Written by Lindsey Lowe Osborne
Some 14 years ago, Nina Taylor went out on a Sunday morning to get the paper. She and her son, Steve, who was a year old at the time, had a tradition of reading it together—he preferred the comic section. At the time, Taylor was a founder of a staffing agency called Staffing World. She opened the business after a stint at another staffing agency that was eventually sold, as well as two years of modeling in New York. And on that Sunday morning, nothing seemed different, though Taylor says she was itching for a change. She liked what she did, but she wasn’t fulfilled by it.
That morning, she sat with Steve and they looked through the paper. A half-page ad caught her attention. In big letters it read, “You can become a firefighter.” She showed it to Steve. “His face lit up like a Christmas tree,” Taylor says. “His little voice said ‘Mommy, you can do that!’ Something about that kid’s encouragement makes me feel invincible. I immediately applied that Monday.”
It may have seemed like she made the decision on the whim, and she did—but something happened on the way home from applying that cemented that firefighting was what she wanted to do: She and Steve witnessed a car wreck. Taylor locked Steve in the car and went to see how she could help; she found out that the family was searching for a little girl who had been in the car. “As three of us looked surrounding the vehicle, I could hear the fire sirens coming from downtown making their way. I stood still. Then I laid on the ground near the wrecked vehicle and there was the little girl,” Taylor says. “She was still alive, but it was obvious that she wouldn’t be for long. I reached to touch her fingers amongst the wreckage and told her that she was beautiful and that I would not leave until help arrived. I watched that small baby die right before my eyes. It was in that moment, when the aunt asked if I was an off duty firefighter, that it all dawned upon me. Maybe this is what I’m really supposed to be doing.”
The next day, Taylor began training to be a firefighter. She started by doing old track workouts that she remembered from college. Along the way, she kept her intentions to herself. “I was afraid of the stigma of a woman going into a predominantly male profession,” she explains. “I didn’t want to tell my family, as sometimes that criticism can be the worst. I didn’t know if I would be hired, but I knew in my heart and soul I was one of the best—if not the best—candidates for the job.” Two months later, she started recruit school, and six months after that, in 2003, she began work at Station 24 in Bellview Heights. Though she’s moved around in the 13 years since then, she’s currently back at Station 24. “It has been a journey. I have endured typical female treatment in a male atmosphere, yet my skin is thick. I go home to shed my tears of the day’s weary loss and obstacles,” she says. “When it’s time for my shift again, I put on my wonder woman shirt under my uniform (my son bought it for me) and tackle another 24 hours in hopes of making a positive difference in someone’s life.”
In addition to firefighting, Taylor also owns Fresh Face Photography. She says photography can be an escape from the inevitable sorrow she encounters as a firefighter. “Photography is a way for me to show people how I see them: beautiful!” she says. “On my days away from the department, I book events, weddings, photo shoots, or just shoot around for fun. I usually bake something sweet, give it away, and take pictures. Photography is my therapy after a bad day of firefighting.” Those bad days come, of course; firefighters don’t just show up for fires, but for any kind of trauma, and Taylor has been a part of the hardest days of many people’s lives. But there’s also a great sense of fulfillment in this job that Taylor never got before. “I’m older and wiser, and my compassion has grown to no ends with the numerous people I encounter. With that comes the sorrow of watching a life lost,” she says.
“But the rewarding thing is the look on someone’s face that says, ‘I’m grateful that you came to help me.’ I get it often from my patients and victims of a fire,” she continues. “I have delivered many children in homes and I can tell you firsthand that it’s beautiful when another woman says, ‘Thank God you were here.’ They share their lives with me, even in loss, and that is something most people never get to experience up.”
Aimee Thatcher Las Vegas Fire Department
Kaitlyn Sass
Camp aims to boost number of women applying to be firefighters
Aidan Cox, PostmediaCamp FFIT (Female Firefighters in Training) is a one-week course by the Ottawa Fire Service that gives teenaged girls hands-on experience with firefighting tools and techniques.
Twenty-four girls, aged 15-19, were split into four platoons of six. Each platoon, assisted by actual firefighters, rotated through a series of challenges that included a mock car fire, the use and control of firehoses, and basic knot tying.
“The goal is to have more women applying to be firefighters so there’s more women to choose from,” Jones said.
The rate of female applicants has hovered around two to three per cent, and women comprise less than three per cent of the fire service, Jones said.
“It’s not necessarily that women aren’t being hired. It’s just that we don’t have great numbers of women applying, and really because they don’t know that this is a career option, she said.
“If they get an idea now of what they need to do to prepare, it makes them a better candidate for when they do apply.”
At around 11:30 a.m., the girls took a break for water and a photo opportunity with River Ward Coun. Riley Brockington and Stittsvil
le Ward Coun. Shad Qadri.
“I really enjoyed using the hose over there, which is fun,” said trainee Emily Waller, 19, who travelled from Acton, a town west of Toronto, to participate in the unique camp.
“My dad’s a firefighter, so I’ve grown up around the fire station and doing volunteer stuff, and I think that just inspired me to become a firefighter.”
Apart from gaining a handle on the powerful fire hoses, Waller said she also got experience using the self-contained breathing apparatus — a full suit and a mask connected to air tanks worn like a backpack.
Waller said she will attend Lambton College in Sarnia for firefighting in September, adding that the only challenge she’s encountered so far is a lack of upper body strength. “I’m going to have to hit the gym hard.”
Tess Armstrong of Montreal said her father heard about the course through Facebook and encouraged her to give it a shot.
“Today we’ve been learning a lot about knots and their different uses in firefighting. We also got to see the airport firefighters and their big truck,” said Armstrong, motioning over to the two big lime-green vehicles.
Among the challenges that firefighters experience on the job, she said she’s learned just how hot it can get with the gear on.
The camp, now in its seventh year ends on Friday, with no break from the sweltering heat as forecast temperatures in the 30s feel more like 40 with the humidex.
first Time For Female fight fighters stripped down to their underwear for the first female only fire fighter calendar
Female fight fighters, from left, Fleur, Sally, Sian Frankie Sarah, Angie and Jade...Smoking hot female fire fighters
Fire Girls calendar - 2018
#firefighter #hotfiregirls #sexyfiregirls #calendar
#calendargirls #feuerwehr #feuerwehrfrau #kalender #firestation #firefighter #firegirls #hot #sexy #calendar #calendargirls #feuerwehr #feuerwehrfrau #kalender #firestation #firerescue #firedepartment #firerescue
#femalefirefighter #firefighting #emergency
LLC 501C- 4 UCC 1-308.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WITHOUT PREJUDICE
Content
and Programming Copyright 2018 By Patcnews The Patriot Conservative
News Tea Party Network © LLC UCC 1-308.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WITHOUT
PREJUDICE All copyrights reserved By Patcnews The Patriot Conservative
News Tea Party Network Copyright 2018 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials
herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be
reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast
without the prior written permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter
or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the
content. © All Copyrights Reserved By Patcnews The Patriot Conservative
News Tea Party Network
No comments:
Post a Comment