By Taylah Eastwell
Three courageous yet humble young women are helping break down gender inequality in CFA volunteer numbers, having devoted their time to the Devon Meadows CFA and fighting the recent Bunyip blaze.
Bridgett Young, 21, Rachel Rizzo, 26 and mum-of-three Carly Damman, 26, help make up the small figure of just 11,916 female volunteer firefighters in Victoria compared to 41,116 males.
“When you say ‘firefighter’, when you imagine ‘firefighter’, you don’t imagine females. To be a part of it – not just sit there and do nothing, but be a part of the crew and playing a role – is unlike anything else”, Bridgett said.
In the wake of the Bunyip bushfires that saw more than 15,400 hectares, 29 homes and 69 sheds engulfed in flames, Bridgett speaks of her ordeal being trapped for more than eight hours surrounded by burning sheds and falling trees.
“We were trapped in the sense that we couldn’t get out and go home. We didn’t have food, no one could come in to get us out and we couldn’t physically get ourselves out with just our chainsaws,” Bridgett said.
Bridgett was a part of three strike teams over the fire danger period. On the Sunday morning during the fire period, Bridgett boarded the fire truck at Devon Meadows brigade about 5am. Unbeknown to her, she would not be returning home until 3am the following morning.
“We didn’t know at that stage we were trapped in there, we just thought we were going to be there until 7pm and would be released. It wasn’t until about 5pm when we went out on to the road and saw the amount of trees that were on fire laying across the road that we knew we wouldn’t be getting out,” she said.
“We were told basically to call our bosses and tell them that we weren’t going to be in the next day. The fire moved really fast,” she added.
Carly was also a member of strike teams on the following Wednesday and on Thursday alongside Bridgett.
“It was really confronting, being a massive fire and my first of that scale,” she said.
“The fire got so close to some people’s properties that all their garden beds were burnt, but firefighters were able to save their homes. Seeing the devastation really puts what we do into perspective.”
Rachel, a fifth-generation firefighter who has volunteered for 15 years said: “I remember standing there and you can hear the fire coming for you, you can hear the tree’s crackling, it’s loud, and that’s that moment where you go ‘yep, alright, bring it on’.”
According to the girls, Devon Meadows Brigade is a close-knit family, and described the support they received as “out of this world.”
“With CFA, we are all quite close. So when you’re facing a fire you know the person next to you has your back and they know you’ve got theirs. In these situations, you revert back to your training and your faith in your crew,” Rachel said.
