2025 marks the 95th year of the New Zealand Branch, with the first President T. Hugo taking office in 1930. A brief summary of New Zealand’s fire history and the involvement with the IFE is shown in the following video.
100 Years Young
Back in 1918, our 10 founding fathers met in Leicester, UK to form what became the Institution of Fire Engineers. Fast forward 100 years we are a global professional membership body with over 12,000 members worldwide, delivering over 6,000 exams annually. To celebrate the centenary, the NZ Branch commissioned a special video to capture our history and promote the Branch. The full video consists of 3 parts including our timeline, which explores the major fire events in New Zealand’s history, a discussion of the Branch history and an animation of Mahuika the Fire-Goddess and how Māui brought fire to the world.
The videos are available with and without Captions on our YouTube Channel.
Past Presidents of the IFE NZ Branch
1930 − 1932 TT Hugo
1932 − 1935 CC Warner
1936 − 1937 WH Barnard
1937 − 1946 WL Wilson
1946 − 1948 A Drummond
1948 − 1949 G Dunnachie
1949 − 1950 J Philp
1950 − 1951 R Preston
1951 − 1952 HG Hume
1952 − 1953 G Drummond
1953 − 1954 D Catley
1954 − 1955 WC Clark
1955 − 1956 TA Varley
1956 − 1957 SB Irvine
1957 − 1958 FA Hardy
1958 − 1959 IJ Walker
1959 − 1960 AW Bruce
1960 − 1962 WJ Henderson
1962 − 1963 ALG Taylor
1963 − 1964 W Clarkson
1964 − 1965 DA Varley
1965 − 1966 J Lynch
1966 − 1967 IC Wesley
1967 − 1968 RW Ford
1968 − 1969 KH Henderson
1969 − 1970 BS Armstrong
1970 − 1971 BF Hyland
1971 − 1972 PK Weeks
1972 − 1973 KJ Everson
1973 − 1974 W McP Dyas
1974 − 1975 LC Johns
1975 − 1976 WJ Henderson
1976 − 1977 J Viner
1977 − 1978 GG Roberts
1978 − 1979 RAM Baillie
1979 − 1980 JF Wood
1980 − 1981 RG Curry
1981 − 1982 RG Sampson
1982 − 1983 AR Osmond
1983 − 1984 DM Neil
1984 − 1985 BT Joyce
1985 − 1986 GJ Wrigley
1986 − 1988 TJ Bean
1988 − 1990 SG Lawson
1990 − 1991 RJ Estall
1991 − 1993 AT Proctor
1994 − 1995 RH Bishop
1995 − 1996 WA Bedford
1996 − 1997 WA Butzbach
1997 − 1999 MSC Brown
1999 − 2001 P Hughes
2001 − 2003 AP Menzies
2003 − 2006 MF Binning
2007 − 2009 BW Davey
2010 − 2012 GD Ward
2013 – 2015 G Quensell
2016 − 2018 T Fearnley, IFE International President 2025
2018 − 2021 E Claridge, leader of the International General Assembly 2022
2022 – 2025 J Hill, leader of the International General Assembly 2025
2025 − S Lanauze
The Institution of Fire Engineers – Te Whare Wānanga o Kaipūkaha Ahi
Enhance fire safety knowledge – Whakapakarihia te matauranga haumaru ahi