By Ayrton Breckenridge
mlive.com
BEAVER TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Running into burning buildings, fighting fires and responding to life-threatening medical calls isn’t for the faint of heart.
But deciding you want to do all of this before you graduate high school is something few students would consider.
For Lydia Kendziorski, 17, the decision was second nature.
Lydia knew public safety was the field she wanted to pursue from an early age.
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At first, she had her eyes set on law enforcement, following in her father Dave’s footsteps, and began taking classes at Delta College.
It was at Delta she also began taking firefighter classes and changed that path.
“Being able to take the step to actually do it, it’s a cool opportunity because a lot of people don’t know what they want to do until they’re older,” Lydia said.
Dave Kendziorski, Lydia’s father and a current Saginaw Police Officer, has known his daughter always had an interest in the field.
Going through old photos for her high school graduation, he found a picture of Lydia as a toddler wearing a Saginaw Police baseball cap and shirt.
Starting early and knowing her path to do is something Dave has always noticed in Lydia, recalling she learned to ride a bike without training wheels before turning 3 years old.
“She’s one of those kids who has pretty much known what she has wanted to some degree and pursued it,” Dave said.
That drive and pursuit snowballed as Lydia joined the Beaver Township Fire Department as a cadet and started an internship with the Bay City Fire Department.
In the cadet role, Lydia is allowed to ride along, observe and train with the department.
Dave sees it as an advantage for Lydia to use the opportunity to practice and apply certain aspects of her classes at Delta.
“It’s not just something you’re reading. It’s something you’ve done or you’ve watched and you’ve seen done over and over,” he said.
The opportunity also allows Lydia to learn from her family as her father, sister Anna Kendziorski, and Anna’s fiancé Ethan Meylan are all members of the Beaverton Township Fire Department.
“Being close to somebody (on the fire department) kind of makes it easy,” Lydia said. “If you have questions and you aren’t so sure about talking to everybody else, it’s pretty cool.”
Lydia admits she never saw it as carrying on a family legacy but rather as a unique experience.
However, joining the Beaver Township Fire Department to start her career acts is a full-circle moment for her.
She remembers playing hide and seek with other kids whose parents were in the department, as well as a Christmas party at the station where she and a friend were suspicious of Santa Claus wanting to know if one of the firefighters would be dressed as him.
The pair devised a plan of smelling cologne, comparing shoes and every investigative tactic short of pulling on St. Nick’s beard.
Roughly 10 years later, the same firefighters she investigated for dawning the classic red and white, and who watched her grow up, she’s now learning from and working alongside them.
Her counterparts have embraced the moment by joking around with her. She’s grown into the role by returning the heat giving them a hard time as well.
“We just poke fun at each other. It’s a good camaraderie. It’s definitely like a family,” Lydia said.
It’s a family that meets almost every Sunday for equipment checks while taking the time to slow down and eat a meal around a table in the fire station.
The family dynamic goes beyond the Kendziorski bloodline as department members will tell you if you ask for help, they will be there for you, even attending Lydia’s high school graduation party.
Former Beaver Township Fire Department Assistant Chief Eldin Scott sees the addition of Lydia to the fire family as mutually beneficial.
For a small volunteer department of 28 people, in a township of roughly 2,700 residents, the concern that comes up is filling those positions as the population gets older.
As Lydia, her sister and others close in age came to the department, it helped fill positions while educating them in the process.
“When you get someone that young and that eager,” Scott said. “You can’t beat it”
At the age of 17, Lydia technically can’t go hands-on when a call comes in until she turns 18, but eagerness is just one way to describe her enthusiasm to start the job.
Lydia passed Fire Fighter I and II certifications while finishing her senior year at Bay City Western High School, where she led her soccer team as captain and held a part-time job.
She’s also in the process of starting her EMT certification.
“I mean that is a lot. That she’s able to balance that and has that determination and drive to do that just says a lot about the kind of person and individual she is,” Dave said.
Lydia says she’s ready and has been after taking her classes and experiencing firsthand through training and observing the career that awaits, with prospects of one day transitioning from a volunteer department to a full-time department.
“I see myself being a firefighter in the long run. Being out in the community is definitely something that’s rewarding knowing that you’re helping people,” Lydia said.
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