Female firefighter proves to be a worthy addition to Singleton Fire and Rescue crew

Today also marks half a year since she officially signed with the Singleton Fire and Rescue brigade to become their first female member in recent years.

Fast forward six months down the track and the outspoken 24-year-old has already experienced more than most her age in the Singleton community.

"A lifelong friend of mine Hugh Miles joined in 2017 and he and Andrew Porters were having brunch last year and I was venting how I was struggling to get into the Emergency Response Team at work," Miss Worth told the Singleton Argus.

"They then put the question out if I wanted to join the fire brigade and truth be told I had never put much thought into it.

"I looked into the option for becoming a retained firefighter, had a phone interview and it all snowballed from there."

Miss Worth, as she is affectionately known within the walls at Singleton's historic Pitt Street fire station, admitted that the group 'needed a bubbly little annoying person'.

However underneath her outspoken and charismatic personality lies a strong willed leader who hopes to be a role model for Singleton's next generation of women.

"I was in Armidale for training and ducked into Coles to get some fruit and there were two girls in their school uniforming glancing my way," she recalled.

"One of them said 'that's a fire lady' and the other denied it claiming 'there's no women in the fire brigade' so I had to inform them that wasn't the case.

"They couldn't believe it and that was another highlight because they came out of that interaction inspired and proud to be future women.

"Singleton is an army and mining town and I feel like sometimes growing up I had to work twice as hard to get anywhere because we were, and still are, a male dominated town.

"But in actual fact we don't.

"We just have to be strong and, sadly, I never realised that until I was sitting here today."

Worth's grandfather Eric served the Rural Fire Service for more than 60 years in a career where he served as the captain of the Whittingham brigade and was bestowed a life member.

During that time her father Darryl also donned the RFS colours for a decade.

Yet her greatest disappointment was not being able to share her new chapter with her maternal grandfather Ray Considine who passed away last August.

"My only disappointment was not being able to share this experience with my grandfather," she revealed.

"There was late Friday night he went to hospital and though his body had shut down on the Saturday we were all their to visit him.

"He was unconscious but I still told him I joined the fire brigade.

"He passed away in his sleep a few hours later."

True to her word, she would then go on to pass her first interview with Singleton Fire and Rescue captain Bruce Ambrose on the morning of her grandfather's funeral.

"My interview was at 9am and the funeral was at 11am so I went to the interview with a terrible night's sleep and I had to do a quick sound check at church because I had to sing," she reflected.

"The interview itself was tough because I was so focused on the funeral but thankfully the interview itself flowed.

"Even though I passed the interview I still didn't tell anyone I was going to join the fire brigade because my goal was to make my grandfather and family proud.

"My grandfather was a level two warrant officer in the Vietnam War and he was such a hard man."

"When shit hit the fan in Singleton he was also the one who combined all the emergency services together."

When asked what one more meeting with her grandfather would have meant the proud firefighter held back tears.

"You're going to make me cry," she replied.

""He was patient and kind but he was also so tough and he just wanted the best for everyone.

"I think if he was here today and he saw me do something with my life like this it would be amazing to see his reaction."

Singleton Fire and Rescue captain Bruce Ambrose has since declared that he is proud to have a firefighter of her calibre in his brigade.

"Miss Worth has learnt skills such as basic HAZMAT, Basic Life Support, firefighting, and later down the track will learn how to drive the appliance under response conditions and General Land Rescue," he added.

"More importantly, she's slotted into our group perfectly and we congratulate her on her first six months."

When asked for the final word, Miss Worth hopes she can inspire more female firefighters in the years to come.

"I now work in two male dominated industries but I still hold my own," she declared.

"There's no honeymoon period with me; what you see is what you get."