A FIRE and resilience workshop for girls was held in Creswick last week.<\/p>\n
Known as Girls on Fire, the program works with schools, emergency services and regional towns to deliver fire and disaster management skills to teenagers.<\/p>\n
The two-day workshop, held at the Victorian School of Forestry, combined practical training and evidence-based research.<\/p>\n
\u201cGirls on Fire is about giving teenage girls an experience of fire and emergency services,\u201d said founder and director Bronnie Mackintosh.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a real lack of diversity in the fire and emergency services sector and particularly in the firefighting roles.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe girls will participate in activities that replicate the firefighter\u2019s role.\u201d<\/p>\n
As part of the course participants dressed in full personal protective equipment and used firefighting tools and hoses to extinguish a fire.<\/p>\n
There were also land management and cultural burning components, with the aim of reducing the severity of bushfires.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope the girls feel inspired to get involved in their local emergency service or that they aspire to join as a career in some aspect of emergency management,\u201d Ms Mackintosh said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope they have the confidence to step forward in emergences rather than feeling afraid of what to do and learn how to put out small fires so they don\u2019t become big fires.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want them to know they have a really important role in their community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Annabelle Forsyth was one of the attendees and she said she\u2019s been interested in firefighting for years as her dad is a member of the CFA.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think having more girls involved in emergency services creates more of a community within because it represents more people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs soon as I\u2019m old enough I want to join the CFA and I\u2019m already apart of their juniors programs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Mackintosh said she is thankful for the support of National Australia Bank and Chubb Fire and Security for making the program possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe rest of it runs on passion and the desire to address the lack of diversity, so without money to fund the program it\u2019s really hard to get it to reach people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A FIRE and resilience workshop for girls was held in Creswick last week. Known as Girls on Fire, the program works with schools, emergency services and regional towns to deliver fire and disaster management skills to teenagers. The two-day workshop, held at the Victorian School of Forestry, combined practical training and evidence-based research. \u201cGirls on […]<\/p>\n