This All-Female, All-Indigenous Australian Firefighting Crew Works 24/7 To Protect Their Sacred Land From Flames

Wildfires are destroying Australia on an unthinkable scale. And while the whole country is combating the flames, we want you to take a look at the efforts of one particular crew. The Lakes Tyers Aboriginal Trust Country Fire Authority, an all-women, all-indigenous brigade who are the perfect example of their people’s resilience.

Image credits: Country Fire Authority

Image credits: CFAChiefOfficer

The Lakes Tyers Aboriginal Trust Country Fire Authority was set up 20 years ago. Now, Charmaine Sellings, 52, is in charge of the group, and the fully-trained team have already had some pretty big fights under their belts. Like the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009.

Image credits: Charmaine Sellings

Image credits: callapilla

Like so many parts of Australia, Lake Tyers in eastern Victoria has been suffering a crippling drought, so Charmaine and the Country Fire Authority Brigade have already forgotten about a summer break. Instead, they’re taking care of their tinder-box patch of sacred land.

“Things are pretty desperate,” Charmaine told Now To Love, “we are in extreme conditions, our dams are empty and it’s not a good situation.”

Image credits: DivCouncilAus

“The crew will work around the clock. We hope for a quiet summer but we fear the worst.”

Charmaine’s crew is the country’s first all-indigenous, all-female fire brigade. These mothers and grandmothers are the backbone of the remote Lake Tyers Aboriginal Trust, a self-governing Aboriginal community in the State’s far east.