|
|
|
|
|
10 January 2025
|
Becoming a qualified volunteer wildfire fighter: ‘With my yellow comrades beside me, I’m ready to hold the line!’
|
|
Six months ago, Lizelle Smit attended a Volunteer Wildfire Services info session. Today, she is wiser, stronger and qualified to fight wildfires. “Six months ago, I joined 70 people at the new volunteer info session at the VWS Southern Peninsula base. A couple of weeks later, 55 recruits signed up for orientation, and last week, 29 of us qualified as volunteer wildfire fighters.”
“My odyssey from civilian to firefighter taught me many physical skills. But less expected were some personal learnings:
“The theoretical training entailed about 50 hours of online theory and a written exam. Over the same time, we did equipment drills, fire scenario simulations, and hikes, where physical capacity was tested, and theory was applied. This is where I realised, I had to learn to communicate better. From fire line hand signals to radio etiquette, to checking in to gauge how much I can bring to the fire that day… Quite unexpectedly, I realised how often I make assumptions. And I’ve never really asked the important internal questions. Who knew?”
“Another learning: After receiving five emails instructing me to take my working gloves to an event, I arrived without them. I’m the kind of person who’s always making lists of lists and setting reminders for reminders. I was stunned. Then watching an instruction video ten times over on where to stick my name on my helmet, I stuck it on the front instead of the back. So now at age 50, I’m learning to pay attention! And googling how to remove stickers.”
“Reality hit early in training when I discovered how weak I was after years of floating along in the comfortable numbness of the daily grind. I struggled to remember drills; I became insecure and was often disorientated. I had forgotten what it’s like to learn new skills, and blunder through discomfort, embarrassment and self-doubt. So, I restructured my life to start weight training and to free up study time. This burst of learning also led to a long fireside chat with a couple of bad habits to which I fondly bid farewell.”
“Physically my biggest challenge would be the yearly Pack Test; a 4.8-kilometre powerwalk with a 20.5 kg backpack. It sounded easy enough… The thing is, no running. It’s a test all new recruits and existing volunteers do annually, and it’s an international standard used by the likes of Canada and the USA.”
“My training for the Pack Test started shaky – with a 10 kg bag of dog food strapped to my back and two very confused dogs in tow I made my first attempt and ran five minutes over time (I blame it on the dogs, but don’t tell them). Instantly all my doubts and insecurities resurfaced. The only solution was to suit up and do it again with heavier weights.”
“Finally, D-Day arrived on a calm afternoon in October. A route was identified near Noordhoek Commons, where a dozen of us took to the streets cheered along by volunteers. And funny enough, it turned out to be more of a mental exercise than a physical one; because the moment your mind starts wandering you start slowing down. A powerful lesson learned. So, I kept repeating my mantra to the beat of my footsteps. “I’m not doing this again. I’m not doing this again. I’m not doing this again…” Until next year of course.”
“I made it in time with a couple of minutes to spare and I realised I was stronger than I thought. But not nearly as strong as two petite women in my group who weighed just over 40 kilograms each. They were carrying half their body weight and doing it at the same pace as the big guys.”
“Looking at the volunteers, I would say women make up about 40% of the numbers. At a recent information session hosted by VWS legend Mark Randall, he started his lecture by asking all new female recruits to stand up. I thought we’d get a special mention just for being us. As we stood up his response was: “You’re not women”. On an active fire line, everyone is anonymous in their PPE. Everyone needs to perform at the same level and execute their job to the best of their ability. Like death and taxes, the uniform is the great equaliser.”
“Businessmen and students, desk warriors and retirees, mothers of toddlers and free-range adults - all united by the same training and a passion to get to the fire at speed and engage.”
“Today I proudly wear the same uniform as my family across the province. My journey might have been a bit rocky at times but I’m confident in the world-class training received and the self-awareness gained. With my yellow comrades beside me, I’m ready to hold the line.”
Source: Primedia+
“My odyssey from civilian to firefighter taught me many physical skills. But less expected were some personal learnings:
- I’m not a woman.
- Learn to communicate.
- Start paying attention.
- I’m stronger than I thought (but not nearly as strong as someone half my size).”
“The theoretical training entailed about 50 hours of online theory and a written exam. Over the same time, we did equipment drills, fire scenario simulations, and hikes, where physical capacity was tested, and theory was applied. This is where I realised, I had to learn to communicate better. From fire line hand signals to radio etiquette, to checking in to gauge how much I can bring to the fire that day… Quite unexpectedly, I realised how often I make assumptions. And I’ve never really asked the important internal questions. Who knew?”
“Another learning: After receiving five emails instructing me to take my working gloves to an event, I arrived without them. I’m the kind of person who’s always making lists of lists and setting reminders for reminders. I was stunned. Then watching an instruction video ten times over on where to stick my name on my helmet, I stuck it on the front instead of the back. So now at age 50, I’m learning to pay attention! And googling how to remove stickers.”
“Reality hit early in training when I discovered how weak I was after years of floating along in the comfortable numbness of the daily grind. I struggled to remember drills; I became insecure and was often disorientated. I had forgotten what it’s like to learn new skills, and blunder through discomfort, embarrassment and self-doubt. So, I restructured my life to start weight training and to free up study time. This burst of learning also led to a long fireside chat with a couple of bad habits to which I fondly bid farewell.”
“Physically my biggest challenge would be the yearly Pack Test; a 4.8-kilometre powerwalk with a 20.5 kg backpack. It sounded easy enough… The thing is, no running. It’s a test all new recruits and existing volunteers do annually, and it’s an international standard used by the likes of Canada and the USA.”
“My training for the Pack Test started shaky – with a 10 kg bag of dog food strapped to my back and two very confused dogs in tow I made my first attempt and ran five minutes over time (I blame it on the dogs, but don’t tell them). Instantly all my doubts and insecurities resurfaced. The only solution was to suit up and do it again with heavier weights.”
“Finally, D-Day arrived on a calm afternoon in October. A route was identified near Noordhoek Commons, where a dozen of us took to the streets cheered along by volunteers. And funny enough, it turned out to be more of a mental exercise than a physical one; because the moment your mind starts wandering you start slowing down. A powerful lesson learned. So, I kept repeating my mantra to the beat of my footsteps. “I’m not doing this again. I’m not doing this again. I’m not doing this again…” Until next year of course.”
“I made it in time with a couple of minutes to spare and I realised I was stronger than I thought. But not nearly as strong as two petite women in my group who weighed just over 40 kilograms each. They were carrying half their body weight and doing it at the same pace as the big guys.”
“Looking at the volunteers, I would say women make up about 40% of the numbers. At a recent information session hosted by VWS legend Mark Randall, he started his lecture by asking all new female recruits to stand up. I thought we’d get a special mention just for being us. As we stood up his response was: “You’re not women”. On an active fire line, everyone is anonymous in their PPE. Everyone needs to perform at the same level and execute their job to the best of their ability. Like death and taxes, the uniform is the great equaliser.”
“Businessmen and students, desk warriors and retirees, mothers of toddlers and free-range adults - all united by the same training and a passion to get to the fire at speed and engage.”
“Today I proudly wear the same uniform as my family across the province. My journey might have been a bit rocky at times but I’m confident in the world-class training received and the self-awareness gained. With my yellow comrades beside me, I’m ready to hold the line.”
Source: Primedia+