Features Blogs Dispatches
Dispatches

Blogger Jennifer Mabee is a volunteer firefighter with a passion for
writing. She will blog regularly about her experiences with the
Township of Georgian Bay Fire Department in Ontario. You
can comment by scrolling to the bottom of the page.

Oct. 21, 2011 – I've just returned to the fire service after four years away, and there wasn't a day that went by that I didn't think about it. It's just something that gets in your blood, and it's a feeling that's hard to describe. Like the thrill of dropping everything and going to calls when the pager went off, the challenge of fighting tough fires and the intensity of vehicle extrication when someone is trapped, the experience of being there to help people at a time that could possibly be their worst, the sense of teamwork and accomplishment, not to mention the camraderie. I don't think it's any different whether you're volunteer or full time. It's the same for everyone. It's a calling.

I was offered a spot back on the department on Oct. 14 (my birthday – cool gift!), and got my pager on Oct. 17, but I don't have bunker gear yet because they haven't found a set that's small enough to fit me. It's too bad too, because I've missed a structure fire, a fire alarm call, and a medical this week. But I do have training Monday night so maybe, just maybe, I'll have my gear by then, here's hoping. I've waited four years to get back on the department. I can wait a little longer . . . if I have to . . . I guess . . . ! After all, it is my calling and it's so worth waiting for.

Jennifer Mabee is a volunteer with the Township of Georgian Bay Fire Department in Ontario. She began her fire fighting career with the Township of Georgian Bay in 1997 and became the department’s fire prevention officer in 2000 and a captain in 2003. She was a fire inspector with the City of Mississauga Fire and Emergency Services before taking time off to focus on family, and is excited to be back at it. E-mail her at jhook0312@yahoo.ca