EDMONTON — Daisy vanRavenswaay has been entering burning buildings for a living for nearly five years.

She’s a firefighter with Edmonton Fire Rescue Services – one of only eight women who can make that claim.

Less than one per cent of EFRS’ 1,250 firefighters are women.

When vanRavenswaay began her journey into firefighting, she was the only woman in her class. 

“In the recruitment process, the beginning stages, we’re not getting those numbers applying,” vanRavenswaay speculated. “So that’s why we don’t see those numbers reflected in on the floor.”

That’s why EFRS launched Camp Inspire. 

The camp is meant to promote firefighting as a viable career for women and gender diverse communities.

VanRavenswaay is also Camp Inspire’s outreach coordinator.

“It’s gonna be so exciting,” she said. “For these folks it’s gonna be a great opportunity for them to get hands-on experience to learn in a fire service setting.”

This is the first year for this type of camp in Edmonton, but vanRavenswaay says other North American jurisdictions have been holding them for several years.

“Threre’s some in Ottawa, Hamilton, San Francisco, all over North America,” she said. “This is not a new thing, but it’s a new thing for Edmonton.” 

Taking place at the Poundmaker training facility, participants will be given the opportunity to work out next to EFRS members with simulated ground training, ask questions, and network with others interested in firefighting.

“Also for us to promote the representation of women,” said vanRavenswaay.

The hope being, if participants enjoy the process, they may decide to apply to become firefighters in the future. 

“I think that some women might feel like they would be scrutinized more easily in a male-dominated setting,” vanRavenswaay said of the camp. “It just kind of gives them that safe space.”

While vanRavenswaay is a minority within EFRS in terms of gender, she says she’s never felt left out.

“I have had such a positive experience within the fire department,” she said. “I’ve always felt very welcomed and supported.

“In my journey, I think there are some areas though, where you might feel a little bit more scrutinized… but I think the attention there is a good one.”

According to statistics provided by EFRS, across Canada 4.4 per cent of firefighters are women. Compared to 0.71 per cent in Edmonton, female firefighter representation in Alberta’s capital city seems to be low.

A fact vanRaveswaay hopes Camp Inspire can help change.

“Fire doesn’t care what your gender is,” she said. “We go there to an emergency scene and we do our job that we’re trained to do, and we’re going to do it regardless of our gender.”

So far 70 people have signed up to take part in the camp.

The first three-day session for Camp Inspire is scheduled from June 18-20. 

Applications are open until May 25, end-of-day.

With files from Dan Grummett

EDMONTON — Officials in one world-famous tourist destination are asking Albertans to stay away for the upcoming May long weekend.

The mayor of Banff is asking people to postpone their trips to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

About 300 kilometres north on Highway 93, Jasper’s mayor says the town nestled in Jasper National Park has “exactly what people are looking for in this pandemic.” 

But of the two mountain hotspots, only one has also been called a COVID-19 hotspot. 

“We completely understand that the town of Banff is the backyard for Albertans. They are feeling a real need to get out and get somewhere. We just need a little bit longer,” said Karen Sorensen, mayor of Banff.

“This is an incredibly hard message to put out there.”

The plea falls in line with advice from the province’s top doctor, who has said a normal summer could be partially dependent on Albertans staying close to home.

Banff saw a rise in COVID-19 cases at the end of April.

Sorensen added that the typical services offered in Banff are shuttered under current public health restrictions.

“We have no restaurants or patios open our retail is very limited. And because we are a small community, there is a fear that if someone got sick or there was an emergency there is the fear of overrunning our services.”

‘WE ARE OPEN’: JASPER MAYOR

According to the latest data, Banff is currently home to 12 COVID-19 cases, and Jasper two. But since COVID-19 was first reported in Alberta, Banff’s number of cases has tripled Jasper’s. The southern municipality has counted 800 cases in total while Jasper has had 234. 

Jasper’s mayor said he is neither encouraging nor discouraging people from visiting the town and national park. 

“We are open. We have exactly what people are looking for in this pandemic. People can come and safely enjoy, be physically distanced out in nature, but there are necessary restrictions,” Richard Ireland told CTV News Edmonton, adding he expected visitors would come anyway. 

“We’re not trying to be discouraging. We’re not taking overt efforts to be encouraging.

“We understand everyone is in their own place with this pandemic, as are we.” 

ELK ISLAND REMINDS VISITORS OF VEHICLE LIMIT 

Another park, Elk Island east of Edmonton, didn’t exactly ask visitors to stay away, but warned of the difficulty of trying to visit during peak times. 

In 2020, the park implemented a 600-vehicle limit to address high traffic volumes resulting in overcrowded parking lots and long waits for highway access. 

“Parks Canada asks visitors to enjoy Elk Island National Park midweek and not to visit on weekends,” a statement read.

“If visitors must come to Elk Island National Park on weekends, they are strongly encouraged to come before 11 a.m. or after 4 p.m. to avoid the disappointment of not being able to enter the park if the number of vehicles has exceeded capacity.”

Parks Canada officials told CTV News Edmonton the vehicle limit is likely to stay past the pandemic. 

EDMONTON — Alberta added 812 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday while the number of patients in hospitals and intensive care units fell slightly. 

It’s the fourth straight day the province has added fewer than a thousand daily new cases. 

There are now 665 Albertans in hospitals, and a total of 177 in ICUs. The province had set record high ICU patient counts both of the past two days. 

Hospitalizations had surpassed 700 as recently as a week ago.

Four more deaths were reported Thursday, including that of an Edmonton-area man in his 40s. There have now been 2,162 deaths due to COVID-19 in Alberta since the start of the pandemic.

Active cases continued to fall, down to 17,675  —  the lowest total since the value reported April 16.

The test positivity percentage was 9.27 per cent based on just over nine thousand tests. 

More than 1.9 million Albertans have now received a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. And, just over 335,000 have been fully vaccinated. 

Dr. Hinshaw will return for another in-person update after the long weekend.

RED DEER — This weekend The Market at Red Deer returns for its 51st year.

The market will open Saturday at the Servus Arena parking lot and will run every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. until Thanksgiving weekend in October.

“We’re happy to be opening,” said Dennis Moffat, the retired owner and manager of the market.

“We were concerned and afraid that we would have to stay closed for a long time, but the people of Red Deer have their market open again for the 51st year.”

The market will maintain the same COVID-19 protocols as it had last year. People are asked to wear masks and adhere to the physical distancing rule.

There will also only be one entrance and exit for customers. Moffat said the protocols worked last year as there were no cases linked to the market.

“It was tough, but it worked and people were very cooperative,” Moffat said.

He added that attendance was down last year, but hopes it improves this year.

“The sales were down and the attendance down, but it happens and we’ll fight our way through it.”

“This year we’re hoping it improves, so come down and support it.”

According to Moffat, before the pandemic, the market would bring in approximately $5 million worth of business each year.

Alberta reported fewer than a thousand new cases of COVID-19 for a third straight day on Wednesday though the number of patients in intensive care units remained near record-high levels.

The province added 908 new cases, pushing the total number of cases over the 221,000 mark. 

The deaths of six individuals, ranging in age from in their 50s to 70s, were also reported, bringing the number of COVID-19 fatalities in Alberta up to 2,158.

There are now 685 COVID-19 patients in Alberta hospitals, including 185 in intensive care units. The province set a record high patient count in ICU with 187 on Tuesday.

Approximately 10,000 tests were performed with a positivity rate of 9.1 per cent. 

Nearly 2.3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have now been administered. About 50.5 per cent of Albertans aged 12 and older have received at least one dose of vaccine.