As the first ever female Captain of an urban CFA fire brigade, Diana Ferguson is a champion of women in leadership roles in emergency services.
Diana is proud of her brigade and the opportunities it has offered women since former captain Alan Waters “bucked the trend” after his daughter told him she wanted to be a firefighter.
“He encouraged the brigade to support the introduction of female firefighters and to this day, he is very proud of Bayswater, the first ever fire brigade to elect a female urban fire captain in to CFA,” she said.
Diana said half of the Bayswater Brigade’s leadership team and one third of the brigade consisted of female members.
Diana talks about the opportunities offered to her and the positive impacts female firefighters have made on CFA in her personal story which forms one of eight told in CFA’s latest Digital Story Telling workshop series.
The workshops were first held in 2013, when CFA teamed up with the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) to digitally produce the personal stories of 15 volunteers to create more awareness about CFA volunteers – what they do and why they do it
This State-Government funded digital storytelling project involved volunteers taking part in a workshop, during which their stories were compiled.
Given the success of this project, in 2014, CFA decided to continue the concept and again called for volunteers to come forward and tell their stories. Their videos were officially launched and screened in early May 2015, as part of National Volunteer Week.
Speaking at the launch, CFA Chief Officer Euan Ferguson said: “The concept of storytelling is very powerful. It passes on valuable knowledge to future generations and potentially to those young men and women who are considering joining CFA.”
Diana said there were many doors that could open for women in CFA and by taking the opportunities offered to her, in addition to being brigade captain, she how has a career in emergency services as an Operations Officer in the SES.
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Author: CFA News