Mother And Daughter Firefighters Volunteer

• Name:  Captain Renee Sorenson is the first female firefighter to serve as an officer on the Towaco Volunteer Fire Department. The 42 year-old mom, and professional EMT, has served on the squad for six years; three of them alongside her daughter, 19 year-old Danielle. “I’ve been a professional EMT for the past 16 years, now,” Sorenson noted. “I wanted to try something different. So, I did it, and I love it.” Out of the 30 firefighters who serve on the Towaco Volunteer Fire Department squad, 3 are women.
• What Part of Town: Originally from Lincoln Park, Sorenson has lived in Towaco for almost two years.  When she joined the Towaco Fire Department, her husband at the time was also a volunteer fire fighter. “He’s the one that brought me into it,” Sorenson said.
• Most Rewarding: “Being able to help people,” said Sorenson. “Being an EMT and being a firefighter, I know that I can help them not just on one side, but on both. When I go to a fire call, I go as a firefighter, but the EMT is still back there thinking, ‘Make sure that the people are fine also.’”
• Most Difficult: “The heat,” explained Sorenson. “Wearing all the gear, cause, you know, I am not a spring chicken like everybody else is. So, it’s hot.”
• Most Memorable: “Watching my daughter graduate fire school,” Sorenson said.
• On Being Female: “When I joined they pretty much took me under their wing,” Sorenson said about the male firefighters on the Towaco squad. “When I went through Fire I, five years ago, there were five girls that started and I graduated with three. Two of them just couldn’t make it. We went through fire school saying that we had to prove ourselves because we were females. We didn’t want people to look at us and go, ‘Oh, they can’t do that because they’re going to break a nail’ or anything like that, so, we gave it a hundred and ten percent. Just to prove to everybody else that we were there, and we were there to be just as good as the guys.”
• Favorite Thing about Montville Township:  “The people,” Sorenson noted. “Definitely the people. When we show up at their house, they’re very pleasant. They’re very inviting. They’re very pleasant people.”
• Something you would change about Montville Township: Sorenson has moved to Towaco twice in six years. In between she returned to Lincoln Park. Because she lived right over the border, Sorenson was able to continue her duties with the Towaco Volunteer Fire Department. She moved back to town because she likes Towaco. The only thing she would like to see change is more female firefighters on the squad.
• Career:  “I’ve been a volunteer EMT since 1995. I made it my job because I liked doing it as a volunteer,” said Sorenson. “I took it up as my job because I enjoy helping people. It’s very rewarding.” Sorenson works three twelve hour shifts in Fairfield each week for Atlantic Ambulance. “Outside of that, I’m a fire fighter.”
• The Squad: As captain, Sorenson is in charge of training and orienting new members.  She has also implemented a new training program for Junior firefighters. “We had an influx of juniors come in,” noted Sorenson. She trained with them to get them started and prepared for being on a scene, and to prepare them for fire school.  According to Sorenson, being a member of the volunteer fire department is like having “an expanded family.” She joined the squad for the camaraderie. “Volunteering, it’s a good feeling,” added Sorenson. “To tell someone that, ‘I don’t get paid for this. I do this because I want to be there for you.’”
• Hobbies:  Knitting and crafting are Sorenson’s hobbies. She also enjoys gardening.
• Philosophy: “Life is short, live it to the fullest.”

Tomorrow in our First Responder column, meet Sorenson's daughter, Danielle.