Sabrina is the Chief Fire Officer of West Sussex Fire and Rescue service and is one of the most senior female firefighters in the UK. From the earliest moments of her life, she has had to overcome adversity in the most challenging of circumstances.
Born in Newport, South Wales, Sabrina was made homeless at the age of 15 following the death of her father. For close to three years, she slept rough or in vulnerable housing, while being subject to antisemitic attacks on the streets.
At the age of 18, Sabrina joined the fire service in South Wales as the unit’s first female firefighter. Her operational experience includes the Westminster terror attack, the Finsbury Park terror attack, and the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower tragedy. She is also the National Fire Chiefs Council International Lead Officer.
A distressing incident while serving as a firefighter led Sabrina to complete a degree in psychology at the Open University. She has also achieved a PhD from Cardiff University. Her research project fitted helmet cameras to incident commanders as they went out on incidents and resulted in a new decision control process, which can increase commanders’ situation awareness by up to five times.
Sabrina is now an ambassador for the Big Issue, which she insists helped save her life. She has an honorary doctorate from Royal Holloway University and in 2019, she published her first book, The Heat of the Moment.