{"id":2139,"date":"2026-11-01T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-01T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lemuseedespompiers.re\/?p=2139"},"modified":"2026-10-31T19:10:50","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T18:10:50","slug":"floriane-grondin-a-volunteer-firefighter-following-in-her-fathers-footsteps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lemuseedespompiers.re\/index.php\/en\/2026\/11\/01\/floriane-grondin-a-volunteer-firefighter-following-in-her-fathers-footsteps\/","title":{"rendered":"Floriane Grondin: a volunteer firefighter following in her father\u2019s footsteps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Floriane Grondin, 28, is a volunteer firefighter at the fire station of La Plaine-des-Palmistes, a village in the highlands of R\u00e9union, the French island in the Indian Ocean. Her father, a firefighter for 34 years, serves at the same station. Recruited at the end of 2023 together with her brother, she now chairs the station\u2019s social association.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Floriane Grondin at the watch desk of La Plaine-des-Palmistes fire station, 5 June 2025. Photo: Floriane Grondin<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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A long-standing vocation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Floriane Grondin joined the R\u00e9union fire and rescue service (SDIS) as a volunteer firefighter in the recruitment round held at the end of 2023. She was 25. The wish to join went back much further. Her father has been a firefighter for 34 years, and she grew up \u201csurrounded by firefighters, sirens and red engines\u201d. His colleagues were role models for her and, in her words, \u201ca real family\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have always seen my father as a hero. It may be a bit of a clich\u00e9, but I have huge admiration for him and for what he does.\u201d From her mother she took other values: altruism, empathy and a sense of responsibility. At secondary school, when a pupil felt unwell, others would turn to her to look after them until an adult arrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end it was a friend who encouraged her to apply. Joining the fire service, she explains, was a way of \u201cgiving a concrete place to this wish to help\u201d and of gaining proper skills in caring for people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preparing for recruitment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Her family was surprised at first, and somewhat reluctant. The job brings to mind physical strength and danger; she stresses another side of it: \u201cYou also have to be able to think, analyse a situation, make decisions and work as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the physical test she trained morning and evening. The written test and the interview followed, and her family lived through the preparation with her: \u201cI must have worn them out with my preparation, making them listen to me talk again and again about the SDIS or recite my interview answers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her brother sat the same tests at the same time, and both passed. For her, it is a way of \u201ccarrying on, each in our own way, this family history linked to the fire service\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Aerial ladder drill during the initial firefighting course for volunteer firefighters (FIV INC), March 2026. Photo taken by a chief warrant officer from Saint-Denis fire station<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Town hall by day, fire station by night<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Like most French firefighters, she is a volunteer: she serves alongside her main job. Since her first interview with the SDIS, in April 2024, that job has changed. She is now deputy director of the Sport, Community Life and Local Events departments at the town hall of La Plaine-des-Palmistes, and head of its Health Promotion service. She helps coordinate the local health contract and the Sport and Health Centre, which run prevention programmes for residents on nutrition, physical activity, addiction, inclusion and the independence of vulnerable people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn my job, I mostly work on prevention, while at the station I respond to emergencies.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two roles feed each other: \u201cThese two experiences inform one another and give me knowledge I can use in each of them.\u201d Her working day at the town hall runs from 8 am to 5 pm, so she takes her shifts at the station in the evening, at weekends or during her holidays. She \u201cloves being on duty so much\u201d that she sometimes takes days off work to spend them at the station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ride back<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With two years of service (\u201cI\u2019ve only got two years in my boots\u201d), she does not single out one call. What stays with her is a moment: the ride back to the station after a difficult call. The crew commander and the crew go over the decisions taken, the difficulties met and what could have been done differently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOther people\u2019s views help me see what I did well and what I can improve, and they help me gradually gain confidence in my skills.\u201d These conversations matter for the team too: in her view, \u201ca team\u2019s cohesion is built as much during calls as in the discussions that follow\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reviving the station association<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Like most French fire stations, La Plaine-des-Palmistes has an amicale<\/em>, a members\u2019 association that organises social and sporting life for the station\u2019s personnel. Her role as its chair started with a detail. At the sports events held for Saint Barbara\u2019s Day 2025 (Saint Barbara is the firefighters\u2019 patron saint), the station\u2019s small group had no printed T-shirts, unlike the other teams: \u201cWe felt a bit like the ugly ducklings.\u201d She set up a WhatsApp group to suggest a shared T-shirt to the station\u2019s personnel, and the idea was well received.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New volunteers were arriving at the same time. The outgoing chair, still in office, suggested to others that she take over, then came to ask her himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The association organises cycling and motorbike outings and pays part of the meal costs. On 13 July 2026, the eve of France\u2019s national day, it held the station\u2019s first firefighters\u2019 ball, a tradition across France. The committee has five members who want, as their chair puts it, \u201cto show that our station deserves its place just as much as those on the coast\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n

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rench National Day ceremony at La Plaine-des-Palmistes, 13 July 2025. Photo: N. Carcany<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Serving her own village<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In La Plaine-des-Palmistes, many residents know one another. \u201cBehind every call there are residents, families, sometimes faces you know.\u201d At the town hall as at the station, she says she finds the same wish to be useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wearing the uniform at the station where her father serves means something particular to her: \u201ccarrying on a family history while building my own, serving people I am attached to\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A woman in the crew<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At her station, she says, she is not treated differently from the men: \u201cNobody handles me with kid gloves.\u201d She has not met any obstacle linked to being a woman. In some sensitive situations, her ability to reassure patients is an asset for the crew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m a gentle person, with character. For me, those two things are not contradictory.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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Putting on firefighting gear during the immersion days before the FIV INC course, La Plaine-des-Palmistes fire station, 26 February 2026. Photo: J. Gauvin<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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She still thinks there is a long way to go. Women remain few in the profession, and fewer still among non-commissioned and commissioned officers. \u201cIt is important that women can see themselves in these roles, progress and take on responsibilities without their place being called into question.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her advice<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Women from La Plaine-des-Palmistes sometimes come to her with their doubts before applying. She always tells them the same thing: \u201cYou have nothing to lose, only things to prove to yourself.\u201d And, as people say in R\u00e9union Creole: \u201cPa kapab l\u00e9 mor san \u00e9s\u00e9y\u00e9!<\/em>\u201d You cannot say you are not capable until you have tried.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key dates<\/h3>\n\n\n\n