CAMP BLAZE

OUR HISTORY

The first Fire Service Mini Camp was hosted by San Diego Fire and Life Safety in July of 1999. The team leaders worked together to form the organization "BLAZE: Firecamp for Young Women" to provide an annual, free camp - Camp Blaze - where young women could experience what a career in the fire service might be like.

In 2003, the Board of Directors made a decision to offer Camp Blaze as a biennial event. In addition to Camp Blaze, the organization now offers Women & Fire training events in the off-year from Camp Blaze. Women & Fire offers a day of hands-on drills and instruction for women in the fire service as well as a day of professional development related to the goals of Camp Blaze. Both events are hosted in the Pacific Northwest.

…IN A NUTSHELL

  • Held every other year in North Bend, Washington, Camp Blaze is open to young women between the ages of 16-19

  • There is NO COST to campers (except the cost of transportation to/from the Seattle area)

  • Our next camp will be in Summer 2026 and applications will open in February of that year

Camp Blaze skills and training offered:

  • Leadership curriculum

  • Team-building

  • Fire behavior instruction

  • Use of self-contained breathing apparatus

  • Live fire training

  • Vehicle extrication

  • Application of portable fire extinguishers

  • Hose handling

  • Ladders, including aerial ladder climbing

  • Rappelling

  • Search and rescue

  • Interviewing skills

  • Self defense

  • CPR & First aid

Camp Blaze also provides:

  • Lodging for seven days/nights

  • Secure campus and oversight

  • T-shirts, shorts and sweatshirt for each camper

  • Bunker gear for each camper (for use at camp)

  • Meals and snacks, accommodating dietary restriction

  • Laundry services

  • Transportation to/from SEA/TAC airport

“The girls who came into this camp and the girls who are leaving are not the same. We go by the same names, and we may look the same, but we are stronger, smarter and more compassionate.

But more than anything we are ready. We are ready to reach out, to be ourselves, to take care of each other, and to put some ‘wet on the red’, whether we want to be firefighters or not.

— Mia Garcia, Camp Blaze Camper

Our Board of Directors

  • AUSTEN STUTSMAN
    President

    Austen Stutsman joined the fire service in 2009 and currently works for Lacey Fire District 3 in Washington State.

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    She also works as a Physical Therapist and has had a private practice since 2012. Austen has been with Camp Blaze since 2014, working primarily with the instruction cadre until joining the Board of Directors in 2016 where she currently serves as the Board President.

    Outside of the fire service, Austen is an avid traveler and scuba diver. She enjoys volunteering her time with a variety of camps for young people across the northwest, and spending what is left of her free-time at home with her two cats.

  • KRISTINE LARSON
    Vice President

    Kris Larson is a Deputy Chief for the Los Angeles City Fire Department, and currently serves as the Bureau Commander for the Equity and Human Resources Bureau of the LAFD.

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    A Washington State native, she was recruited into the fire service following graduation from UCLA, and has been a proud LAFD firefighter since 1990. Kris is the highest-ranking African American woman in the history of the LAFD, and the first to achieve the rank of Assistant Chief. She also serves as President of the Los Angeles Women in the Fire Service (LAWFS).One of our longest-term volunteers, Kris has been with the Blaze organization since 2003 serving in many capacities including Crew Leader, Crew Leader Liaison and Instructor. She is a regular participant in many of the two-day girls camps sponsored by sister fire agencies up and down the West Coast, and was the Incident Commander (IC) for Camp Blaze 2022.

  • SANDRA COOPER
    Treasurer

    Sandy Cooper began firefighting as a teenager in Massachusetts as a volunteer. She began her firefighting career in 1981 in the US Air Force, working structural and crash rescue.

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    Sandy transitioned to the Air Force Reserves, and to a full-time civilian firefighter. In 1998 she was promoted to Fire Chief.

    During her 30-year career, she persevered through some very tough times as the only woman in the department and has always endeavored to give other women a hand-up. It is this philosophy that makes working with the Camp Blaze organization an exciting and important opportunity for her.

    Sandy, although retired from full time firefighting, continues to be involved in emergency response. She is the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) leader in Mesquite, NV.

    In her personal life, Sandy is married and a mom of 2, stepmom to 3, and grandma to 10 with one great-granddaughter! She loves to travel and has visited all 50 states and more than 15 countries.

  • DAWN LARSON
    Secretary

    Dawn Larson is a Southern California native, and comes to Camp Blaze with 30+ years' experience in office administration and project management.

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    She holds a PhD in Business Administration with an emphasis in Organization and Management, and relishes her role as onsite Admin/IT Director for Camp Blaze.

    "Dr. Dawn" has put her administrative skills to good use by helping to establish on-going fire department girls' camps within the greater Los Angeles area. She has been a volunteer at Camp Blaze since 2016 and is a passionate supporter of Camp Blaze's vision.

  • ERIKA ENSLIN
    Board Member

    Erika Enslin has 32 years in the fire service, 27 with Sacramento Fire Department where she currently holds the rank of Captain.

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    She attended her first girls fire camp sponsored by LAFD in 2017. Since then, Erika has gone on to be an instructor at over 15 camps, and was a founding member of the Sacramento Area Girls Fire Camp.

    In 2021, Erika began a non-profit, Golden State Women in the Fire Service, to support “plug and play” girls fire camps around the Sacramento Valley and North Bay Region. This organization helps to bring women firefighters of the region together for networking and support, along with providing girls fire camps to sponsoring fire agencies, regardless of size or current diversity. She firmly believes in “if you see it, you can be it” and being a positive role model to any woman interested in the fire service.

    As well as being on the Blaze board, Erika serves on many other boards and committees regarding women’s issues, DEI and local fire history.

  • AMY JULIANO
    Board Member

    Amy Juliano is a Firefighter/EMT for Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue and a State Instructor at the Washington State Fire Training Academy.

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    She joined the fire service in 2015 as a Volunteer Firefighter for King County Fire District #27. She first volunteered with Camp Blaze in 2018 and has since been involved in several weekend camps and trainings that are inside of the Camp Blaze circuit. Inspired by her experiences with Camp Blaze, she is working on various projects through her department’s DEI Committee. She also brings 10+ years of corporate management and operations experience to the organization.

    Amy grew up in Omaha, Nebraska and graduated with a BA degree in Psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She played collegiate rugby at Nebraska and continued her rugby career in Washington until she found her way into the fire service.

    Amy is married to a NICU nurse and has two step-kiddos, two cats, one dog, and one snail. In her free time, she loves to hike, be near the water, or go on adventures in the beautiful PNW.

  • KELSEY BENSON
    Board Member

    Kelsey Benson is a Firefighter/EMT
    for Lacey Fire District 3, and helps organize the Capital Metro Girls Fire Camp.

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    Kelsey is the President of the Lacey Firefighters Charity, a non-profit organization that focuses on providing Thanksgiving meals and a Santa Fire House event every year to families in need, along with other community outreach and fundraiser events.

    Kelsey grew up on a small ranch in central Montana and graduated with a BS degree in Exercise Science from the University of Montana. She moved to Seattle in 2015, worked an office job in the Columbia Tower, before being recruited by a “Blazer” into the fire service. Kelsey joined Camp Blaze in 2018 as a Crew Leader, and now enjoys recruiting more women into the fire service and paying it forward.

    In her spare time, Kelsey loves to travel and just hang out with her family and her dog.

  • KATY ERHARDT
    Board Member

    Katy Erhardt has been with the Alameda County Fire Department for over 13 years, and was recently promoted to the rank of Captain.

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    She is also a certified state instructor and helps teach at her local junior college. Katy is a Bay Area native and grew up always knowing that she wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps as a firefighter. After obtaining a four year degree in psychology at Cal State Northridge, she moved back to the Bay Area to follow her dreams. She was hired as a reserve with the ACFD then was picked up full time.

    After she had a few years in, she looked for a program to volunteer in that would help grow her teaching skills and find mentorship, that is when she came across Camp Blaze. Katy has been a volunteer since 2014 and has taken the skills and knowledge that she has learned at Blaze and has been able to apply them to numerous two-day girls’ camps and online at her current agency.

    Katy is married to a fellow firefighter and has one kiddo that she refers to as the “Tiny Tornado” for all the shenanigans he gets into. In her free time, she loves spending it with her family camping, traveling, backpacking or just working on their property. She absolutely loves to laugh and one day hopes to have a pet kangaroo.