The Mapleton Fire Department has hired eight new firefighters, including the department’s first female member.
Fire Chief Rick Richardson said the new recruits – four each at the Drayton and Moorefield stations – began the required 40 hours of basic training last weekend.
The new hires will bring the number of volunteer firefighters at each station up to the optimal of 20, Richardson said. He explained the Drayton station had three firefighters retire within the past year or so, and the Moorefield station has been short staff for some time.
“We’ve got a pretty good mix now,” Richardson said, noting the department has a group of firefighters with a great range of experience.
He added the department received more than a dozen applications over the last year or so, and applicants were granted interviews based on a set of criteria that includes: location, DZ licence, first aid and safety training, age, lifting capability, and more.
Definitely not on the list was the sex of the applicant.
“That’s not an issue,” Richardson stressed. “If they’re qualified, willing and able, and willing to train, sex doesn’t matter.”
So Amanda Meyer is now the township’s first ever female firefighter.
“It’s exciting,” Meyer said of becoming a local trail blazer. “I think it’s going to be a good experience … and hopefully it will bring more women into the department.”
Meyer, 29, grew up in Kitchener and has lived in Drayton for the last 15 years. She has a 9-year-old son with her husband, Randy, and works for Manulife Financial in Waterloo.
She is also a personal trainer and kick boxing instructor, so if there are troubles adjusting to the job, she says it likely won’t be because of the physical demands.
“I’m sure I have my challenges ahead, but most of [the firefighters] are open minded,” she said.
Richardson expects Meyer to fit in well with the rest of the department. He also noted that although she is the first female firefighter, the Drayton and Moorefield stations are equipped with excellent washroom facilities for both sexes, which is not always the case at firehalls.
Meyer said she hopes to become a full-time firefighter elsewhere and thinks the part-time position in Mapleton will help her prepare for that role.
“I’ve wanted to do this since I was a little girl, and people always told me girls can’t do it – even other girls told me that,” she said.
“I hope this proves to people that’s not the case.”
