First Through the Door: The Natasha Prest Story

How a Halifax mother's mid-life career change blazed a trail for diversity in Canadian firefighting

Feb 08, 2025

*Image attribution: Handout / Nova Scotia Government / AFP*

The radio crackles with urgency as flames lick the night sky. Captain Natasha Prest steadies herself aboard Engine 11, mentally mapping the fastest route through Halifax's winding streets. Fifteen years ago, she would have been crunching numbers in a hotel finance office right about now. But a single conversation in 2009 rewrote her entire future:

"You'd make a great firefighter," a friend had said, words that seemed absurd at the time. "There's a recruitment drive coming up."

That late-night chat could have ended there, just another "what if" floating in the ether. After all, Prest was 34, a single mother working multiple jobs, and had never seen anyone who looked like her—a Black woman from Uniacke Square—wearing Halifax Regional Fire & Emergency's uniform. But something in her friend's certainty, his recognition of her untapped potential, sparked a curiosity that refused to die.

Natasha Prest is many things: a mother, a Haligonian, and a proud African Nova Scotian who grew up in Uniacke Square, a public housing area that she still holds close to her heart.

If you don’t know Halifax’s Uniacke Square, it’s a tight-knit community in the city’s North End, known for resilience and strong neighbourhood bonds. That’s where Prest’s journey began—a journey that eventually led her to become Halifax Regional Fire & Emergency’s (HRFE) first African Nova Scotian female career firefighter and, years later, its first Black woman promoted to Captain.

Before she discovered firefighting, Prest worked long days in hotel finance and picked up extra hours at the Halifax Metro Centre.

She had completed a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at Saint Mary’s University, thinking she might continue with administrative roles. Then came that conversation with her firefighter friend, who recognized her grit and potential. After all, Prest was already juggling multiple responsibilities, staying organized, and looking for a way to serve her community. Why not try out?

She had a lot of questions, of course.

Could she handle the physical demands? What about being 34, older than many recruits? And how would she balance training with taking care of her daughter? Despite these doubts, she listened to Martin Luther King Jr.’s guiding question: “What are you doing for others?” and decided to push forward.

When she started training, it wasn’t easy. She signed up for HRFE’s challenging five-year program, which included hands-on firefighting, high-angle rescues, and confined space drills.

Prest had to prove herself in an environment where women, especially Black women, were extremely rare. Some colleagues and neighbours questioned whether firefighting standards might be lowered for minority hires. Prest brushed off these assumptions and showed she could meet the same benchmarks as everyone else, if not surpass them.

Over time, she specialized in technical rescues, learning skills that would help her join the CAN-TF5 Urban Search and Rescue Team.

During those five years of training, Prest pursued a rigorous path that combined physical, technical, and leadership development. She earned Level II firefighter certification from the Nova Scotia Firefighters School and underwent specialized instruction in high-angle and confined-space rescues. Her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology helped her manage crisis scenarios, as she integrated her understanding of team dynamics with on-the-ground emergency response.

Even though she started at 34, Prest overcame any age-related skepticism by diving into every aspect of the program, from emergency medical response to intense vehicle extrication drills.

In 2013, she competed with Halifax2, a vehicle extrication team that placed third in North America, showcasing her advanced technical proficiency. As a mentor in Camp Courage since 2009, she also sharpened her leadership skills, teaching young women that resilience could defeat any systemic barrier in firefighting.

You might think that’s enough to earn a well-deserved rest, but her story was just getting started.

In 2009, when Prest officially joined HRFE as a career firefighter, she was the first African Nova Scotian woman to do so. That title carried weight—imagine the mix of pride and responsibility. She had to handle emergencies, yes, but she also had to handle the responsibility of representing her community in a system that had historically overlooked it.

Prest didn’t shy away from that responsibility.

Not long into her career, she got involved in Camp Courage, a program designed for young women and gender-diverse youth interested in firefighting, paramedicine, and policing. Eventually, Prest became a Program Director there. For her, Camp Courage was the perfect place to share lessons she had learned the hard way: that anyone—no matter how old they are or where they come from—can succeed with the right training and mindset.

Her daughter attended the camp one year, which made her mother’s role in mentorship even more personal.

Now, you might wonder how the fire department responded to having its first Black female firefighter. The truth is, Prest entered the force at a time when HRFE was grappling with its past.

Across Canada, systemic gaps in firefighter diversity persist. As of 2016, women made up around 4.4% of firefighters nationwide, and visible minorities only 2%. Although these numbers have begun to improve, many cities like Montreal and Edmonton have historically reported extremely low female representation. By comparison, Halifax has shown progress: HRFE now counts 9% of its career firefighters as women and had 25 Black career firefighters by 2017, up from zero when Prest was hired.

These shifts don’t happen overnight, but Prest’s arrival in 2009 and subsequent accomplishments have played a critical part in ushering in a new era.

In 2013, HRFE issued a formal apology for failing to address racism faced by Black firefighters. Although Prest arrived just a few years before that apology, the legacy of discrimination and underrepresentation was still something she felt. Instead of letting that reality discourage her, Prest saw an opening for real change. By proving her skills and passion on the front lines, she began to shift mindsets from within.

One of the biggest challenges Prest faced was balancing motherhood, shift work, and public scrutiny.

HRFE runs on a 24-hour on, 48-hour off model, which has its perks (like a long break between shifts) but also requires a lot of energy when you’re on duty. Prest learned to make the most of her “off” days, using that time for rest, family, and community outreach. Part of that outreach involved coaching girls’ basketball. Yes, even after a day of fighting fires, she still found the time to guide kids on the court, teaching them the value of teamwork and resilience.

Over the years, Prest’s dedication paid off. She became a Firefighter/Engineer, learned to operate fire trucks, led her station’s specialized rescue efforts, and served as a Fire Prevention Officer.

In that role, she educated the public on building codes and safety standards, often visiting neighbourhoods that don’t always trust authorities. Because Prest grew up in Uniacke Square, she knew how to speak with residents who might feel overlooked by city services. She made a point of showing up and saying, “I grew up here, too. Let’s work together to keep everyone safe.”

During her Fire Prevention Officer duties, Prest ran proactive inspections in high-risk areas like Uniacke Square—places prone to hazards like faulty wiring or blocked exits.

She conducted workshops on smoke alarms and escape plans, which directly reduced fire incidents. Meanwhile, as a Technical Rescue Specialist, she responded to structural collapses and confined-space emergencies, often wearing heavy protective gear and handling sophisticated rope systems. Her experiences on the CAN-TF5 Urban Search and Rescue team solidified her reputation for calm leadership under pressure.

Whether it was a vehicle crash scene or a multi-unit apartment, Prest’s background in psychology and her thorough training proved invaluable.

By 2022, she reached a new milestone: Promotion to Operations Captain. With that title, she became the first Black woman to achieve the rank of Captain in HRFE history. Being Captain put her in a position to do more than respond to emergencies. She now leads crews, directs strategies on the ground, and decides how resources are deployed in real-time.

If there’s a wildfire, for example, Captain Prest might be the one coordinating the team that stands between families and fast-moving flames. In 2023, when wildfires broke out in the Tantallon area, Prest was on the front lines, making quick decisions to keep people and property safe.

Those Tantallon wildfires covered 837 hectares, one of Nova Scotia’s largest recorded blazes. Prest had to manage not just the immediate fire suppression but also the safety of her crews, coordinating overnight patrols and mitigating hotspots. This high-pressure environment reflected the culmination of her technical skills and incident command experience, showing how a once-unlikely recruit could become a pivotal figure in containing a disaster.

But her impact goes beyond emergency scenes.

As Captain, she can advocate for policies that support inclusivity, whether it’s expanding HRFE’s recruitment outreach or something as practical as providing free menstrual products in fire stations. “It’s nice,” Prest has said, “to represent the community well knowing that I grew up here.” Those words matter because they remind everyone—fellow firefighters, city leaders, and Halifax residents—that inclusive representation isn’t a checkbox exercise.

It’s a shift in how the entire department sees itself and the people it serves.

If you’ve ever wondered how one person can help an entire organization move toward fairness and inclusion, you’ll see it in the changes that have happened since Prest joined. Back in 2009, there were no Black female career firefighters on the team. Now there are others climbing the ranks, partly because they saw Prest step into the station and knew it was possible.

When HRFE apologized in 2013 for its history of racism against Black firefighters, many folks hoped for more than just words.

Prest was one of the people who made sure the department kept going forward, not backward. Her efforts show up in places you might not expect. For instance, when she helped introduce free menstrual products in fire stations, that might seem small—but think about what it says to new recruits. It sends a message that if you’re a woman or a person who menstruates, the department values your needs and wants you here.

The same spirit shows up during the Pride parades, Indigenous history events, and outreach programs where Prest makes sure every group in Halifax knows that HRFE aims to serve and represent them.

You also see Prest’s leadership in how she mentors the next generation.

Along with Camp Courage, she’s spent years connecting with youth through basketball and other sports. Coaching isn’t just about teaching a perfect jump shot; it’s about building self-confidence and teamwork. If you were a young athlete on her team, you’d learn that working together to make a basket isn’t so different from firefighters uniting to handle a crisis. Everyone has a role, and each role is vital.

Prest’s coaching ties into her belief that young people need to see leaders who come from their own neighbourhoods. They need someone who understands their day-to-day challenges and believes they can succeed.

The biggest result is a fire department that’s starting to mirror the people it serves. Today, HRFE has more diversity among its career firefighters—women and men, Black and white, Indigenous and newcomers. That evolution didn’t happen overnight, and it certainly didn’t happen just because one captain willed it to be so.

But Prest’s influence continues to spread, whether through formal leadership or those quick “keep going, you’ve got this” conversations she has with newer recruits who aren’t sure they belong.

Of course, she’ll tell you there’s still a long way to go. Across Canada, women make up only a small fraction of firefighters overall. In many cities, the numbers are even lower than they are in Halifax. Prest acknowledges these realities, but she likes to focus on the next step forward. For her, representation isn’t just about ticking a box. It’s about building trust in a profession where people’s lives are at stake.

If you can see yourself in the person responding to your 9-1-1 call, you might be more willing to listen to safety advice or ask for help. If you’re a young person who doesn’t fit the old stereotypes, you might feel more welcome to apply.

At the end of the day, Prest’s story is proof that change can come from many angles. It can arrive in the form of a mother who decided, at age 34, to step away from a comfortable finance job and into a challenging fire station. It can develop from a single conversation in which a friend says, “You’d be great at this,” and you actually try.

And sometimes, it grows when someone becomes the first to do something and then uses that platform to help others feel like they can belong, too.

A lot of folks in Halifax now see Prest as the face of that change. She embodies the heart of a firefighter who’s never lost sight of where she came from. Whether she’s directing a wildfire response, inspecting a building, or cheering on a basketball team, she’s driven by a simple question: “What are you doing for others?”

For Prest, every day on the job is a chance to answer that question in a new way.

What Do You Think About Natasha Prest’s Story?

Coud you imagine shifting from finance to firefighting at age 34?

Were you surprised or inspired (or both) about the statistics about female firefighters of colour? The number is low and at least now it is trending in the right direction. How important is it for you to be able to see people that look like you, or sound like you in roles that you aspire to?

Take a sec. to type a comment and share your thoughts and stories. As always, I look forward to reading them all.

Thanks a bunch for reading this story. It’s a pleasure to share Canadian stories like this with you.

Have a rad rest of your day!