BurningWomen: Ukrainian women firefighters inspire volunteers in Poland

Imagine a village where only girls have been born for over a decade. That's exactly what Miejsce Odrzańskie is in the Opole region of Poland. This small settlement of two hundred inhabitants is also known for having its own voluntary fire brigade (OSP Miejsce Odrzańskie). The peculiarity of this team is that most of its members are women, which makes it unique among the volunteer fire brigades in the region.

It was here that the Ukrainian delegation, together with the NGO ‘Tuteshni’, visited to present the documentary BurningWomen, a story about Ukrainian women in the fire and rescue movement.

‘Women's energy has no boundaries. When you see the strength of another woman, you think: if she could do it, why can't I? It gives you inspiration to act,’ said Anna Slyusarenko, Chair of the Board of the NGO “Tuteshni”. The Polish volunteers were interested in the Ukrainian experience and even expressed a desire to visit Ukrainian fire stations.

During the visit, the delegation also met with representatives of the Main Directorate of the State Fire Service of the Opole Voivodeship, General Paweł Kielar and Senior Brigadier Piotr Dudek. They discussed how Polish state and voluntary fire departments work and how they interact with each other. The Ukrainians also spoke to local media about the volunteer firefighting movement in Ukraine and presented BurningWomen as a way to draw attention to the importance of the fire and rescue service.

The BurningWomen documentary project was created with the support of the Ukrainian Women's Fund in cooperation with the SES of Ukraine and the public sector. It aims not only to tell about the role of women in the rescue services, but also to inspire new generations of volunteers to join a movement that knows no borders or boundaries.