A camp designed to teach teenage girls about the values of firefighters is underway in Bloomfield. It is called the Girls Future Firefighter Camp.
Organizers said they teach the young ladies to be disciplined, courageous, and team players, whether they choose firefighting as their future career or not.
It is no secret that firefighting takes a lot of grit, hard work, and strength. These are principles organizers said the teens will learn during the three days of the camp. A part of that is how the girls started their day, with a workout.
“We have to be physically fit to be a firefighter,” said Hamden Assistant Fire Chief Shelly Carter, the founder and director of Girls Future Firefighters Camp. “You have this firefighter who’s our PT instructor who’s kind of yelling some training to them and they’re like, ‘I don’t know what my parents got us into.’”
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Chief Carter said the teens will learn all they need to know about what it takes to be a firefighter, including hands-on training with the equipment and tools firefighters use daily.
“We’re going to pull the trucks out. We’re going to make sure that they get to understand what we use the trucks for, the equipment on the trucks. We’re going to put the gear on,” she explained.
Deiyaliz Reyes, 17, is a third-time camp attendee. After her first camp, she was hooked.
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“My friend introduced me to this program and we vowed to each other that if we have the chance we’re going to come to as many camps as possible,” Reyes said.
Now, thanks to the camp, Reyes said she has her future plans set in place. She plans to become a firefighter and she is already ahead of the curveball.
She has gone to other camps and joined other firefighter programs as well. She said she hopes the other young ladies get everything she gained from her first experience and more.
“They need to have discipline regardless of what point in life they’re going to go. If they want to be a nurse, they need to have the same discipline. This isn’t just about firefighting. It’s about building a community within ourselves,” she added.
Carter, who didn’t even know she could be a firefighter while growing up, said this was born out of a desire to level the playing field for young ladies who want to go into firefighting and show them that it's possible.
“The whole idea is really just to be brave and strong, but they need to understand when we roll up on scene whether we’re in Hartford or Hamden or anywhere in the fire service, we have to be physically strong. Not everyone has the same capabilities, but we all have capabilities,” Carter explained.
She hopes they understand after leaving that, although male-dominated, the world of firefighting is not just a man’s world.
“So, the Girls Future Firefighter Camp are teaching these young ladies to be teammates. So my weakness and her strength, we’re going to put it together and we’re going to get the task completed,” she said. “I’m a girl and I like being a girl, so the whole idea is to teach young ladies to be strong and brave.”
The camp continues Saturday and will culminate Sunday afternoon with a graduation ceremony at 1 p.m.
