London's fire service hopes to attract new young talent with this training program

This week, London’s firefighting is hoping to bring new young people into the mix, with a training camp for women and gender diverse individuals.

The Future Firefighters in Training Program (Camp FITT) looks to acquaint teens with possible career options in fire services – giving them introductory training on dousing car fires, extracting people from vehicle crashes, and CPR.

Firefighter with the city of London Allison Vickerd said that she looks forward to the program every year, “Monday, the crew…is not saying too much and they’re pretty intimidated. By Friday, they just won’t stop talking about their experience here.” 

She said that the key to a well rounded fire service, is making sure that everyone has a chance to have a seat at the table, “even the smallest firefighters that bring diversity to the crew have a huge purpose. We all meet the same physical standards, but sometimes we rely on different body types for different tasks.”

Although it’s a week of hard work, and a steep learning curve, many participants embrace the challenge. “I wanted to be a firefighter for a little while now, so Camp FFIT just seemed like an amazing opportunity to get to know the field of work and all of the experiences that people have gone through,” said participant Ava Probost.

Jillian MackIntosh said that after her experiences, she encourages others to sign up, “100 per cent do it. If you’re thinking about it, or you don’t know if you can do it, come out. All the volunteers are super supportive. It’s really an amazing program. They’re all here to help you.”

— With files from CTV News London's Fiona Robertson