One of Greenwood’s newest firefighters recently made history, becoming the department’s first female firefighter.
Dana Ruark was sworn in as a full-time firefighter in January after working part-time at the department since 2018. Being a career firefighter was a fairly recent dream for the 33 year old, she said.
Ruark graduated in 2010 from IUPUI with a degree in exercise science. For nearly 10 years, she worked in physical therapy, but nothing about that career choice struck a chord in her, she said, not like firefighting.
Her husband is also a firefighter at a different department. Through him, she began offering workout training to the firefighters at his department.
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"I started doing their training with them. Then one day they said, ‘Hey, why don’t you just be a firefighter?’" Ruark said.
Although she trained with the firefighters regularly, she never thought she could be one, she said.
"I grew to love the physicality of it," she said. "But my concern was I wasn’t strong enough."
Ruark returned to school in August 2016, undergoing training to become a firefighter and paramedic. The coursework was intense, she said. There’s textbook training on the basics of putting out fires and providing medical attention. There’s also physical training, which involves a lot of heavy lifting, climbing ladders and moving around in firefighting gear.
"It doesn’t matter if you’re male or female, they just want to know that you can show up and do the job and not quit," Ruark said.
A challenge Ruark had to overcome was her fear of heights. She had to climb a 100-foot ladder at a 70-degree angle, she said.
"It was like straight up, and heights really hadn’t been my thing," Ruark said.
Her first time on the ladder was not successful, she said. She got about 20 feet up and her "fight or flight" kicked in. It was one of the few times she wanted to quit.
She didn’t give up though, she said. She climbed the ladder every Friday morning, pushing herself to go higher each week. Her classmates were very supportive, helping her overcome the obstacle, she said.
"I was going to push through it, and I had a family there to get me through it," Ruark said. "It’s not like it was a dangerous situation that no one could get through; it was climbing a ladder."
Ruark began working part time in 2018 at the Greenwood Fire Department.
During those 12-hour shifts, she spent most of her time learning the fire engine inside and out, she said. She had to learn every detail, including how much water is in the truck, what tools are on board and what’s in the medical bag, she said.
She hit the ground running, she said. There were two fires her first week on the job.
"We had six people pile into the engine, and I’m gearing up, getting all flustered," Ruark said of the first fire run she went on.
When she got to the scene, Ruark learned just how quickly she had to act, she said.
“I jumped out and grabbed the nozzle and I stopped … I just looked at my officer and asked, ‘Am I allowed to do that?’” she said. “He just looked at me, and before I knew it, someone had taken the nozzle from me and put the fire out.”
The Greenwood Fire Department doesn’t deal with a lot of fires. In fact, most calls are medical runs, Ruark said.
A lot has changed since Ruark was sworn in in January. First responders across the state and country are faced with a new reality as a potentially deadly virus—COVID-19—continues to spread. It’s stressful, she said, but it doesn’t stop her from doing her job.
First responders are prepared to deal with possible COVID-19 patients by wearing gloves, masks and face shields while on medical runs. Callers are also screened for symptoms before paramedics every step foot in a house.
"It can be stressful, but this is what I signed up for," Ruark said. "It’s easy to think, ‘Oh, I don’t want to get sick and this and that.’ But that’s not what this job is … Now let’s go out and take care of these people who need us the most."
For the department which, in recent years, has worked to diversify its staff, it was refreshing to see Ruark rise through the ranks to become a career firefighter, Chief Darin Hoggatt said.
"She’s chosen this as a career. Her drive, her personality, everything lends that to a successful career for 20-plus years," Hoggatt said.
The department has 52 full-time and 24 part-time firefighters. In his 24 years with the department, Hoggatt has seen five women serve in part-time roles, he said.
"We’ve always welcomed anybody. Women, older part-time retirees," Hoggatt said. "We are welcoming of anybody who will give us the sacrifice of time and commitment to the department."
Ruark is honored to be the department’s first female career firefighter, she said. And she hopes to see other women join her in the future.
"Women need to realize that you can do this," she said. "You may have to train differently than you think. You just have to show up, do the work and not think men are about to run you out of this job, because that’s not true anymore."
