Here’s how Kitchener is trying to encourage more women to become firefighters

About two dozen girls aged 15 to 19 are spending the week rappelling from buildings, running into smoking towers and extracting dummies from vehicles, as part of a glimpse into the life of a firefighter.

The Kitchener Fire Department is hosting a one-week female firefighter in training program to entice teens to consider pursuing the job.

“Us as women, we need to know how to maneuver our bodies a little bit differently because there’s a lot of heavy equipment. We work together in teams and we’re never alone out here,” said Bev Bradley, a first class firefighter helping with the camp.

It's the second year of the program, led by certified firefighters, with help from students at Conestoga College’s pre-service firefighter program. Participants get hands-on experience into everyday situations firefighters face.

“As real life as possible, we just get them to experience what it’s like,” Bradley said. “The whole point of this program is to get their hands wet, to be able to know that this is a viable career choice for them.”

About two dozen girls find out what it is like to be a fire fighter. (CTV News/Stefanie Davis)For the program participants, it’s a thrilling and eye opening week.

“Since Grade 10, I was interested in pursuing a career in firefighting,” 19-year-old Sarah Hamilton said.

“Since it’s a male dominated industry, I love seeing all the women that are out here helping us out today and all the staff. I think that’s really important for us, and to show the younger generation as well. There are still those stereotypes around firefighting.”

The Kitchener Fire Department has 250 staff members in total – 43 are women, and 13 of those are suppression staff members on trucks.

“A lot of us women are eager to take on new challenges and want to be servants for our community. We’re here honestly just trying to be the same as any other firefighter out there. We’re here to help,” Bradley said.

Melissa Lyons, another first class firefighter with the Kitchener Fire Department, said she’s noticed more women coming into the profession.

“It’s been really nice over the last five years I’ve really seen an increase, especially in Kitchener, which is awesome to see more females on the truck,” Lyons said. “When we see a lot of young kids out and they see us on the trucks, their faces light up.”

She said that representation, and options like the female firefighter in training program, are leading to an uptick.

“It’s nice to see that we’re getting a lot more students enrolling in pre-service programs, which is what you need to get hired full time, and that’s increasing our numbers on the trucks,” Lyons said.

The program accepts teens from different regions, who apply online. This year, there were over 80 applicants and 28 were accepted into this year’s program.

Bradley said they consider criteria like age and community involvement when selecting participants each year.