Working on Fire has hundreds of management positions that were filled with those who started in the programme as fire fighters.

Among them is Leoni Rooi who is currently the Free State Training Officer. She joined WOF as a fire fighter at the Clanwilliam Base in the Western Cape in 2004, a year after the programme was established. Within a year she was a Type 1 Crew Leader and in six months she was promoted to be an Instructor.

“After a year and half as an instructor I became a Regional Manager for five years in the Western Cape,” she told WoFire News.

Upon leaving her post as a Regional Manager she rejoined the Training Academy as a Senior Instructor in 2013. Three years later she became a Training Officer in the Free State.

“I love everything about this programme because if it was not for it, I don’t know where I would be today. The first day I started I made a promise to myself that I will not leave this job unless the job leaves me,” she said.

She also got a chance to travel and her highlight is when she went to America where she attended a Fire Intensive Course for three weeks. In her current post, she coordinates and plans training for fire fighters, organize Yellow Cards and Driver’s Training Camps.