CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – In an attempt to attract more women into the field of firefighting, the Charlottesville Fire Department is running a specialized three-day camp for young women, “Camp Inspire.”
The camp is for girls entering grades 8-12 and runs June 24-26. Registration will be advertised this week on the CFD’s social media accounts.
“We’ve always had women in the fire service since I’ve been in Charlottesville, but we do actively recruit and try and bring women into the fire service and one of the ways we do that is with a camp we call Camp Inspire,” Fire Marshall and Deputy Chief of the division Joe Phillips said. “We’re announcing again this year we are going to host a three-day girls’ fire camp. It’s for eighth through 12th grade ladies that want to come and learn more about fire and EMS.”
CFD launched the camp in 2022, connecting area high school girls with mentorship from fire and EMS professionals and offering them hands-on skill training in the field.
Phillips said the camp can be a productive recruitment tool, as well as a farm system to welcome local young women into the fire service.
“Because most of the young ladies [participating] are eighth, ninth, 10th grade, so we’re just starting to see some of them graduate,” Phillips said. “It’s going to be interesting to see where they go. We’ve kept up with some of them, and they really are still looking at the EMS and fire field or the medical field.”
There are currently 18 women on staff with CFD. Eight are firefighter/EMTs, four are single-role EMTs, one is a member of the ANCHOR team and five are professional staffers.
In Albemarle County, ACFR has nine women as sworn personnel. Of 253 career roles in the organization, 35 jobs are held by women.
One of the advantages for both young women as well as young men is the fact that emergency medical services are one of the fields that young people can enter without the fear of losing their jobs to artificial intelligence modalities. Phillips believes the career path, which uses a lot of technology is always going to be one that needs real people in it.
“Sure, we’re using more technology in our field to help us,” Phillips said. “But we’re also having to change our strategies because of technology. Data Centers, lithium-ion batteries, all of those things have changed some of the ways we fight fire or risks that we take in fighting fire, what we see as a community of things that may start a fire, so trying to educate the people. Firefighting is not going to go away, EMS is not going to go away so it is a very stable career and I invite anybody to come learn about it and see if it’s something that interests you. It’s been a great career for me. I’ve really enjoyed it.”
National data has revealed lately that tech companies are engaging in massive layoffs, with nearly 90,000 jobs in the tech industry lost in the last six months. So, the job market is definitely more challenging for Generation Z, but becoming a first responder seems to be an opportunity for young people to apply those technological skills in a more sustainable and meaningful way.
