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VDI ol-N [i RTo eo [e]e] Vol. 4, No. 25 Tuesday, January 24, 1995 RESCUE 101 ' ¢ Patricia Core, the only female firefighter Call (905) 985-6397 CIRC. 13,500 4 with the Scugog Volunteer department. See story below. (Photo by Heather McCrae) 17086 Housing starts up sharply in Scugog for '94 Housing starts in Scugog took a sharp jump upwards in 1994, according to a year- end report from the Township building department. Scugog issued permits for 90 new homes in 1994, nearly double the 53 permits of 1993. Those 90 permits for single family homes had a value of just over $11.8 million.In 1993, the value of single family home permits was $6.1 million. Permits in 1994 for residential additions and ferations dropped to 66 from 82 the previous year, but the number of new farm buildings increased from 16 to 22. The total number of building permits issued in 1994 by the Township was 275 in 1994, up from 238 the previous year. And tlie value of those permits was slightly over $15.8 million, compared with $15.3 in 1993. However, the 1993 dollar value included a single permit for the expansion at Community Hospital at $5.2 million. While the increase in new home construction in 1994 spells good news, local realtors surveyed recently by the Citizen agreed that the health of the housing market in 1995 will depend on what happens to interest rates. R Rates moved up sharply in the last couple of weeks as the Bank of Canada moved to shore up a falling Canadian dollar. Flyers this week Flyers this week in your Scugog Citizen (selected areas for each) areas follows: *Hong Kong Golden Gate *F.M. Windows *Big V Drugs A dream came true for this firefighter by Heather McCrae As a young girl growing up in Qakville, Patricia Core often dreamed of being a fire fighter some day. Her uncle, William Core, who was then the Fire Chief for the City of Brampton, loved having his niece pop in to the Station. Awed by the size of the trucks and the wail of the sirens, these visits were a cherished part of Patricia's childhood Today, her dream has come true as she's currently the only female fire fighter with the volunteer Scugog Department. But, it's taken a while for Patricia's dream to come true. "Fire fighting wasn't a caréer choice when I graduated from high school" she told the Citizen "So after graduation I stgrted working in an office." In 1986, Patricia and her family moved to Port Perry, to a home close to the Fire Hall Thoughts of being a firefighter constantly haunted her and, in 1992, she finally filled out an application. sAfter an interview with District Fire Chief Bill Harrison and Chief Don Steele, Patricia was hired on as of March 1, 1993 and served the required probationary year. "I enjoy it" she told the Citizen, "even more so than I thought I would!" Carrying a pager with her at all times, she's 'on call' 24 hours a day and_ responds to car accidents, emergency medical calls, boat rescues and, of course, fires The Scugog Township Fire Department has two extrication teams; one that competes in local competitions, which the young mother qualified to be on last year, and another team that BUYING OR SELLING enters larger competitions. Although Patricia wasn't on the latter she travelled to the Eastern Ontario Auto Extrication Competitions in Gananoque last year, to lend the Scugog team moral support, and came home with a Gold Medal! - At the competitions the West Carleton team was "minus a couple of members and asked Patricia If she'd fill in. Being on a team where she didn't know any of the other fellas, she told the Citizen, "we all clicked -- everything went we'l and we won a Gold Meda!" Breed on the use of hand tools only, (no power means are used), the team won the Basic Division of the Competition But, being a volunteer fire fighter doesn't mean she only fights fires and attends to other emergencies. Everyone does their fair share of scrubbing floors and 2? SEE OUR REAL ES1 such, and maintaining the trucks, all part of keeping the Fire Hall up to par. And then there are community events and Department devotes time tg, such as the Remembrance Day and Santa Claus parades and food drives, to name a few. Fire drills within the schools and other community buildings take place throughout the year and are totally staffed by volunteer fire fighters. Every Monday night Patricia and her fellow firefighters attend training sessions at the Hall. At Kotya Peekin', where she works, when the pager goes off her boss is very understanding if she suddenly packs up to rush out on a call. "When that pager goes off I get an adrenalin rush" she explained. "That.sounds bad when it's because of someone's misfortune that I'm called out, ATE but I find it gratifying to be able _to help and make a difference" Being the only woman on staff, she says that the guys accept her. "They're pretty good to me" she smiled "I've made some wonderful friends through the Department and it's a good opportunity to serve my community" she concluded. You have to be pretty strong to be able to handle a lot of the tools, especially the Jaws of Life that can weigh up to 75 pounds. To keep in shape, Patricia tries to work out at least four times a week. Chief Steele told the Citizen, "Patricia is an outstanding fire fighter. Employed on the front line, she's keen, interested and dedicated to her work as a fire fighter". SECTION