In celebration of International Women’s Day, Sunday 8 March, we have seen stories of women at the front-line of firefighting and rightly so! Now let’s take a minute to honour and celebrate those behind the scenes.
It's behind the scenes we see the women who keep the wheels turning in everyday life and whose support is integral to those putting the fires out. I’ll apologise up front for the generalisation, however the statistics do show that it is women who fulfil the behind-the-scenes roles in significant numbers.
In District 24, to acknowledge and celebrate International Women’s Day, we are hosting a Women’s Training and Networking event for CFA members on Sunday 29 March at the Victorian Emergency Management Training Centre in Wangaratta. Other CFA districts are also supporting the day by hosting similar events that will highlight the roles women undertake in CFA.
Growing up in a CFA family and community, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard the famous words: “Love, can you take care of the animals and the house while I’m gone”, “Love, can you whip us up some sandwiches for the blokes on the fire front”, “Love we’ve got a fundraiser coming up, it’d be great if you could make us a batch of scones to sell”.
I am sure there are many out there like me who’ve heard the same expressions and watched as the requests are handled efficiently with little fuss. I have also witnessed the gratitude for these women by those at the firefront.
In a discussion recently, a female brigade member made a comment that has stuck with me: “The success of women in CFA shouldn’t be measured by the number of female captains.” Let’s acknowledge the importance of all roles whether they are in the areas of communication, auxiliary, operational, mapping, training our Junior members, administration or back in the home.
From District 24 we send a huge shout out to all the women who support CFA in so many ways and who CFA just cannot do without! Happy International Women’s Day!
Author: Kimberley Taylor