Savannah Fire summer camp inspires girls in the community

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - A group of girls brought the heat this week during Savannah Fire’s third annual Camp Ignite.

The summer camp shows young women the firefighting ropes in hopes of inspiring them to join the Fire Service one day.

WTOC stopped by to see what campers learned about firefighting and more.

“It’s very fun here. It’s very welcoming, and you do a lot of cool stuff,” said camper Brielle Rasmussen.

Three days, 18 campers and countless memories.

Girls ages 14 to 21 came out to Savannah Fire’s training field for Camp Ignite to learn hands-on skills and run drills just like a firefighter.

The instructors at camp were all women, empowering the young campers to climb ladders, run towers, and use hoses because they can.

Every year instructors try to raise the bar by adding activities beyond physical fitness to the schedule, like learning American Sign Language.

“Something else we’re introducing is a community risk reduction activity where they’re going to learn about things that the fire department does to help provide for our community other than putting fires out or helping with accidents,” said Camp Ignite Instructor, Rhonda Ruesch.

Less than 10% of firefighters across the nation are women and female firefighters make up only 4% of the Savannah Fire Department.

While the hope is that some campers decide to wear turnouts in the future, instructors really just want the girls to discover their niche.

“Even if they don’t pursue a future in firefighting, maybe it introduces them to a different piece of it. Maybe they learn about public health. Maybe they are interested on public safety,” said Ruesch.

First-time camper Brielle Rasmussen knew before this week she wanted to be a nurse.

Learning CPR and other medical skills was easily her favorite part of camp.

But she still put effort into firefighting drills despite her fear of heights and tight spaces.

“I’m a little claustrophobic, and when I had to do army crawls through a tiny tube, that was scary. But I had Bud cheering me on you know, you can do it getting through there,” said Rasmussen.

With encouragement from instructors and fellow campers, the girls learn at Camp Ignite that they can do anything if they try.

“Every year, even someone who says I will never climb that ladder or I will never run that tower, they do it,” said Ruesch.