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Wendy Simelane's job does not allow her to wear nail polish, weave or any colourful earrings, but she will not trade it for anything.
Simelane, 37, of Kempton Park on the East Rand, has been a firefighter for over a decade and is now a rescue technician, able to work in an ambulance and in rescue of people from burning or collapsed buildings and even underground.
Before becoming a firefighter at the OR Tambo International Airport, she worked for a company which ran an executive car parking space.
It was during this time that she saved money to train as a firefighter for five months in Pretoria.
She started working as a firefighter at the airport in 2008 for two years which she admits "there wasn't much action unless there was a problem with a flight".
However, drills at the airport were done on a daily basis and that required her fitness levels to be on top.
Simelane's dream of getting into real action of saving lives began when she joined the City of Johannesburg's Emergency Management Services in 2010.
"I've always wanted to be a firefighter all my life. Even when I was at home [in KwaZulu-Natal], when I heard a siren, I would run out to check if it is a fire engine.
"If I found that it is police vehicle, I would come back. If it was a fire engine, my day would be made," she said.
Simelane sees a firefighter as someone who does more than what medical doctors do in saving lives.
"A doctor waits for the patient to come to him. I go to where the patient is, to help them in a life-threatening situation. I bring the distressed patient to the doctor," she said.
Among the demands her job requires, fitness tops it all.
"When it comes to firefighting, physical fitness is the most crucial thing. For you to get a job here, you don't sit in front of a panel. You bring your takkies and have to run 2.4km in 12 minutes. They don't care if you are male or female.
"If you pass the running test, you then have to pick up heavy objects and they time each task," she said.
Despite these demands, the Newcastle-born rescue technician is passionate about what she does.
As a firefighter, she cannot put on long nails as they affect her ability to hold on to ropes while coming down a building.
She cannot put nail polish because it is flammable. She also cannot wear a weave as a part of it can protrude through the respiratory protection on the face.
"I will never swap my job for anything. I don't care how much another job can pay."
Simelane concedes that there is a lack of female representation in the job which she attributes to the level of fitness when women go through assessment.
Being a firefighter also comes with seeing terrible scenes which are difficult to process.
The worst moment in her job was when she responded to a call where an elevator fell on a worker next to Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital.
She and her colleagues had to put together pieces of the man's remains which were scattered on the floor.
But what shakes her the most is the loss of a child.
Despite this soft spot, she has since learned to pick herself up so that by the time she arrives home she has recovered for her husband and their 14-year-old son.
"Not everyone is for this job. In my case, I've never had counselling.
"I tell myself that whatever happens, it is fine. I declare the patient dead and by the time I reach the station, I'm okay."
dlaminip@sowetan.co.za
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