For Presly Fluter, firefighting is a family affair. She followed her father, a firefighter, to the fire hall when she was 14-years-old for Take your Child to Work day. The experience was so inspiring, she didn't want to leave.

Fluter first followed that passion for emergency services into the medical field, working as a paramedic in Spiritwood, Sask. but knew she wanted something more for her career and decided to give firefighting a shot.

That choice led the Saskatoon native to Lakeland's emergency services technology (EST) program, in the firefighting stream. She chose Lakeland on the recommendation of friends who had completed the program, as well as the advice of her then-fiancé, Lakeland alumnus Dylan Fluter. He completed the EST program in 2016.

“Everyone I heard from said it was a phenomenal program,” Fluter says. “There are nothing but great things said about the instructors, the training facility and the physical education that is part of the program.”

Her experience in the program has lived up to the hype, a positive one that has kept her busy - but not too busy to marry her now-husband this past summer.

“My Lakeland experience has been truly amazing,” she says. “There are tons of hands-on learning opportunities here. They put a lot of focus on work-integrated learning. We have been doing truck inspections, equipment and maintenance checks, driving the trucks around, so those experiences just progress into being part of our day-to-day lives and habits. We've been getting an extensive amount of experience with driver training and we've been able to fight live fires. We get so much hands-on experience compared to other schools. It's so valuable and a lot of people learn better that way too.”

Throughout the course of the year, Fluter explains, each student is given the opportunity to cycle through leadership roles in whichever company they are assigned. Each week, the companies - Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta - have a new captain and new battalion chief.

“It gives us a chance to serve in a leadership role. It really makes people step up to the plate,” Fluter says. “It's been the best thing for me and a lot of others as well.”

Perhaps the most transformative part of Fluter's Lakeland experience, however, has been family-oriented. Not only was she inspired to pursue firefighting because of her father, as well as marrying a Lakeland EST graduate, Fluter found something she didn't expect: a sense of family within the school itself.

“The instructors have been absolutely amazing,” she says. “It's been wonderful to work with so many people in this program as well. The camaraderie here is amazing. It's like a family. I've never had that with any other schooling that I've done.”

Fluter completed the program in November and hopes to join Dylan at the Saskatoon Fire Department.

Photos: Top-Presly Fluter in firefighting gear at Lakeland College's Emergency Training Centre. Middle-Firefighter students participate in a scenario at Lakeland College's Emergency Training Centre grounds. Presly Fluter in uniform.