Resilience has been the focus of the latest Girls on Fire schools program held in Batlow giving students an introduction to careers in firefighting.
Having lived through the devastation of the 2019/2020 bushfire season, which gripped Snowy Valley towns during the NSW bushfire emergency, this group knows all too well the importance of disaster management.
The session, run by Girls on Fire Inc, involved students from Tumut and Tumbarumba high schools.
Girls on Fire was founded by Bronnie McIntosh, a long-serving Fire and Rescue NSW Station Officer and Winston Churchill Fellowship recipient, to increase female and diverse participation in emergency management.
Carrying the motto "that every young girl has a spark within" Girls on Fire gives participants the opportunity to build personal confidence and resilience while participating in a first-hand experience of frontline firefighting.
In a joint agency collaboration, Forestry Corporation staff participated in the program along with firefighters from the Rural Fire Service, Fire and Rescue NSW and National Parks and Wildlife Service.
"The girls got to see a windrow burn in action, wearing full personal protective equipment and experiencing the physical components of firefighting from fire containment to the operation of a fire tanker," Forestry Corporation's Amba Addinsall said.
"The program is a great opportunity for our staff to share their passion for fire and land management whilst encouraging young women to consider a career in this area, which has been male-dominant in the past.
"It's also a really proactive way for our staff to connect with women from other fire agencies."
