Dany Cotton

Dany Cotton (born Danielle Cotton in 1969) is a British firefighter, now Interim Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade, having previously been the Director of Safety and Assurance at the London Fire Brigade. She is the first woman to be awarded the Queen's Fire Service Medal in 2004, and in 2007, she became the highest-ranking woman in the British Fire Service with the post of Area Commander. In 2002 she was named Outstanding Public Servant of the year. She is the National Chair of Networking Women in the Fire Service. On 30 October 2008, she was awarded the Fire Brigade Long Service and Good Conduct Medal.

Dany Cotton joined the fire brigade in 1988. Her first placement was at Wimbledon Fire Station. She had been a full firefighter for just three months when she attended the Clapham Junction rail crash. She was just 19 years old at the time. In 2010, she became Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade and in 2012 Assistant Commissioner. In 2014 she won the Public Service Category of the First Women Awards.

In September 2016, she was appointed interim Commissioner of the brigade following the retirement of incumbent Ron Dobson. She will take up the position on 1 January 2017.