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Sandra Loy began working as the Fire Chief of the Sherman Township Fire and rescue on Jan 1 2023. She had been with the department for over seven years before she was elected for the position.
“You get to learn a wide variety of skills as a fire fighter, and it’s hands on, and you know, exciting stuff. The very first class we got to take was on vehicle extrication- that’s where you get to use the jaws of life. You go out to the junk yard and you learn to cut up old wrecked cars, and you learn strategies for taking apart different kinds of cars and trucks and how to do it all safely and quickly and y’know, different scenarios.” – Sandra Loy
Loy said that after her and her husband lived in Gay for about a year, they were approached by the fire station and asked if they wanted to volunteer. They began together as a couples activity, and they quickly got interested and motivated as they were trained.
“We’re so lucky that here in the copper country we have all these really experienced and professional instructors. They’re all so supportive and hardworking and encouraging and they’re just ready to help the students succeed.” – Sandra Loy
She is the first female Fire Chief for the Sherman Township Fire and Rescue Department in Gay, and it is still unconfirmed as to if she is the first female Fire Chief in Keweenaw County. She addressed this topic in the interview.
“I’m definitely the first woman to be Chief at our station, although I keep thinking that in a perfect world, that would be unremarkable, right? I’m not the first woman [in] the department. There was one before me, she’s now retired, but there’s women who have been after me as well. I’m told I’m the first woman to be Fire Chief in Keweenaw County, but I don’t have any info about that. There’s probably a local historian out there who could confirm [it]. There are a number of incredible women in Houghton and Keweenaw County though who served for many years though in all kinds of roles in Fire and EMS so I’m definitely in good company there.” – Sandra Loy
