The Aspiros Family

Here, read the transcript of the interview with Sylvie and Valmont Aspiros, a captain and a retired lieutenant from the Saint-Eustache Fire Safety Department.

***

Sylvie Aspiros: The funny thing was that M. Bissonnet was the one who hired my dad, but he was also the one who hired me… in 1998. I actually joined in 1999. And M. Bissonnet had hired my dad, as I said. And when I joined, it was a real shock because he’d known me for such a long time. It wasn’t really so difficult. But M. Bissonnet had always been quite… quite strict with me because he really wanted me to… for me to climb the ladder if I can put it that way, like everyone else. So, it was important for him that I do the same work, even though I was a woman. I went to see him again, the director who’d hired me. And when he saw me before… before he died, he said to me, “Sylvie, when you joined, I knew I was being hard on you, and I knew you took a breath and were careful with what you said to me.” But he said, “I wanted to do that because I wanted to show everyone that… that it’s possible.” And I was lucky because I always had good colleagues. So, it was always easy for me. And even today, you know, I always say, “My parents… made me who I am. I’m here thanks to my parents. But today, I’m the officer I am thanks to my team. Because if I hadn’t had a great team, I wouldn’t be the captain I am. There’s a really strong relationship, just like in my dad’s time. A really strong relationship with the team. With the firefighters, the lieutenant, the… the captain. And it’s important to be united to be able to do the kind of work we do. Because it’s not always easy. Sometimes we have to go out to respond to a situation, we have to get someone out of a vehicle, or we have to respond to a fire. Sometimes there’s a death. And then the team, the firefighter family, are there for each other. It’s so important because only you and your team know what you’ve been through. And you don’t want to take it home with you.