Firefighter Emily Owens is a St. Norbert College graduate whose not only debunking stereotypes in her career field, but is part of the groundbreaking efforts to help diversify the fire industry.
"I didn't always get a lot of support as the only woman on a crew. There was a time when I was the only woman on a crew. There was a time when I was the only woman working on a prescribed fire and people didn't really bother learning my name. They just called me girl. That was really hard for me,” Owens said. Owens is part of the Montana Conservation Corps and thanks to a generous grant from the National Park Foundation, they were able to help launch a program to create an all women fire crew.
"I applied for the women's fire crew because I knew we would be more of a safe space. And I knew they would likely have similar reasons for wanting to apply for this crew,” Owens said.