Danielle Amara Cotton, (born 11 June 1969) is a British retired

firefighter A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

. From 2017–2019, she served as the Commissioner of the

London Fire Brigade The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the fire and rescue service for London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It was formed by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865, under the leadership of superintendent Eyre Massey Shaw. It has 5,992staff, in ...

and was the first

woman A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

to hold this position. She had previously been the Director of Safety and Assurance at the London Fire Brigade. In 2004 Cotton became the first woman to be awarded the

Queen's Fire Service Medal __NOTOC__ The King's Fire Service Medal, introduced in 1954, is awarded to members of the fire services in the United Kingdom for distinguished service or gallantry. It was also formerly awarded by Commonwealth countries, most of which now have t ...

. She is the Patron of Women in the Fire Service UK.

Early life and education

Cotton (known as Dany), was born on 11 June 1969, in London. As a teenager she was a member of the

Air Training Corps The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British volunteer-military youth organisation. They are sponsored by the Ministry of Defence and the Royal Air Force. The majority of staff are volunteers, and some are paid for full-time work – including C ...

Career

Cotton joined London Fire Brigade in 1988, and her first placement was at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

Fire Station. Aged 19, she had been a full firefighter for just three months when she attended the

Clapham Junction rail crash The Clapham Junction railway crash occurred on the morning of 12 December 1988, when a crowded British Rail passenger train crashed into the rear of another train that had stopped at a signal just south of Clapham Junction railway station in L ...

. In 2007, she was assigned the post of Area Commander, becoming the highest-ranking woman in the British Fire Service, and in 2012 was made Assistant Chief Officer. In September 2016, Cotton was appointed interim Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade following the retirement of

Ron Dobson Ronald James Dobson, CBE, QFSM, FIFireE is a retired senior British firefighter. He was the Chief Fire Officer of the London Fire Brigade until 31 December 2016. Career Dobson joined the London Fire Brigade in 1979 and rose through the ranks ...

. She took up the position on 1 January 2017. Cotton initially held the title of Interim Commissioner until a restructure of the Brigade later in 2017, at which point she became full Commissioner. Commenting on the appointment of Dany Cotton as London Fire Commissioner, Young Women's Trust Chief Executive Dr Carole Easton said: "It’s great to see a woman appointed to the top job in the London Fire Brigade. It is so important that young women who are considering which career path to choose have role models in all workplaces to inspire them. The fire service has typically been dominated by men. Hopefully this appointment will encourage more young women into the London Fire Brigade". On 14 June 2017, Cotton was called out in the middle of the night to take charge of the

's response to the massive

Grenfell Tower fire On 14 June 2017, a high-rise fire broke out in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of flats in North Kensington, West London, at 00:54 BST and burned for 60 hours. 72 people died, two later in hospital, with more than 70 injured and 223 escapin ...

, which she described as "an unprecedented incident." She appeared at several media briefings to give updates on casualty figures, challenges faced and firefighters' progress. In October 2017 she highlighted

Fireman Sam ''Fireman Sam'' (Welsh: ') is a Welsh animated children's television series about a fireman named Sam, his fellow firefighters, and other residents in the fictional Welsh rural village of Pontypandy (a portmanteau of two real towns, Pontypridd ...

in a campaign fighting sexism and promoting the gender-neutral term firefighter. She proposed that the children's character should be renamed Firefighter Sam. Cotton said that research showed that women are put off a career in the fire service because it is seen as a job for men, and that as Fireman Sam is seen by children from an early age, the name reinforces this stereotype. On 20 June 2019, she announced she would retire in April 2020 after serving 32 years (two years longer than a normal firefighter's service) from the London Fire Brigade. In October 2019 the retired high court judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick, who led the

Grenfell Tower Inquiry The Grenfell Tower Inquiry is a British public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire, which killed 72 people and destroyed Grenfell Tower on 14 June 2017. It was ordered by Prime Minister Theresa May on the day following the fire. May announce ...

, was critical of Cotton's "remarkable insensitivity" for stating in her evidence that she would not change anything the London Fire Brigade did on the night of the Grenfell fire. His report demonstrated "the LFB is an institution at risk of not learning the lessons of the Grenfell Tower fire". Survivors and bereaved welcomed Moore-Bick's comments in the first of his two reports. On Sunday 3 November 2019, The Sunday Times reported that Dany Cotton rejected the findings of the Moore-Bick inquiry into the Grenfell fire, calling them a 'stitch up'. The paper reported that her comments had angered survivors. Following public criticism from survivors and families of victims of the Grenfell tower fire, Cotton announced 6 December 2019 that she had brought forward her date of retirement to the end of December 2019. Her replacement from 1 January 2020 was Deputy Commissioner Andrew Roe. Cotton gave evidence to the Grenfell Inquiry for a second time in November 2020.

Honours and awards

In 2002, Cotton was named Outstanding Public Servant of the year. In the 2004 New Year Honours, Cotton became the first woman to be awarded the

, given "for distinguished service." On 30 October 2008, she was awarded the

Fire Brigade Long Service and Good Conduct Medal The Fire and Rescue Service Long Service and Good Conduct Medal was established in June 1954 as a long service medal awarded to members of fire and rescue services throughout the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. It was fir ...

. In 2010, she was named by ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' as one of "100 women who changed the world". In 2014, she won the Public Service Category of the First Women Awards.

UK Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal ribbon

References

External links

Dany Cotton interview Channel 4 News 11 July 2017

Inverview with Nick Ferrari on LBCReuters
Dany Cotton (6 March 2010): Chipping away at old stereotypes about women firefighters {{DEFAULTSORT:Cotton, Dany Living people Women in firefighting London Fire Brigade personnel 1969 births Place of birth missing (living people) Recipients of the Queen's Fire Service Medal

Early life and education

Career

Honours and awards

See also

References

External links