As a high school student, volunteer work is a common thing. However, one student at Gibson Southern has found a very unique place to give her time and energy..
Junior Kyra Matsel volunteers at the Owensville Montgomery Township Fire Protection District and has volunteered there for most of her time in high school.
“Kyra has been around the station for three or four years,” said Owensville Montgomery Township Fire Protection chief Jerome Wade. “She started with some community service programs for some of her extracurricular activities at the high school.”
Matsel has been going down to the fire station since she was eight years old. Her love for the fire station started with her older brother.
“I decided to start volunteering after my older brother got in when I was seven years old,” Matsel said. “He brought me down one year for the Watermelon Festival, and I’ve gone down ever since.”
While at the fire station, there are many different tasks and activities Matsel does as volunteer work.
“At the fire station, we all have an assigned work detail to clean the station or check the trucks, and we each complete our own then we just hang out or run through training,” Matsel said. “I go down for meetings every Thursday, and I go on as many runs as I can make.”
During her time at the fire station, Matsel completed multiple different types of training.
“We officially put her on the roster as a cadet about a year ago since then she has completed her EMR (Emergency Medical Responder) training and is currently attending HAZMAT awareness and operations training,” Wade said. “Kyra does as many jobs as the rest of the people on the roster with the exception of fighting fires until she completes her training.”
Even though Matsel is only a high school student, she is involved with the work done at the fire station.
“Kyra is able to go on calls to observe and learn as long as the officer in charge allows,” Wade said.
From her time at the fire station, Matsel has learned many different skills from her volunteering.
“I have learned the proper trucks to take out for certain types of runs, how to put on turnout gear, basic EMR skills to help patients and the medics, how to flow water and how rewarding it is to get to be in the department and help people,” Matsel said.
Not only does Matsel volunteer for volunteer hours, but she also has a passion for the work she does.
“I think Kyra is a great example of what a volunteer firefighter should be,” Wade said. “She’s at the station as much as she can be and does everything she can to help and is eager to learn the trade.”
Matsel not only enjoys the work that she does but also has been able to form close relationships with the people there.
“I love everyone in the department, and they have all become my family; they are what inspire me to try and be the best at what I do,” Matsel said. “I owe being able to be in the department to my older brother and first captain, and he is my biggest role model.”
The Owensville Montgomery Township Fire Protection District does accept volunteers for anyone who lives in Owensville. Anyone over the age of 16 can fill out an application for cadet and anyone over the age of 18 can fill out an application for probationary.
Applications can be found at the Owensville Fire Department on any Thursday evening.
