Governing
BOTETOURT COUNTY, Va. — Each year, a group of about 60 girls in grade school in Botetourt County, Va., spend a day learning about fire safety and emergency response. An instructor teaches them what to do if a wounded person is bleeding heavily and shows them a set of healthy lungs compared to a set of smoker’s lungs. A flight medic shows off a helicopter. Older girls put on fire gear and use extraction tools to cut up cars, just as they might during a rescue. At the end of the day, a local guidance counselor talks to them about self-care, mental health and leadership.
This is all part of Botetourt County’s Girls’ Fire Camp, just one of many efforts to raise the community’s awareness about the work of their fire department. As with other such events, it’s a chance to encourage more residents to volunteer, explains Taylor Lunsford, who was hired in 2021 to fill a newly created role: recruitment and retention specialist…