Kylie has been involved in the wildfire industry both as a volunteer and as a professional for 6 years. She is a Crew Leader, Divisional/Group Supervisor and firefighter.

Her journey into the wildfire industry was a somewhat roundabout after a delayed entry. She initially studied Environmental Management and while completing this degree, she worked at a school in various roles.

In 2015, Cape Town experienced a large and devastating wildfire that swept across the peninsula. She felt drawn to assist. She discovered the Volunteer Wildfire Services (VWS), and was headhunted for a full-time post to create and lead the first all-female firefighting crew in Africa (Crew Juliet). Outside of fire season they performed fuel reductive and ecological restorative prescribed burns, and invasive reduction.

She most recently worked as a training consultant for Vulcan Wildfire Management, creating and teaching courses focussing on the Incident Command System, fire safety and leadership. This passion drove her to raise funds and she is currently travelling around the United States of America volunteering for The Nature Conservancy (TNC), assisting crews with prescribed burning and attending training programmes. She aims to bring back what she has learned to her country,  to share their unique fire story with the world, and also to grow and strengthen international networks. After all wildfire is a global problem that will increase in complexity with climate change, and the fire community is, and should be, an international collaborative.