Suzanne Allison: Parham Firefighter

Feb 03, 2016

It is no surprise that numerous phone calls came in to the newspaper office following the glaring error I made in an article I wrote in last week’s paper, where I erroneously misquoted Central Frontenac Fire Chief Bill Young by stating that all of the fire halls in Central Frontenac, until recently, had been considered “a gentlemen's club”.

In actuality, Fire Chief Young was referring only to the Sharbot Lake fire hall and the error deserves not only an apology and a correction but also the following story.

Debbie Allison was deservedly offended by the error and made a call to the newspaper office stating that the Parham fire department is not now nor has ever been thought of as a gentlemen's only club. Debbie's 23-year-old daughter Suzanne has been working as a volunteer firefighter in Parham since the age of 16, when she joined the department in October 2008 as a junior fire fighter. Her mandatory two-year probation period included observing at calls, rolling hoses and cleaning trucks and other equipment. Two years later when she turned 18, she became a full-fledged member of the force and has since become a valued member of the Parham team and someone the other firefighters regard as an asset.

Suzanne herself credits her dad, Paul Allison, who has been a volunteer fire fighter with the Parham department for 22 years, as the person who encouraged her to take the training. “He knew of my background and my previous training as a life guard; that I cared about making a difference in the community and thought I would make a good fire fighter.”

When I spoke with Paul Allison earlier in the week, he was adamant about the fact that the Parham department has never been considered a gentlemen's only club. “Dawn Hansen, who is our current dispatcher and who has been with us for over 20 years, is an integral and valuable member of our team”, Paul said. “And we can look back even further to Sue Veley, who was one of the founding members of the department. She was a pillar of the force here for decades and a woman who pretty much ran the place”. Paul said he took offense when he read last weeks article stating, “I have been around the department here for 22 years and during that time women have always been integral and very much respected part of our team. I would not have encouraged my daughter Suzanne to join up if I had felt in any way the place to be a gentlemen's only club. If that had been the case, I never would have encouraged her to join up nor would have tolerated that fact myself.” Other female members of the department include or have included over the years Susan Peters, Melissa Shanks, Brooke Raymond and Stacey Rochetta and to this day Paul says that women are “an integral part of this close knit group many who have been here for a very long time and who all get along with each other very well.” Suzanne agreed with her dad stating “ I have never felt uncomfortable with the guys. I have always felt welcomed and comfortable and have always been treated as an equal.” Not only that, Suzanne said that she is a proud member of the Parham Fire department and someone who likes to encourage other women to get involved. “I like to let women and men in the community know that I am a fire fighter and tell them that if that if I can do it, they can do it too.”

Look forward to more upcoming stories about local women firefighters.