BreAnna Droge — the newest Topeka Fire Department recruit — said she is thankful for the women who came before her and excited for those who will follow.
Droge is the first woman to be recruited to the fire department after spending time at Camp Courage, a camp designed to encourage young women ages 16 to 20 years old to learn more about firefighting.
“It’s just a really cool process because it brings you back to when you were doing that,” said Brendy Brundage, head coordinator at the camp. “You remember how focused and determined you were. It’s really cool seeing that in other people because they’re going love the job.”
Brundage said the goal is to encourage women to join because women traditionally don’t become firefighters.
“You want them to have fun,” Brundage said. “We want to keep it fun, but we also want them to know this is a serious, dangerous job.”
A life-changing introduction
Droge attended the 2021 Camp Courage when she was 19 after her mother recommended it
“By Tuesday, I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is what I want to do forever,'” said Droge, who attended Hayden High School.
Droge said the experience was eye-opening and showed her she could spend her life as a firefighter.
“When the men came in there, I could see an equal level of respect,” Droge said. “Everyone viewed each other as equals, and I really liked that. I really liked seeing how just because they were women didn’t mean that they were any less. Or just because they’re women didn’t mean that they couldn’t do this job as well as a man could.
“And I think that was really eye-opening.
After attending the camp, Droge decided to work toward a career in firefighting while finishing school. She will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Spanish with an emphasis in medical terms from Rockhurst University later this month.
What is Camp Courage?
The camp started in 2019. This year will be the fifth edition for the camp.
The fire department accepts about 20 young women. This year’s camp will be June 3-7. Applications are closed for this year’s camp, and applications for the 2025 camp will open in the early spring.
Activities take place across the city, including headquarters, 324 S.E. Jefferson St., and the department’s neighboring training facility.
BreAnna Droge felt a call to service
After working toward becoming a firefighter for the past two and a half years, Droge received the call that began her career. She was at work when she was offered a position at the Topeka Fire Department.
“I was trying so hard to maintain my composure because I was so excited,” Droge said. “I was just so relieved. … I think because I knew there were so many other people that could have been chosen over me. I actually had to take a minute from work, because I was just trying not to cry because I was just so elated.”
After getting the call to service, she began training at the Citizens Fire Academy. She will also complete her training this month. She then will be sent to Alabama to get Hazmat certified and return for emergency medical technician training.
By the end of the summer, she will be serving Topeka in full capacity.
Droge said she is looking forward to being present in the community and showing other Hispanic women that firefighting is an option.
“I feel like a lot of people like females and minorities, we don’t always see that,” Droge said. “We don’t always see this as a job opportunity. Growing up, I only knew one other Hispanic person that was a firefighter. Now that I’m older and I’m here, I see so many other branches of life, so much diversity here, in nationalities, cultures and genders. And I think that’s great to see.”
Droge said many women she met through Camp Courage and the fire department had encouraged her and routinely checked up on her. She said Capt. Diane Hawkins took Droge under her wing.
Firefighter recruit is one of eight going through academy
Droge is one of eight academy students who started training in April. While in training, she has spent every day working out, learning and practicing real-life scenarios.
While she said she’s been dreaming for these moments, she also has had moments of frustration and struggle.
She said there were times when she struggled and didn’t get things right immediately. She said she has struggled with hose management and running the hose.
“I was getting frustrated at points, but I just kept reminding myself, this just along with everything else that we learned is going to be one of the most important parts of the job,” Droge said. “If I can’t do this, I can’t help someone else. So, that’s really what I tell myself when I’m out there, ‘If you can’t do this, you can’t do your job.'”
‘I want to be the bright light in their horrible day’
With her academy and college graduations coming, Droge reflected on what she hopes her future career will look like.
“I’m ready to be done, move on to the next part of my life,” Droge said. “I think that this job is really me moving up, (I’m) really becoming an adult, being my own person, an individual, and being able to help my community.”
Droge said she plans to use her Spanish degree while on the job because of the large Hispanic population in Topeka roughly 16% of Topeka residents are Hispanic or Latino, according to the 2022 United State Census. She said she hopes she can help members of the Topeka community who don’t speak English and primarily speak Spanish.
“I’ve seen it where people get stressed out and worried and then they can’t communicate,” Droge said. “I would just hate for that to be something that impedes someone’s health or impedes someone’s chance of survival.”
Droge is counting down the days until she can go into the field and make an impact.
“Honestly, I’m just excited to go out and be around the community and get to help out,” Droge said. “You know, when people call 911, that’s normally the worst day of their lives and I want to be the bright light in their horrible day.
“If I can just do one thing to make that horrible day a little bit better, I want to experience that. I want to be there for that person.”
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topeka Fire Department gets first female recruit from Camp Courage
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