Parts of Australia have been burning for months: Quinn Cramer is one of ten thousands of firefighters, who work to control the fires and look after the people who have lost their house and home in these catastrophic bushfires. Quinn has been a firefighter since 2008 and in 2019 she was elected as president of the board of Woman and Firefighting Australasia (WAFA). The interview will be in English.

Intro to podcast: ‘Woman of the week’ a podcast by B5 Aktuell: in this podcast we shine the light onto a woman who has made a difference this week and was therefore in the news: Australia has just recorded its hottest and driest year since the recording of weather started, high temperatures and strong, hot, dry winds and the bushfires still plague the north east of Australia. More than 10 million hectares have been destroyed since the fires started in October, that is about the size of Bavaria and Baden Wurttemberg combined. At least 27 people have lost their lives so far, as well as hundreds of millions of animals. Fires in Australia are becoming more and more dangerous. Today they are again expecting temperatures in excess of 40 degrees, as well as strong winds. Another 240,000 people have been asked to evacuate; Premier Morrison said “we are far from the end of this crisis”. “It is a damned dangerous job”, says Captain Brendan O’Connor. “Sometimes the fires just about explode or they create fire tornados, the week before last one of these tornados captured a [very heavy] tanker and threw it into the air, a colleague was killed. Most of us have been fighting these fires since the beginning of October and we are all very exhausted, it’s been a long battle, that’s for sure”.

“You have all heard and seen it in the news – parts of Australia are burning; the fire service is looking after persons who have lost their house and home in these catastrophic fires, as well as dehydrated and exhausted animals. Representing the men and women who have been fighting these fires in Australia for months is our ‘Woman of the Week’ Quinn Cramer from Queensland. She has been a firefighter since 2008 and she was recently elected as president of the board of WAFA. My name is Vanessa Schneider and I am very happy that you are listening!”

“I called Quinn Cramer at 8am local time, Gladstone. Gladstone is a small coastal town in Queensland approximately 500km north of Brisbane. We have talker via Skype, this is why the sound is a little bit mechanical. And we chatted in English, but you will get used to the Australian accent quite quickly!”

Interview with Station Officer Quinn Cramer, QFES, (in English).

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/... provided by WAFA Board Member Anna Stephan.