With her pioneering spirit and taste for adventure, South Australia’s first female professional firefighter, Adrienne Clarke, is looking forward to a life after 60 that’s full of new challenges.

Turning 60 is often a milestone for pausing to take stock of our lives. Although the dynamic lifestyle of a professional firefighter, Adrienne Clarke doesn’t give her much time for moments of reflection, she does feel enormously grateful for the many rewarding experiences of her 30+ year career.

“Working in the fire service, you’re constantly aware that you’re making a difference in people’s lives,” she says. “During the recent catastrophic fires on Kangaroo Island, people were experiencing tremendous losses. There is no doubt that for many, it was the worst day of their life. But when their house is left standing after the fire comes through because of what you’ve done, that’s an amazing feeling.

“Making that tiny difference to what they’re going through makes me feel so fortunate to be doing what I do.”

Breaking down barriers

With such an obvious passion for her work, you might guess that joining the fire service had always been a goal for Adrienne. But she actually started out as an academic and was working towards her PhD in psychology when she decided to apply to the South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service back in 1987.

“My father had been in the fire service, so I was quite familiar with the whole life that comes with it,” she says. “But making this choice to join up was quite spontaneous. I had been doing my thesis in occupational stress in firefighters. One of the officers working with me on my research put the idea in my head and I decided it was exactly what I wanted to do.”

When Adrienne realised just how much of a challenge it was to become South Australia’s first female professional firefighter, she was even more determined to make it happen.

“I immediately hit some major roadblocks,” she says. “When I heard men in the service expressing views about what women are capable of, that really ‘lit the fuse’ for me and spurred me on to fight the system and get into the job.

“It was a really difficult process to go through, but I’m grateful for it because it has really helped define the person I am. I’m extremely proud to be a firefighter.”

Committed to making a difference

For her longstanding commitment to the fire service and her ‘compassion and community spirit’, Adrienne was awarded the Australian Fire Service Medal in 2016. In 2019, she was recognised with an Order of Australia Medal for her service to the community and to women’s affairs, thanks to being such a strong role model for women working in the fire service.

While these accolades certainly bring her a great sense of achievement, the role she plays in active service makes her feel very privileged and humble to be saving lives, and be present in the final moments when all efforts are sadly in vain.

“When you’re with someone as they take their last breath, you’re aware that their family members would give anything to be in your position, with their loved one to say goodbye,” says Adrienne. “You’ll always do your utmost to save them, so you can be 100 per cent confident in making your statement to the family that you did absolutely everything in your power to try and change what has happened.”

This highlights the tremendous emotional burden our first responders take on in their working lives. Thanks to her earlier PhD work, and her own personal experience, Adrienne knows how important it is to take time to reflect on and process these life shattering moments. But in the extreme circumstances of events like the 2019/20 bushfire crisis, many firefighters have had little time or energy to reflect on what they’ve been through.

“In the Adelaide Hills there were fires burning all around us,” she says. “We were constantly having to make decisions so quickly – which properties could we save, where are the greatest risks, how to manage when we were running out of water. The mental and physical load was extraordinary. By the end of my 18-hour shift, I was too tired to even drive home and had to sleep at the fire station.”

While there’s no doubt just how immense the impact of the recent bushfires has been on the lives of everyone involved in the crises, Adrienne has been impressed by the generosity and unity seen in the entire Australian community.

“There’s been a scale to the devastation of these fires that’s hard to get your head around,” she says.

“Seeing family homes, entire farms and millions of animals lost, it’s hard to comprehend how people will rebuild their lives. But I’ve been just as overwhelmed by the amount of money that’s been donated and the numbers of people coming forward as volunteers. That’s been amazing to see and it highlights how much good there is in people.”

She adds: “Seeing communities come together to help each other out has been incredibly heart-warming. They’re all coping with the same traumatic circumstances and feeling the same pain and loss. So, if they weren’t connected to one another before, they can’t help but feel a greater sense of belonging now.

“And when I saw the Australian Defence Force working alongside the farmers on Kangaroo Island rebuilding fences, it’s an amazing image of a national community pulling together. We often think of our defence forces as having quite a different role, and here they were, on the ground, where they were needed. It’s a great reminder of how much we can all rely on one other.”

Animal interests

As a farmer herself, Adrienne feels a strong empathy for those who lost livestock in the fires and her love for her alpaca herd is just as strong as her dedication to saving lives.

“When I first saw them back in 1992, alpacas were really new to Australia, with the first ones arriving back in 1988,” she says.

“My interest in farming them was initially led by my heart – I was just so taken with how pretty they are. Chris, my partner at the time, didn’t want to do it, telling me it was too much money to invest. But then I was posted to a new fire station with another officer who was farming alpacas, so I knew then we could make a go of it and we haven’t looked back.”

As a relatively new industry back in the ‘90s, Adrienne says breeding alpacas came with its own challenges but it has also brought with it numerous benefits, too.

“It’s given us a reason to travel all over the world to countries like Norway, Finland and Denmark. The farm makes a steady income from fleece and meat sales, and alpaca products. Sometimes, the kids even pick up the alpaca poo and sell it out on the main road as fertiliser!”

Family values

Even more dear to Adrienne than her beloved alpacas are her three children, and three step-children from her marriage to Chris. “Most of them are young adults now, all living in South Australia,” she says. “A few are following the snow around the world at the moment but they love to come back and hang out with us. We still do a lot together, even though most of them have left home.”

The importance of family and was really brought home to Adrienne two years ago. Enjoying time out on the ocean, Adrienne and daughter Sarah were in their sea kayaks, with Chris and Adrienne’s son in a dinghy nearby.

“A five metre white pointer shark went for Sarah’s kayak and she was incredibly lucky not to have been caught up in the attack” says Adrienne.

“But she ended up in the water, completely vulnerable. Chris and my son managed to reach Sarah and get her out in time.

“An experience like that reminds you how at risk you and your loved ones are. You think you’ll always have a tomorrow to look forward to, but it’s actually really important not to waste your time or put up with the kind of life that isn’t giving you the experiences and feelings you value.”

The right rewards

This focus on having the right priorities hasn’t always been easy for Adrienne. As an articulate, dynamic community figure, she’s in demand for everything from speaking engagements to charity events.

“If you want something done, you give it to a busy person and I’m someone that has a pretty hectic schedule all the time,” she says. “I wouldn’t want it any other way, but I have learned to say no to people if I think there’s little value for myself or others in what they’re asking me to do. I’ve tried to keep myself in that life space where I’m getting a buzz from what I’m doing, as well as giving something back.”

With this determination to enjoy all of her life’s moments, Adrienne is resolved to continue working in the fire service for as long as she can.

“I really can’t imagine retiring from active service,” she says. “But on the other hand, getting promoted into a more senior role could be on the cards, which would also mean spending much more time away from active service.

“By taking a more senior role, I’d have a chance to pursue one of my other passions – supporting women’s interests in the fire service. We don’t have women in the firefighting ranks above my current Station Manager role, so it would mean a lot to be able to advocate for women at that level and be someone they feel comfortable bringing issues to.”

So, giving up her work with the fire service is definitely off the cards for the foreseeable future. And even when Adrienne is ready to hang up her uniform, she’s likely to keep working on the alpaca farm in some capacity. But she is keen to travel more and already has some pretty exotic destinations under her belt.

“Chris and I got married in Machu Picchu in Peru, which was a fitting location given our love of alpacas,” she says. “And in 2019, we took part in the TV show, The Amazing Race. Doing reality TV was something very left of centre for Chris and I, but we loved it and travelled to amazing places.

“While Chris and I wouldn’t make Australia’s ‘Top 100’ rich list, in terms of life experience, we are very rich and doing better than most.

“Sometimes, we might think we should have more money to show for the amount of hard work we’ve put in, but what’s more important is that we have enough. And with the success of the alpaca farm, we have an extra layer of financial security as we look forward to a new decade of adventures at home and overseas.”

An appetite for keeping active

Antarctica, Mount Kilimanjaro and Chile are just some of the journeys Adrienne has on her bucket list.

“I’m lucky enough to get a pretty reasonable holiday allocation from the fire service,” she says. “So, I can keep working and travel for shorter trips. I wouldn’t want to be gone for long anyway, as I want to stay connected to my kids back in South Australia, and the alpacas would miss me too much!”

With her zest for life and enormous reserves of energy, Adrienne doesn’t strike people as your average senior citizen.

“I’m turning 60 this year and my peers find me exhausting,” she says. “When I’m looking for companions for mountain climbing or obstacle course racing, I usually team up with my kids or nieces and nephews.

“I took part in the World Police and Fire Games a few years ago and came out as the overall gold medal winner in the Women’s Ultimate Firefighter Competition. I was old enough to be the mother of every other person I was competing against, so it was a real achievement to win and acknowledgement that I’m not completely past it.”

A new challenge in Adrienne’s sights for 2020 is doing the Kokoda Trail.

“I want to be there to know what the soldiers experienced as they made that journey,” she says.

It’s a very fitting goal for a woman on the brink of her 60s who would like her eulogy to read: ‘She had a busy life and had lots of fun.’