By Ty Walker
The Mountain Times
When Emily Dong was 5 years old, growing up in Clackamas, she saw her father have a stroke. She saw emergency first-response vehicles race to the scene. She watched as paramedics and firefighters worked to save his life.
“He wouldn’t have made it if the fire department didn’t show up and help him out,” Dong said. “I saw that and was like, this is cool. I looked into it – firefighting.”
During high school, she attended a wildland firefighting camp, which further developed her interest in firefighting, and deepened her interest in pursuing it as a career.
Dong, now 20, has her sights set on becoming a firefighter, emergency medical technician (EMT), and eventually a paramedic. For starters, she enrolled in the Hoodland Fire District Student Program in June.
As volunteer numbers decline, the Hoodland Fire Student Program is filling the deficit with career-minded young adults who affiliate with HFD and volunteer their time in exchange for training, experience, and educational support in pursuit of college degrees in fire and EMS related fields.
“I really like helping people and I want to be the friendly face they see when they’re having a bad day,” Dong said.
Dong boards at Government Camp Sation with other students in the program . She is assigned to a crew, working alongside career firefighters on regular shifts, 48 hours on, 96 hours off. As part of the two-year student program, she also is studying at Portland Community College Cascade Campus to earn her EMT and firefighting certificates.
“I love it,” Dong said as she helped her crewmates cook teriyaki chicken with garlic broccoli fot dinner one night. “It’s fun. Everyone is so nice and other students are nice too.”
She goes on calls with the crew observing and getting hands-on training. She takes vitals, gets to sharpen her EMT skills on the scene, and meets and talks to patients.
Dong comes from a very conservative family. As a woman of Asian descent, she wants to set an example for other young women and girls who may want to pursue a career in the male-dominated field that is firefighting.
She wants to send the message that she’s got this. She can do it. Don’t listen to the naysayers.
“I come from a very conservative family,” Dong said. “My nationality is Asian, so there’s not a lot of Asian women that go into this type of work. My mom was kind of like, ‘You can’t do it.’”
Dong is out to prove that if there’s anyone who’s got what it takes to do it, she does. From a family of five, she is the middle child with an older brother and younger sister.
Dong graduated in 2023 from Clackamas High School, where she played volleyball.
During down times this summer, she’s been watching the Olympics on TV with crewmates.
She also enjoys reading and crocheting. She is currently making a blanket and carries a duffle bag full of yarn around the station.
For more information on the Hoodland Fire District Student Program, go online to www.hoodlandfire.gov/student-program.