First In Officer - HOT Session

  • October 18, 2019
  • 8:00am-4:00pm
  • Collège La Cité, Ottawa

Facilitated by Tracey Shields, Michele Fitzsimmons, and Anna Schermerhorn Collins

Tracey Shields

Tracey was hired as one of the first female firefighters in the City of Ottawa in 1999 and has now been promoted as the first female Lieutenant in suppression. She is currently working in a station with a heavy rescue and water rescue specialities. Tracey has also been an integral part of Camp FFIT in Ottawa, volunteering her time as an instructor with the program. Tracey has been an active member with FSWO for the past ten years, has learned valuable information, and forged new friendships.

Michele Fitzsimmons

Captain Michele Fitzsimmons is a 17-year veteran of the NYC Fire Department.  She is currently the Captain of Ladder 12 in the Chelsea section of Manhattan. She is the Co-founder and former instructor of Phoenix Firecamp.  She is a graduate of the FDNY Officers Management Institute (FOMI).  2002-2004 she served as the president of FireFLAG, the FDNY's GLBT organization.  From 2013-2015 she was an instructor at FDNY's Probationary Firefighter School.  She has been a Guest Lecturer at University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Business School and Graduate School of Education.

Anna Schermerhorn-Collins

Anna Schermerhorn-Collins is a 23-year veteran of the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY). Anna works in fire suppression as a lieutenant assigned to Engine 93 in the Washington Heights neighborhood of upper Manhattan. In 2017, Anna graduated from the Center for Homeland Defense and Security at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California with a master’s degree in Security Studies. When not at the firehouse, she is applying her degree by building an initiative to enhance personnel accountability and member welfare for catastrophic events.