Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Barbara Nelson on May 15, 2008 at 12:28am

Only one guy had a problem with me being female, I stuck it out and outlasted him. If I would have quit they would be 2 short not 1. Another guy had a problem with my size (5'1'' and 125 lbs.) But through the time we worked together he realized how much I could do and I could fit where others could not. (Crumpled cars for pt care and crawl spaces) One time we were at a kitchen fire and the home owner said to me aren't you to small to be a FF and he came to my defense. But I will admit that I am not what you picture if you think about a firefighter. Just show them what you are made of and they will realize we can pull our weight and can be a benifit to the district.

Permalink Reply by Brittany on June 9, 2008 at 10:24am

I've been very, very fortunate with being a female on a volunteer department. The guys have all been very supportive, and nobody has given me crap about being female and doing this job. I'm not the only female on my department (I think there are at least 6 of us) and the guys treat us right, take care of us, and let us participate in whatever is going on. My chief has been great about supporting any training I want to go through, fire or ems.

Permalink Reply by Jeanine on June 15, 2008 at 3:06am

I have experianced that in the past..One call i can remember someone telling me I couldn't reach the trim on a building and i showed him!!! After that, they learned not to tell me that I couldn't do things because i was a girl.

Permalink Reply by Hilary on June 26, 2008 at 9:22am

Hi ladies...I am new here and also fairly new to the fire service.

I am the only female in our department. I have only had an issue with one guy. He acts like I am incompetent. He is an old fashioned guy who believes that a female should be barefoot and pregnant. All the other guys have had to set him straight LOL...

I just finished Scene Support last night and we took that class together. Well it was pretty pathetic that he has been in the department 2x as long as me and I had to help him with some things. But I have to give him credit: There were 4 of us from our department taking the class so we all worked together. But anyways, he did step up to the plate when I needed help as well as the other 2...So it does show that he is different when it comes down to it! SO anyways!!

Permalink Reply by VaLeRiE cRaWfOrD on August 27, 2008 at 5:39pm

thank the Good lord that i have not had no big capable with the Guy at the station most respcet for me but the guy know if there is a capable the next day i will be going to the chef

ladies have a great day and a safe one

Valerie Crawford

Permalink Reply by SaRa on January 1, 2009 at 6:51pm

that's cool we have the same nickname only mine is sprlled BOOTZ but yeah the boys on my department were really mean to me at first but i gad to earn my respect then they are all like brothers to me now....so i definately had to fight my way up there.

Permalink Reply by Holly on July 30, 2009 at 3:28am

I only had to deal with it in the very beginning. The guys seemed to only let me do "easy" stuff. At an actual fire scene, forget about it, I wasn't allowed out of the chiefs sight. I just stuck with it and looked for the oppurtunities to prove I could handle myself. Eventually they got the point.