Ever since she was little, Penn State Altoona Junior Jamie White wanted to follow in her older brother’s footsteps to become a firefighter.

At the age of 16, White’s brother began volunteering as a firefighter and White was so intrigued by it she started her own training when she turned 15 years old.

“I kinda wanted to see what their was to it other than just the lights and sirens. Then I just fell in love with it.” said White.

Five years later she is still volunteering and spends her time at the Mount Union Fire Company when she’s home and at the Smithfield Volunteer Firefighter Company during the school year.

The process to become a volunteer firefighter is extensive and comes in several different parts. Those interested start with learning the essentials of firefighting. They begin with the intro to fire service and learn the background of firefighting. They then move onto fireground, exterior firefighting, interior firefighting, and then a live burn.

A live burn is where all the classroom skills have to be demonstrated, as the student runs into a burning building and try to put out the fire. Basic vehicle and hazmat classes are also required to help firefighters know how to work their equipment and how to deal with exposure to toxic chemicals.

Even though it is a long process White’s advice to anyone considering becoming a firefighter is to “do it… absolutely do it, go for as much training as you can dive in head first… it’s a blast”.

White has also set out to challenge the social norm of the firefighting field, seeing that only 7% of firefighters are women, according to the National Fire Protection Association. She sometimes gets discouraging comments for being a woman firefighter.

“Because it a predominantly male field people always ask ‘oh do you really think you can do that’”  said White “(but) basically I wasn’t going to take no for an answer I knew it was something I really wanted to do”

A month before beginning her freshman year at Penn State Altoona, White was offered a paid full time firefighter job. She made the decision to turn down the offer to try out the college experience.

Even though White is still currently working towards a nursing degree she has no intention of putting firefighting on hold.

“I couldn’t stop even if I wanted to” said White. “It’s something I absolutely love, it’s something i’ve poured my heart into, and it something I don’t think I could give up”

White plans to fill out an application for the Logan Township Fire Department in the near future to run even more fire calls while attending school.