Northwoods Experience: 2nd Annual Women’s Fire Service Expo Held in Crosslake

The Crosslake Fire Hall hosted its second annual Women’s Fire Service Expo this past weekend. Arranged through the Cuyuna Range Fire Chief’s Association, the event is designed to spark interest, foster curiosity, and dismantle the barriers that may prevent women from considering a career in firefighting.

The expo showcased the many different things women can expect when venturing down the firefighting career path, whether that’s part-time or long-term.

“Around here, we have a lot of paid on-call or volunteer departments. So, it isn’t a full-time service,” said Crosby Fire Department Member Bailey Swensen. “It’s really easy to have a family and a full-time job or multiple jobs doing it. So, coming into it, it’s not a super huge commitment in terms of time. And you can advance into it. There’s lots of schools around or groups and stuff that you can be a part of if you want to grow your fire service career.”

Female firefighters from Region 5 had plenty to go over with the audience, taking them through various stations and highlighting what their day-to-day tasks could entail.

“Today, we’re just trying to show them how many options there are for serving, how many different capacities and choices you have,” said Pequot Lakes Fire Department Member Renee Kardell. “ We have a medical station where you can learn EMR-, EMT-level skill sets. We have hands-on stations where you try on turnout gear, spray water, climb the ladder truck.”

While firefighting it is not for everyone, the Women’s Fire Service Expo is intended to instill inspiration among those interested.

“We had a question really early on in the day of, ‘What is it like to serve on the department?’ There’s kind of a sisterhood or a brotherhood with it,’” Kardell responded. “That really stuck out to me because it’s more than just the tasks and administering CPR or taking the emergency fire calls. It’s about the fact that you also get a community.”

Representation for women in fire service is at 7%, which is what it sat at during the inaugural fire service expo last year. But those with the Cuyuna Range Fire Chief’s Association are hopeful that change is quickly approaching.

“I actually got to ask them, ‘Why are you here? What made you sign up for this expo? Where did you here about it?’” Swensen added. “And a lot of them were like, ‘You know, I want to give back to my community, and it just sounded fun. This sounded safe. This sounded like I could come step into this.’ And that’s what hopeful because that’s exactly what I experienced, is that it’s fun.”