Female fire recruits outnumber males for first time

For the first time, women outnumber men in new recruits for Clearview Fire and Emergency Services. In the new class of 12, eight are female and four are male.

Fire Chief Roree Payment said it was not something the department set out to do and it wasn’t until after the selection process was over that it occurred to department staff that something historic had happened. Payment said he can’t recall there being a class of new recruits of a similar size anywhere with a comparable ratio.

He speculates the reasons may be twofold: “In one respect females are feeling a little more welcomed and empowered to enter into recruitment processes and I think another big thing specifically is the word of mouth component,” said Payment.

He said the addition of the new recruits bring the force (about 95-100 in total) to over 20 per cent female.

“We really do have an inclusive department here that is pretty gender diverse,” said Payment. “But at the end of the day everyone here is treated the same and given the same opportunities.”

He said initiatives like Fire Services Women Ontario and having a female FireFit competition team help to encourage, educate and empower women in the fire service, adding that obviously Clearview Fire and Emergency Services is doing something right to create a culture of inclusivity.

New recruits will take part in a five- month recruit class that includes training in physical fitness, skills assessment, online and in-class learning before being tested by a third party. If successful, they then enter into a probationary year as a paid on call firefighter before earning their badges.

“We’re very happy to see that we are seeing an upswing in recruitment numbers and we’re happy to see specifically females are interested in joining our department,” said Payment. “They have certainly rounded out the roster to create a much more diverse and complete roster of firefighters.”