By MADDY VITALE
Kerri Comly would not say that what she does is remarkable, maybe cool, and definitely important.
The 28-year-old Sea Isle City resident is not only doing what she enjoys, she is making history in a field that requires bravery, strength, perseverance and the ability to work on a team.
As the first female firefighter for Sea Isle’s Fire Department, she knows as much as anyone, being in that field means every minute – every second counts.
Comly, a 2011 graduate of Ocean City High School explained in an interview Sunday what it feels like to be the first female firefighter in her hometown.
“I graduated from the program in December, so I’ve been on calls. I’ve definitely been on a few,” she said. “It feels good to be a firefighter. It is something I always wanted to do.”
While the calls have been mostly routine, accidental alarms, an outlet fire, and other minor incidents, Comly said, she really wouldn’t hope for something serious.
But, she emphasized, she would be ready if she was called out to a real emergency.
Her favorite part of training for her firefighting certification wasn’t as much the book stuff, but more the hands-on training.
“I like the search and rescue and forcible entry the most,” she noted. “It definitely does give you a rush, at least in training. I haven’t been on an actual fire call, but you don’t want to wish that a house is burning.”
Comly said that in the yearlong journey to get certified, she showed her peers why she picked the right field for her.
“It was definitely hard. When I was in training for my certification, there were two other girls in my class. They both got hurt. I definitely pulled my own in there,” Comly said. “I was the one who completed all of the classes. I would go back and do it all again.”
And she gets a lot of support from her father, Bill Comly, her three brothers, and her boyfriend, Jared Matthews, firefighters and Sea Isle Fire Chief John Mazurie.
But it wasn’t the support of the people in her life so much that gave her the drive and the inspiration to go outside of her comfort zone.
It was the loss of people, John Mazurie’s father, John Mazurie Sr., who once was the fire chief in Sea Isle.
Mazurie Sr. passed away in 2019. His daughter, Joyce Allegretto, dates Bill Comly and for years, Kerri looked to Mazurie Sr., as a grandfather figure.
“For years, I called him pop-pop. He was like a grandfather to me and I always wanted to do what he did,” Comly said. “I never pressed the issue with him, though, that I wanted to be firefighter.”
It was also the loss of her sister, Devon, who passed away a few years ago from Lupus at age 21, that made Kerri rethink her life and her ambitions, her goals, her future.
Comly, who has worked as a barber for the last seven years, said she wanted to do something that was in her heart.
“I started doing things that made me get out of my comfort zone,” she said. “I always wanted to be a firefighter. I was working in Rio Grande as a barber and I would talk to firefighters when I cut their hair.”
And so, began the new path, the true path, for Comly.
Her advice to those thinking of pursuing a dream, but having fears about going for it is this, “If you want something, you have to go for it. I went into the fire department and picked up an application. It was that easy. After that, came the work, but it was well worth it.”
And one day, she was thinking about becoming a professional firefighter at a paid department. She looked into the additional training and costs and it is something she may want to pursue in the future, she said.
But for now, the newly minted firefighter, is getting on very well in the department, and the other firefighters are beginning to get a bit used to her being part of the crew.
“I think at first they looked at me like I was a baby or something,” Comly said. “But now, I feel like the guys definitely think of me like one of their bros.”
