About Juliet Crew

The All-Women Wildland Firefighting Project is the brainchild of Dean Ferreira, Managing Director of NCC Environmental Services. Currently women are not adequately represented in this sector with many people still believing that firefighting is not a suitable occupation for women. NCC is attempting to address this while simultaneously providing life changing opportunities to vulnerable youth. Ferreira says: “Over time they will stand shoulder to shoulder – not male or female, just one.”

While NCC is supporting Juliet Crew, the crew is not currently contracted and needs funds to make this project sustainable. The majority of the crew comes from previously disadvantaged backgrounds, many of them are the breadwinners for their families. Juliet Crew have had incredible support thus far in the form of a crew transporter and initial start-up costs to kit the crew out. The crew is self-funded and relies heavily on donations and support from the public and other entities.

As an all-women crew there remains one large logistical obstacle. The crew needs a home. Currently the crew is temporarily based at the Vergelegen NCC Fire Base. However, for this crew to continue to be sustainable they do need a permanent solution. Without a base Juliet Crew will be required to travel in and out daily with all their equipment. This poses a huge safety risk to the women as when they travel home from a fire they are exhausted and vulnerable. 

The Juliet Crew has had an incredibly successful fire season thus far, recently assisting on three 24-hour deployments on the Jonkershoek fires. These ladies have what it takes to get the job done.