Sparked Interest: Local Teen Shares on Becoming a Firefighter

Weyburn Fire Services has been helping five new Paid On Call Firefighters work through their certifications, all recently passing their NFPA 1001: Firefighter level 1+2 written exams.

One of those five is Jola Bell-Erb, a 2020 graduate of Weyburn Comprehensive School. She said starting out in the Junior Firefighter program helped her get a good amount of hands on training, but there's nothing quite like learning on the job.

In fact, at first, Jola said at first she wasn't into the weekly trainings.

"I did not want to do fire, like, it was not something I was interested in, and I told my mom, 'I'm not doing it', and then, something sparked, and I just loved it," she shared.

She said the influence of those at Weyburn Fire Services was a big influence on her self-esteem in recognizing her capabilities.

""People saying I could do things, like some of the things that I thought I could never do. Cutting through a roof. Carrying someone out of a building. Just things like that. Things most 18 year olds don't think they can do," said Jola. "Everyone there is always helping me showing what to do better and like showing what way works best and things like that."

While she said she looks forward to doing community education as a firefighter, being able to cut a hole in a roof with a chainsaw made her realize she can do anything.

Certifications for firefighters takes a process, and hands-on training, which is needed for the hands-on portion of training to complete the next two levels. This will be done in September in conjunction with Estevan Fire Services.

"Since I've been on calls I've been learning so much and it's so cool, like, what we see," she shared. "[On a call] I'm excited. Like, I'm calm, but, like, I'm so excited. I'm in my chair, knees are shaking, I'm ready to go, and it's, I just love the excitement and the sirens. It's just so cool."

Jola shared advice for any other aspiring young firefighters.

"If you wanna do it, go for it and and don't let other anyone else tell you otherwise that you can't do anything. You can do it."