PHOTOS: Kyle Blakeslee wants you to be part of Sioux Falls Fire Rescue. Sheโs passionate about the work she does and serving others, and sheโs hoping to encourage more women to apply to the fire department. For Blakeslee, 34, the route to becoming a firefighter was a bit all over the place and a bit like the obvious answer to โwhat do you want to be when you grow up?โ
A good friend who was a fire captain encouraged her, her uncle was a firefighter in Wisconsin, and her cousin married a firefighter. โI just kind of grew up around it,โ Blakeslee said. โThey all encouraged me to apply. Iโm just someone who canโt sit at a desk. The fire department was a really good option for me.โ
For the past year, Blakeslee has been a fire and life safety educator, which allows her to plan classes and educational events for the public while also keeping up her training for the department. โIโm very active and pretty athletic, and just the intensity and physicality of the fire department drew me in. I also have a heart for service, and interacting with the public is great,โ Blakeslee said.
