SHARLIENE
BOWERS
TITLE: Deputy Fire Chief
LOCATION: Fleetwood, PA
YEARS ON THE JOB: 32When Sharliene Bowers isn’t serving
with the Ruscombmanor Volunteer
Fire Company, she’s in the dog show
ring with two of her five German shep-
herds. After noticing how comforting
they were to her husband and fellow
firefighter, Tom Rhoads
—
who happens
to be the department’s fire chief
—
she
decided to get 3-year-old Jaeger certi-
fied as an emotional-support animal.
“Many first responders have problems
opening up to people. So most think
we don’t get emotional, but we’re only
human,” Sharliene says. “A dog opens
that curtain a little bit. And even if they
don’t want to talk, he’s a furry shoulder
to cry on.” At press time, she and
Jaeger were in the midst of the process
of getting certification from the
Alliance of Therapy Dogs, which
involves at least three sessions with
a professional evaluator to ensure
that Jaeger can stay calm in schools,
hospitals and other places therapy dogs
routinely visit. Once certified, Sharliene
and Jaeger will be available to anyone
who needs them, but especially to first
responders. “If I can help just one of
my brothers and sisters, it’ll be worth
it,” she says. —Lizz SchumerDiscover hometown herœs
26 GH NOVEMBER^2019
TAMARA AND
BRENT JONAS
TITLES: Firefighters & Paramedics
LOCATION: Grand Prairie, TX
YEARS ON THE JOB: 15 and 20As a first-responder couple serving
at two different stations
—
they’ve been
married for six years and have three
children
—
Tamara and Brent Jonas
have a special bond forged through
knowing how intense the job can be.
Along with emotionally supporting
each other, mental compartmentaliza-
tion is important. To stay grounded,
Tamara and Brent practice yoga and
exercise, work on their farm, volunteer
at church and try to leave work at the
station. But even when the couple’s
minds are off the job, their hearts
are always in it. The Jonases run a
seasonal fireworks stand that offers
discounts to active and retired first
responders and members of the
military. At the end of the season,
they donate a portion of their profits
to their church and to local police
and fire departments. “We’re very
grateful that we get to help people,”
Tamara says. “And we feel very blessed
that we’re capable of doing it.” —L.S.to look for the son, who was stuck
in the mud at the pond’s bottom.
Finding him, they carried him
out and started performing CPR.
Soon after that, the fire department
arrived. Both the woman and her
son survived, and later the boy’s
grandparents came in to thank
Lori for her bravery.
The experience changed Lori in
a way she hadn’t expected: “I had
always wanted to be a firefighter,
but growing up I didn’t think it
was a career for women, so I didn’t
pursue it. There were a couple of
women firefighters who responded
to the accident that day, and I
thought, I can do this.”
Still, it took another dramatic
event to convince her to pursue the
calling. Four years later, when her
dad suffered a massive stroke, the
heroism of the first responders who
came to his rescue inspired Lori to
enroll in firefighter school. “Now
when I go on calls for stroke victims,
it’s dear to my heart,” she says.
Despite facing some standoffish-
ness as a woman in a predominantly
male field, she didn’t let the few
naysayers get to her. “When
I first started, there were some older
guys, now retired, who didn’t think
women should be in this line of
work, and you could tell,” she says.
“That can be disheartening, but it
motivated me. I mean, I go through
the same physical testing; I wear
the same amount of gear. Once
you prove yourself, it changes, but
it takes a while for some people to
come around. My current station
isn’t like that. I go to work and it’s
like I get to hang with a bunch of
friends, brothers and sisters while
helping save people along the way.”
She hopes that by being on the
GH cover, she can inspire other
women to keep pushing forward
and become first responders as
well. “When I got hired, there were
90 women in our department of
1,300. We’re hiring a lot more, which
makes me happy,” she says. “Don’t
let the other stuff stop you from
pursuing this career.” Consider
the hero you could become.