Girls Can Do It Too At LA County's Girls’ Fire Camp

Since 2015, the Los Angeles County Fire Department has been holding day-long fire camps for girls to let them know that they too can become firefighters.

Hundreds of girls have participated over the years.

Sheila Kelliher, a captain and public information officer for the L.A. County Fire Department, said she didn't have the same opportunity when she was young.

“I grew up in a generation where I never saw a female firefighter," she said. "When I told everybody, ‘I'm going to be a firefighter,’ everybody laughed at me. They were like, ‘Right, you're not going to do that.' I was like, ‘Ah, watch me,’ but you shouldn't have to work so hard, in some respects, to know that that's an option.”

The camp provides an overview of what a firefighter does and the various positions in the fire department.

"The women who are teaching the camp are all different sizes, all different backgrounds, all different ages, and [the girls] could maybe see themselves one day in one of the women that were instructing them," Kelliher said.

The participants can put on the personal protective equipment that firefighters wear. They can also try their hands at using an active fire hose, learn to tie knots, breathe through an apparatus set, and look at all the ladders needed to knock down fire.

The department also holds a Women’s Fire Prep Academy every spring, a five-weekend-long training for anyone 18 and older that is interested in pursuing a career in fire service.

Girls' Fire Camp happens this Saturday, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

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Courtesy of L.A. County Fire Department

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Kelliher recounted that when she first joined the department in 2000, less than 1% of firefighters were women.

“At that time, we were sitting at about 20 women on the job, which is incredibly low. So our numbers have increased. We are sitting at about 85 women on the job now,” she said, adding, that's about 2% of the total uniformed personnel at the department today.

Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone, who was sworn in this April, has said the department will increase efforts to recruit more women and people of color.