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1 6 o e e | ‘Jennifer Greenly joins the 1 3 | T Hills fire d m ; Irent Hills fire department â€" § & § Now the 21â€"yearâ€"old Kemptville College graduate is _ I don‘t know why," said Chief Blake, who started out _ é "pretty excited" about going out on her first call, "but _ as a volunteer firefighter 25 years ago, before being > I‘m sure when it happens, it might scare me a little _ named Trent Hills‘ fullâ€"time chieflast year. f bit," she added. He said Ms. Greenly shouldn‘t have a problem makâ€" ol \| : Ms..Greenly lives at home with her parents, Jim and _ ing the transition to volunteer firefighter, despite \| Mary Greenly â€"â€" who are "pretty proud of me" â€"â€" and _ being the only woman in an allâ€"male department. \| i helps out on the family‘s Warkworthâ€"area farm, a cash "Her fitting into Station 1400 is going to be quite \| ' crop and cowâ€"calf operation that recently expanded. _ easy," Chief Blake said. "The guys over thereknow her j | . to include sheep. ... It‘s a family." § : | P The work keeps her fit, as has playing defence in __ Ms. Greenly and two other new recruits who were \| ; hockey for the past decade. part of the department‘s new cadet program will be | f "I think we made obviously a good choice here;‘ _ sent on courses as well as receive instruction at the | â€" # % | } § said Fire Chief Tim Blake. local level each month as part of their training. j He also admitted to being excited by Ms. Greenly _ "She will be expected to perform the same duties as "breaking new ground" as it furthers his department‘s _ the men,‘ ChiefBlake said. 7 : i commitment to reach out to young people in the _ Firefighters respond to much more than structure + $ community to keep its ranks full. fires and vehicle collisions. About half of their calls ' j Trent Hills has never had a female firefighter since _ are for medical reasons, he said. | its birth in 2001 and as far as he knows, neither had _ Ms. Greenly likely won‘t have to serve long as the f ¢ the local fire departments â€" Campbellfordâ€"Seymout, _ lone. woman in the local fire department. Anothâ€" . $ : Hastings and Warkworth â€" before the municipalities _ er woman, who also interviewed for the position, is } amalgamated. & now on the waiting list for an open spot, and a third â€" { "Why we never have, I can‘t answer the question, . woman is currently enrolled in the cadet program. ; M su e * :" Women firefighters as capable as male colleagues C * TRENT HILLSâ€"According to the Ministry of Community Safety .. sitively with women in stress. . : and Correctional Services, there are 11,035 fullâ€"time firefightâ€" And they‘re just as capable of handling the physical ( ; ers and 19,214 volunteer firefighters in Ontario, but how many _ demands of the job. ) § are female isn‘t known. "They can do it every bit as well as us," he said. The numbers aren‘t broken down by gender, said Carolâ€" "Half the battle in firefighting is ... keeping your head on f Lynn Chambers, president of Fire Service Women Ontario . your shoulder,‘ Mr. Scheeringa said. "Everything else you can j (FSWO), but research done in the United States estimated that _ train and build for." i > & about three per cent of that country‘s firefighters are women. Fire Service Women Ontario was formed two years ago FSWO has about 100 members, but "we know there are a _ to "educate, empower, encourage" young women to become ; lot more" out there who could join, she said. firefighters. % | & When Ms. Chambers, who‘s now employed in the Fire The organization works with colleges that offer programs 1 Marshal‘s Office of Ontario, started out more than 30 years ago, _ that groom firefighters, "to help cultivate" the acceptance of "it was very'dia‘ficult" for a woman to join the fire service. Departâ€" .. females in what has been traditionally a male role, and "we‘re ments wouldn‘t even accept an application, but "we‘ve come a _ starting to see more interest by young women;‘ Ms. Chambers long way, baby, from those days," she said. said. \ "We have women now in firefighting in Ontario who are Being a firefighter is "not all about strength," she said. ; reaching the senior ranks," including captains and fire chiefs. Equally important are agility, communication skills, problem: 5 One is poised to become the next president of the Fire . solving, compassion, teramwork and being able to work under Fighters Association of Ontario. pressure â€" skills that are not reserved for men alone, she said. Its current president, John Scheeringa, said female recruitâ€" But not many women over the years have chosen to # | § ment is "happening big time" these days. become a professional or volunteer firefighter because society | "Iwoâ€"thirds of the stations out there now have ladies on _ in general "may not have looked as broadly" as it could have "at + % | the trucks," he said, referring to the province‘s 251 volunteer fire . all the qualified and capable and talented people in the comâ€" + | departments. munity, she said. "We always have those stereotypes to overâ€" Mr. Scheeringa said having women join a fire service "is â€" come. : 5 a very positive thing" because they can work equally as well "Sometimes the first one through the. door has it tough as.men "and there are some roles (where) they can actually â€" because it‘s new and different. It‘s all about integration and + achieve better results," such as calming children or dealing senâ€" . respect. 3 | [uu,câ€"« |Grafton Automotive - ? obviously a good p*~_ u ,v | R : sa? NE uies ce o oalten in | cho1_ce h§re, Fire 2005 Equinox LT AWD 2l A 5 | Chief Tim Blake 3.4L, power group, 6 pack cd, ___.ai""" «ue ’fl leather & more... 125,000km & / A | PRICE s A * 9 stasheo $1,000! .\ y _ _â€" i > | E now $7,900. "Wui z) ¢ | g efi en en en ie omm ie > PIus HST and Licensing es=c % s | & j FOLLOW OUF View More Inventory and pictures at I N M orwitten Feeo www.graftonautomotive.com : $ | & f 4# | O O e 10761 Hwy. #2, Grafton â€" 905â€"349â€"9982 % ; $ T sys @1 5 )if [(z | 9)9 J {