Joining Alaska’s first all-women wildland fire crew further kindled an interest in ecology and firefighting for one Wittenberg University senior. “There aren’t many women in wildland firefighting,” said Olivia Lawrence, a Clark County native and 2019 graduate of Springfield High School.
Lawrence and six other women spent last summer in Alaska, hosted by the National Park Service in a program through the Student Conservation Association. The crew trained for weeks to acquire skills and certifications, including CPR, wilderness first aid and firefighting.
The roving crew traveled throughout the state, including Anchorage, Fairbanks, the Aleutian Islands and Denali National Park. Lawrence also was sent to an active wildfire in the northern part of Alaska, within the Arctic Circle.