Getting young women 'fired up' about future firefighting careers
Kitchener firefighters fearlessly strode out of a building filled with smoke on Thursday as part of a training camp for young women.
Two dozen teens, mostly from Waterloo Region, signed up for the Female Firefighter in Training program. It’s a four day camp where they can learn the ropes from 40 certified firefighters.
Emma Braun, 16, from Elmira, said she always wanted to be firefighter since she was a little girl. Now that she got some hands on experience, she’s even more intrigued.
“You’re not just sitting around in a chair at a desk, you're up, you're moving around, you're helping people,” Braun said.
From search and rescue exercises to auto extrication – the teens are put to the test in full gear.
“It's a little nerve racking, but like, as soon as you start to go, you get the feeling of it. You know what it's like,” Braun said.
Participants in the Female Firefighter in Training program learn about vehicle extrication on June 27, 2024. (Heather Senoran/CTV News)
According to the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs, in 2020 only 5.5 per cent of Canadian firefighters were women.
“So that number used to be a lot smaller. And even on that scale, it shows that programs like this are helping that number evolve,” said first class firefighter with the Kitchener Fire Department, Bev Bradley.
Becoming a firefighter is not for the faint of heart. It takes a lot of grit, determination and the right skillset.
“People are running out of a fire. We're running into the fire. So what makes the best firefighter is somebody who has had a little bit of courage and bravery,” Bradley said.
Strength as a firefighter is a must– both physically and mentally. Camp participants also learned how important it is to communicate and count on each other.
“You always have each other to work together and mitigate the situation and pick each other up,” said Melissa Lyons, a first class firefighter with the Kitchener Fire Department.
Bree Annion was a camp participant in 2022. Now she’s back to help the younger girls.
“Going into it was a little bit intimidating. Just wanting to do a career that you don't hear about a lot of females doing,” Annion admitted.
After the camp, she graduated from Pre-Service Firefighting at Conestoga College and now her next steps are clear.
“So just getting all of the certifications that are required and then hopefully applying to departments,” she said.
Annion said she’ll be applying everywhere but has a special place in her heart for the Kitchener crew and hope she makes it there someday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6946509.1719687583!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Who are the richest people in Canada? Here's how many billionaires there are
If you gathered all the wealth that billionaires currently have worldwide, you would have about US$14.2 trillion, according to Forbes Magazine. But what about in Canada alone?
'7 years of regret': Raunchy leg piece wins bad tattoo competition at Edmonton Expo Centre
Friday night was a celebration of mistakes for a small group of body art enthusiasts.
Time crunch, rules mess could plague a Liberal leadership race
Calls have intensified for Justin Trudeau to resign as head of the party he almost single-handedly pulled back from the brink after a decimating electoral defeat in 2011.
Despair in the air: For many voters, the Biden-Trump debate means a tough choice just got tougher
The sound you might have heard after the presidential debate this past week was of voters falling between a rock and a hard place.
Lightning deal Sergachev, Jeannot; Maple Leafs acquire Tanev's rights at NHL draft
General managers wheeled and dealed Saturday in Sin City.
235 flights cancelled as WestJet waits to hear from labour minister on next steps in mechanics strike
WestJet said 235 flights have been cancelled Saturday as it waits to see what the next steps are in its ongoing labour dispute with its mechanics.
A year ago, she drank battery acid to escape life under the Taliban. Today, she has a message for other Afghan girls
Holding a mirror steady in one hand, Arzo carefully applies pencil to her brows as she gets ready for an English lesson a short walk from her home on the outskirts of Pakistani megacity Karachi.
A Florida auctioneer was about to sell an 1800s pocket watch. He learned it was a stolen piece of U.S. presidential history
A pocket watch that belonged to Theodore 'Teddy' Roosevelt was returned to his New York home this week after it was stolen decades ago and later showed up at an auction, according to the FBI and the National Park Service.
U.S. and Europe warn Lebanon's Hezbollah to ease strikes on Israel and back off from wider Mideast war
U.S., European and Arab mediators are pressing to keep stepped-up cross-border attacks between Israel and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah militants from spiraling into a wider Middle East war that the world has feared for months. Iran and Israel traded threats Saturday of what Iran said would be an 'obliterating" war over Hezbollah.