PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Portland City Council is celebrating a program that helps young women become interested in an important job: firefighting.
The program is called Portland Metro Fire Camp. The city council celebrated the camp's 10-year anniversary Wednesday by dedicating the month of April to the camp.
The program introduces young women to a career in firefighting. It teaches them important skills like communication, leadership and confidence, and is open to girls between 16 and 20 years old.
The idea is to get them comfortable with the work and inspire them to pursue a career they wouldn't otherwise consider.
"Women have the potential to be great firefighters, but many still don't know that this is a possible career opportunity," said Portland Fire and Rescue Chief Mike Myers. "The camp smartly gives these young women the chance to hold the tools we use and run through training exercises, some of the things that young men might more readily have access to growing up."
Female firefighters at Portland Fire and Rescue came up with the idea for the camp about 10 years ago. They started the program on their own. Now, almost 40 young women participate in the camp each year, and the instructors come from all over the West Coast.
The camp is so successful that for the first time, there will be two sessions this year: one in Portland in July, another in Tualatin in August.
