New England's first Black female fire chief hosts firefighting training camp for girls

There is a program in Connecticut that teaches young girls the skills to become firefighters.

It is called the "Girl's Future Firefighters Camp" and it is led and funded by Chief Shelly Carter.

Back in March, she was sworn in as the first Black female fire chief in New England.

Now, she's working to empower and inspire the next generation.

These inspiring young girls are preparing for their futures with dreams of becoming firefighters.

"I wanted to since I was eight and that will never change," said camper Charlie Knight.

It hasn't changed for Knight who is now 13 years old. She is certain she wants to serve her community and that is why she is learning the ropes now with her fellow camp friends.

"My grandfather is a firefighter, so I've been in firehouses before. One thing I never got to do was try on gear and do firefighter training and stuff like that," said camper Jayanna Brown.

The camp, which has been around since 2015, provides hands-on training to girls in the spring and summer months.

This short weekend session in Bloomfield was the first one in October.

Firefighters have no time to waste when responding to a call so the girls learned how to get their gear on in 45 seconds. There were also many other skills, drills and exercises that the girls had to learn in order to pass.

"They learned about EMS, CPR...they all became certified CPR/AED," Chief Carter, the camp's executive director said.

Chief Carter became a firefighter in 1999.

"Pretty much on a dare. Someone told me that I would never pass the test. I've had a lot of no's said to me," she said.

And Chief Carter proved she could do it, breaking barriers along the way by becoming the first Black fire chief in all of New England.

She is currently the fire chief for the State Department of Development Services and she is trying to inspire young women everywhere.

"This program is not about really making firefighters. It's more about empowering ladies to be anything they want to be. Whether she's a firefighter, a hairdresser, the president, I don't really care. She can do anything as long as she sets her mind to it," she said.

They have trained 250 girls since 2015 and Chief Carter says she is looking to expand the program to short weekend sessions every month.