Majority female firefighting crew beating the average

Firefighting may be a traditionally male-dominated industry, but a fire department near Prince George isn’t playing by those rules.  

The Salmon Valley Fire Department, around 30 kilometres north of Prince George, has a crew of eight women and just seven men, beating the national average by over 50%. Currently, women constitute less than 4% of all firefighters in Canada, according to the P-SEC Research group.

Dee Burden, Fire Chief for the hall, began her career in the industry in 2001.

“When I joined in 2001 I was the only female at the time. Word got out that there was one female and then others weren’t afraid to join.”

She said since 2009, female numbers for the SV Fire Department have been increasing more than men. 

“We’re hoping it helps women see that they can do this job as well, it doesn’t have to be a male-orientated type of position,” she said.

“We’ve got a really dedicated team here, they’re committed to learning training, practicing. It’s been something we’ve been working towards for many years, to have this cohesive group here.”