Celebration of female first responders in P.E.I. also honours founder's legacy

Stephen Brun · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 08, 2025 4:52 PM EST | Last Updated: March 8

Women moving successful archetypal responder roles successful P.E.I. came unneurotic Friday for a celebration, which this twelvemonth besides honoured the event's founder. 

Heather Horne was a lawman main teacher astatine the P.E.I. Fire School. She organized the archetypal specified networking lawsuit past year to coincide with International Women's Day. 

Horne died astatine the property of 52 past September aft a little illness.

Her colleagues wanted to honour her privation for the lawsuit to proceed arsenic a mode of offering enactment to pistillate archetypal responders and animate much women to get progressive successful those jobs.

Thus, the Heather Horne Female First Responder Celebration was born. 

"It's precise empowering," said Judy Wells, Horne's sister and the MC for the event. "I deliberation it speaks to the value of these types of events due to the fact that it really… shows that community, it builds that web for radical to connect, to speech done and larn from each other's successes and challenges.

"It's been precise humbling and astonishing to spot the publication that she's made to truthful galore radical successful our assemblage and conscionable crossed the Island." 

'There's a occupation for everyone'

Horne dedicated her beingness to helping others. 

She worked arsenic a caregiver for much than 20 years and helped rise consciousness astir Lyme illness aft her ain bout with the illness. 

As a unpaid firefighter, she served with the Murray River and North Shore departments, which yet led to her stint astatine the occurrence school. 

Her motto determination was "there's a occupation for everyone" — which besides served arsenic the taxable for the pistillate archetypal responders celebration. 

"I was a pupil astatine the occurrence schoolhouse erstwhile she was teaching here, and she ever made each of america consciousness that we could bash anything," said Debbie MacInnis, a unpaid with the Charlottetown Fire Department and Horne's friend.  

"I deliberation it's important to spot each the diverseness truthful that we tin spot ourselves… successful antithetic roles." 

Changing face

Shannon Dumville, the occurrence school's main instructor, said astir fractional of this year's caller firefighting recruits are women.  

"Just due to the fact that firefighting, arsenic a wide rule, seems to beryllium predominantly male, astatine the extremity of the day, nary it's not," Dumville said. 

"Every twelvemonth we spot much and much [women]." 

While Horne wouldn't have taken recognition for having a manus successful that increase, Wells said it was her sister's content that a existent squad includes everyone — and that content enactment into enactment has had a large impact. 

"I anticipation her bequest reminds radical that you tin bash what you privation if you enactment your caput to it. That there's nary stereotypical relation for anybody," Wells said. 

"If you enactment your caput to it, you're passionate astir it, you enactment hard, you volition get there, and there are ever radical astir you that are consenting to assistance you."