Tampa youth program shows students anyone can become firefighters
TAMPA, Fla. - A Tampa youth program is working to show kids, especially girls, that firefighting is for everyone.
A group of high school students from the Corporation to Develop Communities of Tampa’s youth program toured a Tampa Fire Rescue station Tuesday.
They got a breakdown of the day-to-day life of firefighters, equipment, diversity and inclusion.
Upcoming 11th grader, Carlyse Correa, 15, said she wants to become a firefighter when she's older.
"I do want to help people, but I think it would be great for fitness as well. I think it would be fun," said Correa.
She and 10 other boys and girls toured Fire Station 1 and the Tampa Fire Rescue Museum. Their youth group program, a Fire Introduction Resources and Education (FIRE) Academy, shows them anyone can be a firefighter, especially women.
"I went to a high school that had a fire academy there. I repeat I went to a high school that had a fire academy there, but someone said you couldn’t do it," said Lt. Natalee Allen, a rescue lieutenant with Tampa Fire Rescue’s Station 18.
TFR said women make up 6% of its workforce, about 75 to 80 women. It’s the most women in any municipal fire department in Hillsborough County, according to Tampa Fire Rescue.
TFR’s female firefighters hold a variety of positions from hazmat to leadership roles like Tampa’s fire chief Barbara Tripp. That kind of representation makes a difference to Lt. Allen. She met Tripp before she became chief.
"She was the first female firefighter that I met and started to encourage me and think yeah this is something I can do. So I went for it. I pursued it and here I am," said Allen.
That kind of encouragement is what the CDC of Tampa organizers want the teens to hear.
"It’s really inspiring because oh look I’m seeing someone who looks like me," said Correa.
The goal is showing that firefighting can be for everyone, no matter your gender, size or race.
"It means so much to see them here. Even if they take away nothing other than, ‘Hey today I saw a female firefighter, and she was kind of small too.’ That’s amazing to me," said Allen.
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This was the third year the CDC of Tampa held a fire academy for high school students. The first class was in 2020 when the kids could only meet firefighters virtually.
Alexandria Andrade is a representative with CDC of Tampa who went with the students on the tour.
"At the CDC of Tampa, our goal is to build strong communities. Everyone thinks it’s so cliché to say our youth are our future, but they are our greatest investment," said Andrade. "It’s a moment of empowerment because it’s almost like passing the torch. It ignites a fire in them that they might have not known was even there."
According to the National Fire Protection Association, 88,800 firefighters were female or 8% of all firefighters in 2019. Of the career firefighters, 14,900 or 4% were female.