THE HOT STEPS BY HAYLEY KATZEN, EWINGAR BRIGADE
On an autumn evening in 2017, our crew took our places on the Ewingar community hall’s low wooden stage. A motley chorus line of seven members of the NSW RFS Ewingar Brigade. Richard, our Captain, insisted he couldn’t and didn’t dance. Paul, the Senior Deputy Captain, picked up the steps quicker than anyone. My partner Jen groaned and said, “No! I haven’t got the first bit yet”. Nadine, initiator and choreographer, laughed. Recently moved to the area, she’d joined the brigade and we, the Hot Steps, were now to perform ‘YMCA’ at her 40th birthday party. I appreciated having another woman and a novice out on the fire line. Jen and I had joined back in 2003 in the wake of the 2002 fires that had destroyed Jen’s mudbrick home and all she’d built over 21 years. Back then, five years into our relationship, I still lived in town and Jen on the farm. I barely knew the names of the women or men in this small community. To me, the men were simply the ‘big beards’. Slowly, very slowly, after our Basic Training, Jen and I became more involved with the brigade. The blokes eventually acknowledged Jen was an asset – years of farm work had made her strong, and she’d always been practical. In contrast I, an academic cityslicker, feel a little silly even describing myself as a firefighter. But a decade ago, when the brigade was still a boys’ club, they elected me President. 42 BUSH FIRE bulletin || FEATURES
This role has become my one opportunity to use my facilitation and administrative skills to contribute to the community. Over these last seventeen years, the brigade has gradually changed. It’s no longer a boys’ club: the old guard has retired from active duties, their bodies wearied and aching after years of manual work. A reluctant Jen wears the stripes of a Deputy Captain and we have ten women as members. When a new bloke moves to the area – particularly if they’re under 50 – I quickly ask, “and what about your partner? Tell her to come. It’s a good group – there’s a job for everyone and good info to handle the fire season.” I don’t tell them how slogging it out together on the fire line engenders a respectful relationship which facilitates conversations and honesties we’d formerly have thought impossible. The YMCA rehearsals were a precious moment in time – but one that would seal us together as a crew.
