VIDEO: The Watertown Firefighter Recruit Academy is holding a graduation ceremony on Thursday, and one student walking the stage will be making history.
Olivia Simpson will become Watertownโs first-ever female firefighter.
โIts exciting, very nerve-racking, but Iโm excited to prove to the guys that Iโm able to do the job. Iโm held to the same standard as all of the guys. Thatโs definitely a little bit of a struggle for me, but I was able to push through and just be able to prove myself was the best part,โ she said.
Simpson has been a volunteer firefighter for about 5 years.
She says one thing that inspired her to get started was growing up around the station.
Her father Kevin Simpson was also a firefighter in Watertown.
Captain Charles Waugh says he thinks Simpson has a bright future ahead of her.
โThose basic skills she already had, so we spent 19 weeks just honing in those skills, finding her strengths, building on those, finding the weaknesses, and bringing her up to speed with it. She did very well, and I expect sheโll have a great career from this point forward,โ said Waugh.
