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Fire chief says gender not a factor in hiring; department yet to employ woman firefighter

THUNDER BAY – There’s at least one common theme with all calls where the city’s fire department responds. As of yet, a woman won’t be one of the firefighters.
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Thunder Bay Fire Rescue chief John Hay said the department selects "the best people we can" when it comes to hiring. The department has not employed a full-time woman firefighter. (Matt Vis, tbnewswatch.com)

THUNDER BAY – There’s at least one common theme with all calls where the city’s fire department responds.

As of yet, a woman won’t be one of the firefighters.

Thunder Bay Fire Rescue chief John Hay confirmed the department has yet to employ a woman on the trucks but said gender does not play a factor.

“There hasn’t been a successful (woman) yet. We’re hoping there will be but we’ll carry on and pick the best people we can,” he said.

A number of fire departments in the province have full-time female employees working on their fire suppression staff. Toronto has 67 women firefighters, Hamilton has 14 and Sudbury has two.

A number of other cities have an unknown number of women serving as volunteer firefighters.

The lack of women serving in the department doesn’t mean there haven’t been attempts.

“We’ve had a number of females try. Some have done very well, some have not gotten past the physical and some have not gotten past the written aptitude test,” Hay said.

“Everybody is competing against people who decided very early they wanted to be firefighters. Their part-time jobs or summer jobs contribute to the skills needed to be a firefighter.

The department began their latest recruiting process this past weekend, where more than 250 applicants, including an unknown number of women, took part in the first stage hiring procedure by writing a third-party aptitude test.

About the top 100 scores will continue on to the second step, which is fitness testing. Those who pass the fitness testing then submit resumes, with about 40 selected for interviews.

One of the biggest factors in the process is experience.

“If someone decides at 23 or 24 they want to be a firefighter they’ll be at a disadvantage for the people that have been working at it for 10 years and making themselves a better a candidate physically, mentally or skill wise,” Hay said.

The department compiles a list of most desirable candidates, which they work through when there are openings.





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