15th annual Portland Metro Fire Camp

On Friday, Portland Fire & Rescue kicked off the 15th annual Portland Metro Fire Camp at its training facility in the Northeast part of the city. The camp is aimed at young women ages 16-22 years old, with the goal of introducing more women into the heavily male populated field of firefighting. At the three-day Portland Metro camp, 47 campers will receive training in focused aspects of firefighting: search and rescue, bailouts, hose handling, chainsaws, forcible entry, knot tying, vehicle extinction, aerial ladder climbing and interview skills. “We went through the fires in 2020 and I realized if the fire went down in the canyon and came into our area, we could’ve lost the majority of our town,” said Abbey Tallent, a 17 year old camper from Silverton, Oregon. “I would love to be a volunteer firefighter up in Silverton to help my community.” Katie Linton has been a camp counselor for Fire Camp for 10 years. “Seeing the difference from the day one- some of them are a little overwhelmed and not sure about getting in there- to the last day of camp where all of a sudden they’re grabbing tools, they’re going for it and their confidence is up,” she said. Leading the camp is a full staff of female firefighters. Hearing from female firefighters directly is a key part of the program, in addition to the hands-on experience at the camp. Firefighting is still a predominantly male-dominated field, and camp organizers hope that taking part in the PF&R camps will help more women enter the industry. Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue hosts a second Fire Camp next week, July 21-23. http://www.portlandmetrofirecamp.com/how-to-apply