On June 6th local girls will begin a four day, three night fire fighting adventure as part of the 3rd annual Camp Fury facilitated by the Tucson and Northwest Fire Departments along with the Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona. Camp Fury gives high school aged girls the chance to explore the field, experience firefighting and emergency operations techniques, and connect with women currently in the profession.
Now in its third year, the camp offerings continue to grow with girls benefitting from increased hands-on activities, demonstrations, and drills. In addition to exercising and training with fire and emergency services professionals, girls don full fire fighting gear and jump right in the action themselves. Over the course of the four days girls will undergo physical fitness training and the Candidate Physical Abilities Test (CPAT) in addition to activities including an aerial climb, rope rappel, mud bog, bucket brigade, search drill and water safety.
The goal of the program is to provide an introduction to firefighting careers and to promote a positive leadership experience. “The partnership between the Girl Scouts and the fire service agencies is a natural fit” notes Girl Scouts’ CEO Debbie Rich. “At Girl Scouts we work on a broad scale to connect girls to those in the community who can help her build the confidence and skills she needs to become a leader and share her gifts with the world. We thank Chief Cheryl Horvath for leading the charge and for providing girls with more ways to learn, lead, and “try on” different roles.”
While some girls already have a firefighting career in mind, many attend to try something new. In the process they discover more about themselves and gain the confidence needed to try other pursuits. Notes Megan S., a 2011 Camp Fury participant, “Whenever you push yourself hard to do something out of your comfort zone you achieve a level of accomplishment that gives you a boost of self-confidence and it makes you feel wonderful. You overcome a challenge and you just don’t want to stop there.”
The enthusiastic response to Camp Fury in Tucson led to the creation of Camp Fury in Yuma with over a dozen girls in attendance. In addition to meeting with fire personnel, the girls were surprised by House Representative and Girl Scout Honorary Troop 1920 Member Lynn Pancrazi who stopped by to cheer on the girls and speak to the importance of emergency services.
A graduation ceremony for Camp Fury participants will be held at the Tucson Public Safety Academy on Saturday June 9 at 1pm. For a Camp Fury agenda or for more information contact Ellen Pott at Girl Scouts, epott@girlscoutssoaz.org, 520.205.1507.
