When most people think of firefighters, the general image that is conjured up is that of a man but more and more rural fire departments are finding that it is women who are available who can take up the call.
To celebrate this year’s Volunteer Firefighters’ Awareness Week (May 3 to 9) Ponoka News spoke with the two women serving on the Ponoka Fire Department. Between Randie-Lynn Schmidt and Donna Noble, the pair has 14 years of experience with firefighting and responding to emergency events.
Schmidt is an emergency care nurse but being a firefighter was not a consideration. “Initially it was never a thought or consideration or even something I thought I could do,” said Schmidt.
At first she felt being a woman would be a hindrance to the job, but a male coworker, also a Ponoka volunteer firefighter, encouraged her to submit an application a few years ago.
“I came here and loved it ever since,” said Schmidt.
Noble started out as an administrative assistant with the Town of Ponoka’s protective services. She started to take the same classes as Ponoka’s volunteer firefighters to get an understanding of the work they do.
“And then I just got into it because they needed the manpower during the day,” explained Noble.
She says it has become an important part of her life.
Previous conceptions that woman cannot handle heavy lifting, which is sometimes required, is changing. In some rural communities many of the people who are home during the day are women as many men work out of town.
Peter Krich is the chairperson of the Recruitment and Retention Committee put together by the Alberta Fire Chiefs Association (AFCA) and he says women are becoming an important resource.
“There are a lot of communities that utilize females in their volunteer fire departments,” said Krich.
There are some cases that a husband and wife will work together on a fire department and share duties of childcare and emergency calls. Krich says there are some cases where the entire family has joined their volunteer fire department.
“The fire service (individual) in the volunteer world is a different type of person,” added Krich in relation to the serious nature of the job.
He said the AFCA advocates strong camaraderie within all fire departments. While the job is not for everybody, being a woman or a man shouldn’t be a factor against joining.
A volunteer firefighter may have to handle serious situations and it is a person’s mental ability that makes the difference. “You want somebody that’s going to be on the same playing field,” explained Krich.
“If you have a good personality and you get along with people you’re going to thrive in this environment,” said Schmidt on the matter.
There are times a person may not be able to deal with a situation but Noble says there are other jobs to do once at a scene. “You could be consoling the person that may have been in the other vehicle.”
“When that adrenaline rush goes, you never know what you can do,” added Noble.
New campaign shows the human aspect of the volunteer firefighting
The AFCA has been busy the last five years improving on its volunteer firefighter recruitment and retention.
Krich says most times people only see a firefighter in protective gear but 80 per cent of firefighters in Alberta are volunteers. That means they have another job they go to when finished with a call.
Most recently, a website has been developed with stories, photos and a video of the importance of being a volunteer firefighter. Krich said they found there was a disconnect between businesses and families about the job, which is why they developed the campaign.
To find out more information or to sign up for service visit: www.albertavolunteerfirefighters.ca.
Krich is also the fire chief for the Camrose Fire Department.