I have never really been into the “role model” thing. I have 2 parents to thank for that: my dad let me build my own furniture, my mom has a truck licence… So “How does your husband feel about you joining the fire service?” was a very strange question to me. I have my own (fire) truck licence now.
Recently, several colleagues were curious about how we got so many girls amongst out fire cadets. It occurred to me that maybe it does help to have a female staff member to keep the girls going. I am immensely proud of all our cadets (boys, girls,…): very diverse backgrounds, super motivated even at 4 am and working and learning together as a real team. We don’t don capes, but fighting fires and rescuing kittens does require a special breed. I will keep breeding. The future of our fire service looks bright, with so many budding super heroes!