Crosslake Fire Hall Holds First Ever Women’s Expo

Women from all over Central Minnesota stopped by the Crosslake fire hall this past weekend for the area’s first ever Women’s Fire Service Expo.

Organized through members of the Cuyana Range Fire Chief’s Association, this event provided women considering joining the fire service an opportunity to see firsthand what it’s like to be a first responder in a local fire department.

Only 7% of firefighters in the service are women, and with older generations stepping away, there’s no better time to address that disparity.

“Our fire departments are dwindling a little bit with the baby boomers moving out, so we really need to encourage more people to come in and we’re missing out on women being part of that,” explained Jen Elleraas, a captain with the Garrison Fire Department. “So we really want to … include women in our recruiting. I think we have a lot of awesome things they can bring to the fire service. Events like this can help inspire them to explore that better and be part of it.”

And they made the ladies there run through the whole gamut of situations and scenarios.

“We had an extrication station. Ladies could get hands on with – a lot of people [know] it as the jaws of life or a combi tool,” said Elleraas. “We had a medical EMS station where they could do a ‘stop the bleed’ drill. We had the ladder truck up so they could climb to the top of the ladder.”

Organizers also cleared up the misconceptions surrounding fire service.

“People obviously watch TV and they think that being in the fire service is like ‘Chicago Fire’ or whatever TV shows people watch. And it actually is nothing like that. It’s very much so the opposite,” elaborated Renee Kardell of the Pequot Lakes Fire Department. “[The misconception is] that you have to be this massive person, 6″6, 250, 300 lbs. to be successful as a firefighter. And that’s just simply not the case.”

And another one of the many misconceptions concerning women working in fire service is the notion that men hold animosity towards them.

“That has been the opposite of my experience,” stated Kardell. “As long as you are willing to show up and work hard and dedicate yourself to the department just like anybody else, you are accepted and you are welcomed. And it does become a second family.”

That feeling is why the fire service workers hope the ladies in attendance left the expo knowing there is a place in this line of work for them.

“I’m hoping that it inspired them … to look into the fire service, to at least find that they were able to do something today that they didn’t know that they could do before,” Elleraas added. “and really hoping that we were able to share our passion with them and they were able to learn from the experience.

12 women showed up this past Saturday for the event.