BY SCOTT FINAZZO
Developing the leaders of tomorrow has become a priority in the corporate world; industry; and, most certainly, in public safety. Finding new and unique ways to allow individuals to grow and progress is becoming more and more difficult. Through books, seminars, and classes, current managers are looking to leave the fire service a little better than they found it. The Overland Park (KS) Fire Department accidentally found a way to obtain lessons in leadership: It hosted a firefighting camp for teenage girls.
In 2001, Battalion Chief Julie Harper proposed initiating a firefighting camp designed for females between the ages of 15 and 19. The idea was based on Camp Blaze, a similar camp held in several locations along the West Coast. After several years of perseverance and with the blessing of the Overland Park Fire Department, Camp Inferno was launched in the summer of 2005. The camp has evolved over the years and now has international participation.
THE GOALS
The initial purpose of Camp Inferno was to expose teenage girls to the fire service as a career. Fighting fire was the foundation of the camp, but Harper viewed the experience as more than teaching girls how to handle a hoseline:
- The environment at Camp Inferno is one in which it is safe for the girls to fail. This sounds strange. Why make an environment for failure? The beauty of these failures is they are opportunities for the cadets to learn. They learn about what they are capable of physically, mentally, and emotionally and how to define and overcome their fears. They learn the true concept of being a member of a team, sometimes as the leader and sometimes as the follower, and that both roles are vital to the mission’s overall success.
 (1) The cadets learn tactics and teamwork as they approach a simulated tanker fire. (Photos by author.) |
Admittedly, the first year of camp was a series of learning experiences and improvisations done to achieve a checklist of objectives pertaining to the campers (cadets). Not much thought was given to the potential benefits of those involved with hosting the event. Only after the second year of Camp Inferno did the camp’s staff realize that the girls saw them as role models and leaders. That realization led Harper to begin thinking that developing young females was only the surface of the potential of Camp Inferno and that the future leaders of the fire department were cutting their teeth as camp supervisors. Those who may not be in a formal leadership position within the fire department have the opportunity to assume the positions of incident commander (IC), logistics officer, or any other vital role necessary for the camp’s success.
In June 2008, 25 girls walked through the doors of the Overland Park Fire Training Center with the expectations of learning how to fight fire and perhaps make some friends and build some self-esteem along the way. Prior to that day, Harper established a command staff that could rival that of most any emergency incident. She likens it to setting up an incident command system that would be required to run a weeklong emergency event. Overland Park Battalion Chief Grant Wernicke agrees, “Developing the command system for managing the camp is similar to a large-scale incident or disaster style of management with positions being filled each day. I think this gives individuals the ability to think, not from a strategic or tactical perspective, but rather from the viewpoint of how the incident management system works and should be developed.”
 (2) Cadets realize and conquer their fears as they rappel from a five-story training tower. |
Although the camp runs for one week in June, the organization begins planning many months in advance. In March, Chief Harper solicits the entire department for anyone who would be interested in a camp staff position. Those interested in a command staff or crew chief position are asked to submit an application form and a reference letter from a supervisor. She then selects an IC, a logistics officer, crew chiefs, overnight chaperones, instructors, medics, and support staff. Individuals not in a formal leadership position within the department typically fill these positions.
Each role within the staff is vital to Camp Inferno’s success. There are, obviously, many aspects of the camp that must be organized down to the very last detail to support 25 girls for a full week of firefighting, vehicle extrication, rappelling, and first aid, among other things. Where does one start? The most logical place is to start at the top and assign an IC.
INCIDENT COMMANDER
Last year, Firefighter Eric Matthews, a 19-year veteran of the fire service, was the Camp’s IC. Matthews, who has aspirations for promotion, strongly recommends that members looking to advance to management levels take on a role on the Camp Inferno command staff. “There are no other opportunities readily available for someone to work with our incident command system (ICS) and use the ICS Workbook,” Matthews explains. “Using the ICS for a real event over multiple operational periods in a nonemergency environment is invaluable.”
 (3) Crew Chief Greg Thacker teaches the proper donning of SCBA. |
Serving as the IC can have more than its share of challenges, but some were particularly delicate. When a firefighter becomes the IC of Camp Inferno, that firefighter is then directing some who, outside of the camp, are department chiefs. Matthews said a certain amount of humble tact is invoked to protect everyone’s pride and the chain of command outside of the camp. Matthews observes: “There is a tremendous balancing act required when you are in a position that manages people of a higher rank. Every chief staff member is used to having information come and go through certain channels. We all have our own idiosyncrasies and hot buttons.”
LOGISTICS OFFICER
Not all positions are reserved for the informal leaders of the Overland Park Fire Department; company officers occasionally will fill the roles. Lieutenant Jason Green assumed the position of logistics officer last year. The person assigned to logistics, by definition, manages the procurement and distribution of necessary goods and information. A company officer will occasionally handle these duties for certain incidents but rarely for an event that spans multiple days. What is the benefit? “Camp Inferno is an exercise in leadership,” says Green. “You deal with many of the same issues that you do on shift, and you get the opportunity to see things from a different perspective. Rather than be the leader of a company, I was more involved with the acquisition and dispersing of equipment for each day. It is a different scope of management than that with which a shift officer is typically involved.”
CREW CHIEFS
Perhaps the crew chiefs have the most crucial roles of the camp. They are the first line of leadership to these girls. After the cadets are divided into even-numbered companies, two crew chiefs are assigned to each company. These crew chiefs act as instructor, mentor, caretaker, motivator, and disciplinarian and learn some of the most pivotal lessons in leadership.
 (4) Last-minute preparations are made as Firefighter Terra Moriarty assists a cadet before fighting the fire. |
Their first job is to get to know their cadets and find out what each girl hopes to get out of Camp Inferno (which is a thinly veiled way to find out each cadet’s motivators). They urge their cadets to work toward their potential without being autocratic. This lesson in finesse is difficult for many new leaders to master.
MEDICAL
Firemedic Mike Day, a four-year veteran of Camp Inferno, explains his techniques:
- I found that I had to incorporate different motivational techniques for different personalities. Some cadets respond simply to being challenged, just as an athlete would. Others find personal challenges to be their motivation for knowing they can overcome physical and mental obstacles. My goal was to discover what goals each cadet had and to find ways for them to meet or exceed their personal goals.
As the week progresses, the crew establishes a relationship with each of the girls, similar to the relationship fire officers develop with their crew members. Strengths are reinforced, and weaknesses are identified. “It is easy to want to teach or coach the cadets who are eager to learn; it is more difficult for me to push the cadets who do not want to go the extra mile,” Day notes.
As is the case with the officer of a fire company, the crew chiefs become aware of weaknesses within the company, be it the fear of confined spaces, heights, or even fire. In some cases, the crew chiefs give special attention to motivate these girls; in many cases, the cadets take care of it themselves. The girls could be heard cheering during the exercises, consoling others for failures, and praising each other’s successes. “They become a team in every sense of the word,” according to one proud crew chief.
The cadets and the staff benefit from these activities. “Everyone on the training pad can feel the sense of accomplishment that these girls experience when they get to the bottom of a five-story training tower by way of a ½-inch rope,” relates Harper. “No words are needed to describe the confidence they find when they peel off their helmet and mask after putting out a fire that had occupied an entire wall and the ceiling above them just moments before. The smile on their face as they high-five each other speaks volumes,” she continues.
“If you take a step back, you can see the same smile on the faces of the crew chiefs who have been working with these girls to teach them about not only firefighting but also courage, self-worth, and personal drive,” says Harper. “The cadet who the day before was putting on an SCBA for the first time has now just come out of a building an accomplished firefighter. This staff takes pride in that as well as experiences a sense of ownership.”
The girls enter the camp during the tumultuous teenage years. They leave with a lifetime of memories and a defining sense of self. The staff, through its hard work and preparation, molds these girls and instills in them the self-confidence so many teenagers lack. Those who seize the opportunity to be a part of Camp Inferno take with them leadership lessons that cannot be learned from a book. These lessons are learned by trial and error in the trenches of hands-on leadership development.
SCOTT FINAZZO is a 13-year veteran of the fire service and a second-generation firefighter. He is an instructor, a high angle rescue technician, and a swiftwater rescue technician. He has an associate degree in fire service administration and a bachelor’s degree in management and human relations. He is a lieutenant with the Overland Park (KS) Fire Department.
