One of the latest recruits at the Sarnia Fire and Rescue Service is 25-year-old world record champion Ian Van Reenen.
The Sarnia Christian School and St. Clair Secondary School graduate made a name for himself as a Lambton College student competing in firefighter challenges.
Van Reenen is a graduate of Lambton's Pre-Service Firefighter Education & Training and Fire Science Technology programs.
He says it's good to be back.
"You don't realize how good the City of Sarnia is until you step out of the city," says Van Reenen. "Living here my whole life and coming back has really shown me how great a city we have here."
He's won a lot of hardware over the years.
In 2012, he was named Rookie of the Year in the Scott Firefit Canadian Championship -- a title he repeated the next year at the World Championship.
Since then, he's won individual, tandem and team competitions, setting new world records in 2016 and 2017.
Van Reenen returns to Sarnia after nearly three years with the Oakville Fire Department.
Before he was hired as a professional firefighter there, he volunteered with the Point Edward Fire Department.
Sarnia Fire and Rescue has also hired Hannah Welch of Waterloo, who trained in Mississauga and completed an honours degree in sociology and psychology at Wilfred Laurier University.
"Initially I just knew I wanted to work in the emergency services," says Welch. "It wasn't until later on, during university, when I really looked into firefighting seriously. Growing up I didn't have a lot of female role models in the fire service, but as I got a bit older I started to see a lot more females branching out into that area of the emergency services."
Welch says she knew she wanted to pursue a career in firefighting after doing a ride along with a fire department.