Firefighting with the first female senior station officer in NZ

Firefighting with the first female senior station officer in NZ

Rochelle Martin is a true trailblazer at her work but she has had to earn the respect of her colleagues to get there.

She leads a pretty unique team because she's the first female firefighter to become a senior station officer.

Ms Martin is a former Black Ferns Captain and she's the first to take charge of not just one, but several stations.

It's a sector and working environment which remains very male-dominated, so it has been quite an achievement for Ms Martin.

Just three percent of fire fighters on the payroll are women, so how do you recruit more females into the service and would a gender quota system be the answer?

Story rode shotgun with one of the most unique fire crews on beat.

Watch the video for the full Story report.