There aren’t many female firefighters. How this Sacramento camp is trying to change that

Alexandria Miner, afraid of heights, was nervous about climbing the 100-foot aerial ladder.

“Oh my gosh, I don’t think I’m going to be able to do this,” said Miner, 16, about her feelings at the start of the day.

She was attending a daylong Sacramento Area Girls Fire Camp at McClellan Park, an effort by local fire agencies to give girls a chance to learn about career options in public safety.

“I was also nervous about the support I was going to get,” Miner said. “I was worried that it was going to be like ‘if you can’t do that, you’re weak or we don’t want you.’”

Miner said those fears went away almost immediately as she was greeted by women instructors who made her feel welcome and supported.

California has over 38,000 firefighters and only about 6% are women, close to the national average, according census data. Utah has the highest proportion of female firefighters, 13.4%.

The girls fire camp was first held in 2018, but put on hold because of funding and COVID-19 before resuming this year in October. After the Sacramento City Council’s recent approval of $2.2 million to diversify its fire department, the camp can be held annually, according to Capt. Sharon McIntyre of the department’s Diversity, Outreach and Recruitment Division.

“We want to be able to expose them to the fire service,” said McIntyre. “They’re able to see women helping women to achieve the career goals that they’ve set for themselves.”

The all-girl camps provide mentorship for the high school girls, but they also create a sisterhood for the women firefighters, according to Los Angeles Fire Department Battalion Chief Kris Larson.

“As women, you can’t be something if you can’t see something,” Larson said. “You don’t see that as a career if you don’t see people that look like you in that career.”

The firefighter instructors come from all over California and some help at other camps, such as the weeklong Camp Blaze – where girls eventually fight a real fire – in North Bend, Wash. Larson will lead Camp Blaze 2022.

Larson said there is always a camper that has an “aha moment” of overcoming fear amid the camp activities, which include rappelling, aerial ladder climbing and live fire training.

For Miner, the camp confirmed her longstanding interest in becoming a firefighter.

“Having a program like this really does help our community and empowers females to enter a primarily male workforce,” Miner said. “This made me decide that I really did want to do firefighting, even though I have to put in extra work as a female to do that.”