fire and life safety designs of buildings, it will improve the designs of buildings and make them safer for those who use them.

Q.The judges in the BOINZ awards described you as a team player. How does this show itself?

A lot of the training I develop is not in isolation. I work with other fire professionals to get a collective minds approach to what is needed and how to effectively deliver it. I am fortunate enough to be part of the IFE New Zealand branch team and the Open Polytechnic engineering team, and I also work closely with the BOINZ training team. It is their collective support and ideas that makes the training programme I develop enjoyable and relevant.

Q.What is the most satisfying aspect of the work you do?

The sharing of knowledge that helps to raise the bar in our industry. It is a critical life-safety one in which everything we do affects the safety of people. Raising the bar means raising the level of safety and lowering the risks to life and risks of injury. Knowing that you are helping to do that keeps me going in the fire industry.

Q. Is there anything else you want to add?

Unfortunately, the fire industry is an ageing one, and we need to encourage more youth into the industry in all disciplines from fire technician to independent qualified persons (IQPs) to fire engineers. Hopefully, the work I am doing will help pave the way for the next generation.

Hāpaitia te ara tika pūmau ai te rangatiratanga mō ngā uri whakatipu. Foster the pathway of knowledge to strength, independence and growth for future generations.

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