GEORGE NEWS - Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) is home to seven woman firefighters, who are part of a group of 40 firefighters (including station officers and a fire chief). Although being underrepresented in a male-dominated environment, they are a force to reckon with.
When asked what the most important parts of their firefighting jobs are, they agreed that "protecting lives, infrastructure and the environment" are at the top of their list.
One of the senior firefighters, Bonita Conrad, has earned the South African Toughest Firefighter Alive title in her age group twice in the last few years.
In 2006, GRDM was the first in the Western Cape to appoint a woman fire chief, Annelise Lamprecht-Virtue. During the October 2018 Garden Route fires she was tasked by the Western Cape Government to assist the district and local municipalities in providing strategic leadership. She will take up the position as fire chief at Witzenberg Municipality on 1 September.
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