For Ashely Putney, joining the Lowell Area Fire Department offered a chance to follow in her father’s and grandfather’s footsteps.
“I’m a third-generation firefighter,” she explains. “My grandfather was a firefighter back in the 1970s.”
Meanwhile, her father is a current member of the Lowell Area Fire Department and has been part of the force for the past seven years. However, it took a few more years before Putney decided that she too wanted to join the department. “It wasn’t until I was older that I realized that I wanted to become a firefighter and serve my community,” she says.
Now 25 years old, Putney has been a paid, on-call firefighter in Lowell for three years and says it isn’t just her father’s presence that makes the department feel like family. “Being part of the fire department is like having one large family,” she explains.
Putney says every call is memorable in its own way, but she especially likes seeing the look on kids’ faces when they see a fire truck on the road.
When she’s not working at the fire station, Putney enjoys camping and spending time with her family and friends. She also serves as a security guard and medical officer for a local manufacturer.
As one nearly 30 members of the Lowell Area Fire Department, Putney is one of the faces residents might see when they call for assistance. And providing that help is exactly why Putney says she joined the department: “I became a firefighter to help others and serve my community.”
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