Creswick hosts first teen girls' fire careers program

'Girls on Fire' caters for young women aged 14-19 - and around 20 girls from across the state have given it a go.

It was inspired by an American program brought to New South Wales by Churchill fellowship winner Bronnie Mackintosh - and for the first time on Friday - brought to Victoria.

"I first saw the need for this when I noticed how few women were in emergency services in general," Ms Mackintosh said.

"I did some research and noticed it wasn't just firefighters in New South Wales. It was an issue in every single fire service."

She said diversity was important in firefighting - as people were more likely to heed messages from people who looked and sounded like themselves.

"If you have a trusted relationship with your community, they are more likely to listen. For example, messages about evacuating right now," she said.

"It's also an issue for some people who don't speak English as their first language.

"They may come from a country where they see anyone in a uniform as corrupt and not to be trusted."

For Caitlin Weppner though, it was all about having a go.

"I'm in the junior CFA and it has a big focus on hose training," the 15-year-old said.

"Firefighting is an option but I'm still not sure what I want to do in the future.

"I heard about this two-day program through my group in Wodonga.

"I came a long way to do this but it was definitely worth it."

Minutes later she was cutting up a car with the Jaws of Life.

"Kids in this area are pretty lucky to have a program like this," the teenager said.

"Give it a try - you don't know if you'll like it until you do it.

'It was honestly a whole lot more practical than I expected."

Caitlin was one of only a handful of Junior CFA members on deck on Friday - with most of the girls enlisted via Ballarat secondary schools and local Guide and Scout groups.

Topics covered included cultural burns, casualty care, helicopter operations and psychological first aid.

CFA volunteer Amanda Lamont said many existing personnel came from "firefighting families" - and some potential recruits felt they needed some kind of long-term background in the field before joining..

"We're trying to expose young women to all sorts of diversity in emergency services - and that includes women who may not have come from firefighting families," she said.

"We had many personnel speak to the girls this morning and talk about the diversity of people and roles in emergency services - and that includes DEECA (DEWLP) and Parks Victoria."

"You can't be what you can't see."

CFA District 17 Commander Chris Eagle helped make the two-days happen and said he had seen the teenagers grow in confidence and enthusiasm.

"It's gone really well. They're having fun," he said.

"I heard one girl say: 'Hey let's go and shred cars! Oops, I mean let's perform a rescue and help people'." he laughed.

"In five or ten years time we want to see some of these girls applying for jobs in emergency services.

"In fact you can join as an adult CFA volunteer from as young as 16."

IN THE NEWS

CFA Volunteers helping at the Creswick School of Forestry included members of the Sebastopol, Ballarat, Creswick, Kingston, Invermay, Daylesford, Willow Grove, Toolangi and Montrose brigades.

Fire Rescue Victoria staff were also there, as was a specialist firefighter from Aviation Fire Services at Avalon, a Western Victorian ambulance team, Parks Victoria and Forest Fire Management Victoria staff. Ballarat Towing supplied the to-be-cut-up car.

Girls on Fire is sponsored by the National Australia Bank and will be rolled out in South Australia next, before the next Victorian trial in Gippsland later this year.

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