Keely Fetters knows something about training hard and pushing herself to the limit both physically and mentally. She developed a strong work ethic growing up playing competitive soccer. It was hard work on the pitch that made her a member of a high level Oregon regional team when she was a teenager. Itโs that same kind of hard work that helped her graduate the Hoodland Fire District Student Academy Program, setting her toward her goal of becoming a career firefighter and paramedic.
Fetters enrolled in the Student Program in October 2024 and finished this February. Now she is a volunteer firefighter at Hoodland, working one or two 13-hour shifts a week. โI love it,โ Fetters said. โGoing into it, I donโt think I realized all the pieces that go into firefighting. You have to know a lot. And be very confident in what you know.
โI grew up playing soccer at a high level, working out, stressing out my body, but firefighting has been one of the most straining, most mentally hard things Iโve ever done in my whole life. There are things Iโm doing at the station that I never thought I could do.โ
One of those things she had to learn was throwing a ladder โ placing a ladder on your shoulder and raising it into position. This method allows a single firefighter to position a ladder for ventilation or rescue operations without assistance. Ladders are tall and heavy, posing a challenge for Fetters, who is just 5 foot 2. But Fetters, with the encouragement of fellow firefighters, practiced hard and pushed herself until she could throw a ladder on her own.
