'I like to help the people.'

When her pager goes off, wherever she is, Annie Lidd responds.

Usually that means jumping onto her skidoo and racing off to join her firefighting colleagues in Nain, Nunatsiavut, at whatever fire or other emergency they've been called to.

It's hard to imagine the diminutive 51-year-old grandmother of four, loaded down with all her heavy firefighting gear, including waterproof coat and pants, rubber boots, helmet, and oxygen tank and mask.

All told, it can weigh between 60 and 75 lbs.

It's hard to imagine her plunging into the smoke and flames of a burning house to help extinguish a fire, or to search out and rescue anyone trapped in the blaze.

It's not easy, either, Lidd said, for someone of her size to control the hose when the water is on full pressure.

But Lidd has done it all, she admitted with a gentle smile that belies the inner toughness of someone who grew up close to the land.

She's happy to do it, she said, speaking through an interpreter during a break in the annual general meeting of Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada, where she was also serving as a delegate from Nunatsiavut.

Lidd has been a firefighter in Nain for four years. And she'll keep on with it as long as she is able, she said.

She wants to serve the community, "to help the people."

Another woman used to serve on the eight-person firefighting squad before Lidd. But after she stopped, Lidd volunteered to fill the gap.

"I approached and offered my services on behalf of women," she said, adding it's important there be a woman representative on the department.

She also hopes her example will encourage young people in the community to become more interested in volunteering.

Sometimes, she said, they seem to feel there is nothing for them to do there.

With a total population in Nain of only 1,000, fighting fires is not an overly busy job. Sometimes there will only be three or four fires a year.

But the calls always seem to come at the most unexpected time.

"It's a lot of pressure," Lidd said. "It's challenging and there is a lot of danger."

Her scariest adventure, she recalled, was when the old Labrador Inuit Association building caught fire. "I jumped on my skidoo and headed to the fire."

When she got there the fire was at its height. She recalled being afraid that she could die. But she went in anyway.

The building couldn't be saved. But from its ashes is rising the new local headquarters for the equally new Nunatsiavut Government.

Nunatsiavut came into being when its constitution was ratified Dec. 1, 2005.

Lidd seems to be drawn to the challenges. Firefighting she does as a volunteer. But her day job, as a guard at the local jail, is no picnic either.