Fire academy seeks to ‘ignite’ passion for firefighting in local young women

Saturday was the second day of the ‘IGNITE!’ Fire Academy in Barrie, where teenage girls hoping to become firefighters experienced hands-on training.

Sunday is the third day and final day of this weekend’s ‘IGNITE!’ Barrie Fire Academy, which is hoping to inspire teenage girls to pursue careers in firefighting.

The group of 15 to 18-year-olds began the program Friday and continued with plenty of hands-on training Saturday, which included extrication, search-and-rescue, survival scenarios, and investigations.

Kate Foster, public educator for Barrie Fire and Emergency Service, says the program was inspired by their experience working with Camp Molly last year. This weekend was the first time that Barrie fire delivered a similar program in-house.

“We did that wonderful work last year and we decided we might be able to do it in-house, and that’s how ‘IGNITE!’ Barrie Fire came to be,” said Foster. “So many of us in the fire service are really passionate about connecting with the community, and also passionate about the future of the fire service. We want to expose youth to see what its like and consider career paths that they haven’t considered before. Something like this allows us to bring them in and then we can meet potential future colleagues.”

Many local firefighters volunteered their time to share their expertise with the trainees.

One of them, Paizleigh McKinley, says she was also inspired to participate in the academy after her experience at Camp Molly last year.

“I didn’t know what I wanted to do until my mom showed me the email for Camp Molly and she said, ‘I think it would be a good experience for you, could maybe put you into the right path,’” recalled McKinley. “I said ‘okay,’ I went, and after Camp Molly, I was like, ‘Mom this is what I want to do,’ and I guess she was right.”

The final day of the program begins with the trainees executing the skills they have learned on Saturday and Sunday.

They then learn career planning skills such as building a resume and preparing for interviews.

The day concludes with a graduation ceremony to acknowledge their work over the weekend.

“We’re just really excited to have the program and we hope it lasts for years to come,” added Foster.