05-05-2025
W.I.L.D. Institute unites women in firefighting for first Women's Firefighter Weekend
MINDEN, WV (WVNS) – The W.I.L.D. Institute held their First Women's Firefighter Weekend.
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This weekend united female firefighters from the area, as they took specialized training in ladder throwing, hose handling, forcible entry and people drags.
Mystik Miller is the executive director of the Wild Institute, as well as a local volunteer firefighter.
She explained they brought in female instructors from all over the nation, from places like Wisconsin and Colorado.
'We wanted to do it that way because [female instructors] intimately know that experience of being a female firefighter, of having to perform these tasks, especially when you are a little bit shorter or you do not have that arm strength, but we have strength in our legs and we have strength in different parts of our bodies,' said Miller.
Linda Crane and Ryella Kelly were two of the instructors W.I.L.D. brought in for this weekend.
'This week is really special to have an opportunity to train with women in the fire service and to support each other and come together to uplift each other, to find ways that we can be most effective in doing all of the same things that anyone else on this job is going to do. W.I.L.D. Institute brought us here to basically come together and foster something that we can all grow from and then take back to our department,' said Crane.
'There are a lot of things in firefighting that, stereotypically, people think that females cannot do. We can do them, we just do them a different way. Then this week we were able to really hone in on those skills. Linda did an amazing job of teaching us body mechanics and how to utilize our strength in the best way possible to get the job done,' said Kelly.
Miller told 59News they hope to make this an annual event to help grow the local female firefighting community.
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She added that there are very few women firefighters in comparison to male firefighters, so having this time to bond was special to them.
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