For The Fallen

March 2022 Feature, Power of Pink Seth Harper

This article originally appeared in the Winter 2022 issue.

Dance. Cheer. Firefighting. Trucks. Christine Reid does it all.

This 25-year-old is a woman of many talents. She started dancing at the age of three, taking tap, jazz, lyrical, ballet and even line dancing with her grandma until her passing when Christine was 12. She now teaches dance, passing the skill on to the next generation.

Christine started cheer at the age of five. She progressed in the sport throughout middle school and high school until eventually becoming a cheer captain at Johnson College in Scranton, Pa.

The theme of excelling from a young age continues into the firefighting scene, where Christine got involved at age 14. She’s stayed with it and is now a volunteer firefighter at her station.

Trucks are no different. Christine was around trucks from a young age, bailing hay on a farm with her dad and grandpa.

“I always rode around in trucks. I always loved the automotive industry whether it was trucks or cars, big rigs, anything like that. So I basically grew up around trucks but I wanted to build my own.”

And build her own she did.

A Tribute To The Fallen

Christine got her 2016 RAM 2500 in 2017 with a singular theme in mind: building a tribute to fallen firefighters. After noticing a lot of trucks with thin blue lines, a recognizable tribute for police offices, Christine decided firefighters needed some love as well.

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), on average 60 to 70 firefighters die annually in the United States while on duty. Christine wants to honor those while also becoming a role model for other women looking to enter the industry. The NFPA also found that in 2018, only 11 percent of all volunteer firefighters were female, with that number dropping to 4 percent for career firefighters. A staggering low number for the industry.

“Since I am a woman volunteer firefighter,” Christine explained, “I encourage all women to be empowering and show them they can compete in a man’s domineering industry, such as the truck scene and firefighting scene. The purpose of my build is to honor all fallen firefighters and raise awareness for all families who have lost loved ones on and off the fire scene. Being a girl in the truck and firefighting scene gets difficult sometimes with haters saying, ‘You’re not good enough to be in this scene,’ or ‘You’re a girl and you shouldn’t be doing that.’”

Christine doesn’t stop there.

“I am also building my truck for not only fallen firefighters but for the kids,” she continued. “It’s always about seeing a kid’s face light up when they see a cool truck or car and at that point and time they want to be like them someday. So I try and set a good example for kids — especially letting young females know that anything a man can do a woman can do too!”

From The Ground Up

Christine bought Moose bone stock in February 2017, choosing a diesel because it’s more reliable and will last longer than a gasser. The red accents throughout the black paint job show off the work she’s put into it, including creating a custom logo of a moose which can be found throughout the pickup. While the truck is named Moose, Christine’s nickname is Mama Moose because her dad called her Moose since she was 13. After people started coming to her for advice on things it evolved into Mama Moose.

Among the upgrades, Mama Moose — eh, I mean Christine — included a 12-inch PENETRATOR bullet antenna, 124-mm true spike lug nuts, Rhino Lined front and rear bumpers, a CTC Fabrication custom one-off grille, the Gen-Y Hitch BOSS Torsion Flex 10k drop hitch and brown WeatherTech mats. The 6-inch lift from ReadyLIFT Suspension sits on Axe 24x14 w/-76 compression forged wheels and Nitto Tire 37x13.5R24 Ridge Grapplers.
Three Years Ahead

Christine has her eyes set on getting Moose into SEMA 2024. Why a three-year wait? She’s casually saving up to buy a house, understandably delaying her plans on purchasing certain upgrades for the diesel build. We might just have to follow up with Christine at SEMA in a few years to see how far her build has come.

Sources:

AXE Wheels

www.axewheels.com

CTC Fabrication

604-710-6947

www.ctcfab.ca

Gen-Y Hitch

574-218-6363

www.genyhitch.com

Nitto Tire

888-529-8200

www.nittotire.com