We love all of our first responders – we do. But for our Women’s issue, we just had to ask, how many of the firefighters and EMTs who work for the Ashburn Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department (AVFRD), for example, are women? More than you might think, and from more places than you might imagine.
Of the full roster of AVFRD firefighters and EMTs, 70% are men. That means there are 67 female “operational members.” Among firefighters alone, 89% are male, 11% female, although fully 49% of volunteers to county Volunteer Companies are women. Most of either gender have other full- or part-time jobs.
Despite the disparity, we’re told that one weekday platoon of combined firefighters and EMTs will be all female, just as soon as one of the women completes her training as a fire engine driver! That’s an AVFRD first, so we wanted to introduce you to a few of them.
Evangeline “Angie” Boers grew up in the Philippines where her hometown burned down – “We lost 437 houses within two hours. I had just literally finished building my mom's house. Her house was saved but my sister’s house was gone. There was no fire truck, and no one came to help. So, my husband and I decided we were going to donate fire engines to my hometown. But before that, I wanted to understand what a firefighter does and how an engine works. So, I joined!” Turns out, she loved it so much that she not only stuck with it but is frequently called upon to speak to new classes of firefighters as a kind of object lesson. Standing at 4’10”, Angie says she is living proof that “size doesn’t matter – if I can do it, anyone can!” The toughest part of her training was an exercise called “the maze,” where trainees are blindfolded and given just four minutes to work their way through tiny corridors in full gear to find and free a “victim.” Sure enough, the grit she learned from the exercise was perfect training when she was called upon to rescue a person from a bathroom when she was the only one who would fit through the window! With Cindy Porter, she looks forward to being part of AVFRD’s first all-female crew.
Irma Hopke is Peruvian, though she’s lived here for 20 years. It took 4-5 months of training to become an EMT, for which she celebrated her first-year anniversary in March. “For me, it is a rewarding thing to do, and also because I would like to be a role model for my kids and all the kids that are involved in my life – nephews, nieces, my kids’ friends.” Her own, a boy and a girl, are both teenagers. Not looking forward to being an empty-nester, she wanted to take her free time and “give it to my community,” which she does twice a week. She adds, “Coming from Peru, a country where women didn't have many opportunities to do these kinds of jobs – being a public servant was mainly for men – but I always wanted to do it.” Though it’s physically demanding, “I’m very energetic and like to be active, and I like to be involved in the community, and what better place than here to be serving? This company is like my second family and I love spending time here with other people who like to serve.”
Cindy Porter was moved to become a firefighter two and a half years ago during the Black Lives Matter protests following the death of George Floyd in 2020. “I was really just upset about seeing a lot of things that were happening in the community that were just sad. So, I wanted to help him be part of the community in a positive way. I looked up where I could volunteer and when the fire department popped up, I was really excited and kind of just jumped for it. I had thought about it for a career before but always talked myself out of it. I thought, this is a great opportunity.” What caused her to discount firefighting before? “I was afraid of the trauma I might see. So, I was like no, I can't do that.” But, all the way through training when she experienced the same mental blocks – against crawling through small spaces, for example, “I would mentally talk myself through the process and just get it done, and that was really rewarding.... I’m not sure I can say this, but it’s really an inspiration to my kids. They think I’m a badass!” The camaraderie combined with her newfound inner strength “makes me want to prove to myself and to other people that I can do more.”
Kassandra Haakansson moved to Virginia from Sweden to be with family in 2018 and immediately applied to become a firefighter. Before coming to the states, she had been contemplating serving in the Swedish military like her father. “I tried firefighting and kind of got hooked on it,” she explains. Always competitive – she grew up in a family with three younger brothers, two older brothers and three older sisters – “I always wanted to be better than my brothers,” she laughs. She soon became a career (full-time) firefighter and EMT in Fairfax County and a volunteer firefighter at AVFRD. She works 24-hour shifts, so every week is different depending on how her shifts fall. She says learning a technical brand of English might have been her greatest challenge. But she’s always been adventurous and tried to do more – something she learned from her dad before he passed away n 2016. “What I enjoy most is the people. It’s my favorite thing about coming here. We usually come here for dinner time, then we’re here until 6 in the morning. So, we make dinner together and talk. Everyone is so different, from all over, and with all different kinds of experiences. I’m a people person so for me that’s what makes me really enjoy being here.”
Unlike the adventurous Kassandra, Katie Alpert says, “I’m more of a chicken of the sea type. I’m not somebody who usually would throw myself into danger. But, at the same time, I get a kick out of it.” Searching for a description of what that feels like, she says, “I’m like a duck on the water. Underneath, I’m paddling like crazy, but on the surface, I’m always cool, calm and collected. I may be anxious inside, but I’m always calm when we get to where we’re going and we have a job to do.” She trained during the pandemic and graduated the fire academy in January. She was inspired to serve by her father who is in law enforcement and has a law degree but was also raised to be a strong woman by her mother. “I’m the third generation to go to an all-woman’s college,” she says – Bryn Mawr College, if you’re wondering. Smart, calm, and centered, Katie just has that aura of confidence that inspires trust.
Kimia Teymouri, an EMT, is Persian. She says what first attracted her to volunteering was “basically, the excitement. You never know what you’re walking into. But then eventually I just fell in love with it.” What she loves specifically is the fact that you’re making a difference in somebody’s life. It’s just priceless. And, sure, you know you’re probably showing up on the worst day of their lives, but we just want to make a difference on that day.” The 21-year-old in her third year of college already has had life-saving experiences and expects to have many more opportunities after she finishes her clinical rotation in paramedic school. “I’m convinced I’m made for pre-hospital treatment,” she explains. “I’ve been working under pressure and learning how to control my emotions in the moment. When you’re on the scene you can’t freeze; you have to act quickly. That’s my strength, that I can lock everything else down and just focus on the call.”
Victoria “Vicky” Ghanma, an EMT in training, is a Jordanian by birth and at 20 was the youngest of the AVFRD volunteers we interviewed. Initially, she is in training to become an attending in charge of the ambulance, but her ambitions reach even higher. Having also served as a hospital volunteer, she now attends George Mason University on the pre-med track majoring in neuroscience. She says her experience as an EMT comes largely from her wanting to give back to a community that she says fully supported her when she transferred to a new country in high school. “I wanted to just give back to my community and be there when they need me like they were there for me. It’s truly an honor to be there for people on one of the worst days of their lives and to be able to do something and help them out. Sometimes just sitting there and listening to them and not necessarily doing any medical interventions... you can tell their blood pressure is dropping and they’re starting to relax.” So, brain surgeon or no, the real-life emergency experience she is gaining at AVFRD is equipping Vicky to deliver superior bedside manner. She adds that “just seeing other women that are also very powerful, encouraged me to want to become the best that I can be at helping people.”
Zainab Shah’s family comes from India and Pakistan. She’s been a fully certified EMT for the last six months, though her training began in November of 2021, pretty much the height of the pandemic. Of all the volunteers, it’s Zainab that joined the AVFRD because of personal exposure to the squad. “A couple of years ago, my grandmother fell and called 911. It was the Ashburn Volunteer Fire Department that came. Our family room filled up with like 10 people. They came in with grace and respect and they took care of her so well.” The experience stayed with her when the COVID vaccines began to roll out in January of 2021. “I started volunteering then, and there were EMTs who came in to help out as well. I was with them every shift and finally just asked, ‘How do I join?’” She says the job was “nerve-wracking” at first but that, “Eventually, everybody manages to find their calm. I didn’t expect to learn that here, but I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to build on that confidence more on every shift.” Asked where she finds her strength she says, “In the team. We are strong together. Because every situation is so unique, we really don't know what to expect. But as long as you know that your unit is there with you, you know we’ll solve it together.”
Each prospective member of the operational team fills out an application and must be 16 years of age or older. Size and nationality are irrelevant, but they must be legal residents and are required to provide references, get fingerprinted and undergo a background check and physical exam. Each prospective member is then assigned to a duty crew one night per week and goes through initial on-the-job training, all before they’re eligible to attend Loudoun County’s fire or EMT school. (Some train for both.) Following formal training, they undergo a probationary period with a member and only then are issued a black (for firefighters) or blue (for EMTs) helmet. Learn more here: ashburnfirerescue.org/volunteer.