For mother of three, Roberta Derosier, holding down a home, working a day job, and being an on-call volunteer firefighter is a product of her determination; a challenge she finds exhilarating. Derosier joined the Estevan Fire Department in 2004, where she underwent training for six months, something she considered to be a rewarding experience. "We do a nationally certified program, it's called NFPA 1001. We are certified, then, to be a firefighter anywhere in Canada."I found it challenging, yes, but exciting. It's a really in-depth course that you really know what you are doing after," she said. For Derosier, it was sheer determination that focused her desire to serve her community. Looking back, she said she would not change a thing.As her pager goes off, her adrenaline skyrockets and as she leaves her house, Derosier prays, not only for herself, and her fellow firefighters but, most importantly, for the victims. "Pray, I do before every call. I'm on victim services too, so before every call I always pray on the way for those people and that we are going to do the best job we can."Not only does Derosier put out fires, she also helps the Estevan Police Service in relieving a victim's loved one's grief."What we do is we support victims of crimes. We always assist the law enforcement with the next of kin notifications, which is probably one of the toughest things, but also the most rewarding thing when you can help somebody through a time like that," she said. At times, Derosier admits a situation can be frightening. However, in the heat of the moment, fear stands still."Probably any of the situations can be a little scary and that's where your training and your adrenaline takes over and it's not until afterwards that you kind of think what could have gone wrong there."You just go on adrenaline. Once the pager goes off, the adrenaline just goes right now and all you focus on is what you have to do to mitigate that situation," she said. Although at times, and in some places, women are criticized for believing in themselves and performing tasks that were once thought to be a man's job, Derosier said discrimination is not the word that comes to her mind. "I definitely wouldn't say discrimination, no, I never felt that; more encouragement. It is almost an admiration because it's like 'wow a female in the fire department.' I encourage other people to do it too, because they do see that a lot people say, 'wow I didn't know females could do that'," she said. Derosier attributes most of this encouragement to the great team of men she has by her side, no matter what the emergency. "They're a good group of guys. It doesn't matter who you are, you know that they have your back when you are going to go into a scene; a very good team."There's not really anything that scares you at the time because we're a really good team, we know what we are doing, and we all are confident in our abilities," she said. Besides her team, Derosier said it is the support of her family that tugs on her heart strings, and ranks the job she does on an ultimate level of appreciation. "Totally supportive, they love that I do it. I have a very, very supportive family."They have used it in school as their reports for somebody I look up to, my mom, the firefighter. I love it, I absolutely love it; I'm hoping one day they do something like that."Derosier carries her pager with her 24 hours a day, seven days a week and said her employers at Diversified Services couldn't be more supportive. "We carry our pagers 24 hours a day. They are very supportive of that; it's their way of helping out the community by letting one of their employees just go."Derosier encourages women who are interested in joining the fire department to shed their misconceptions."I encourage any woman out there to come and apply. I think it's really a rewarding thing to do and don't feel intimidated because the guys are very, very supportive. It doesn't matter - sex, age, or whatever, you are part of the team."
