Firefighters have had women in their ranks for more time than people realize—over 200 years. The first women firefighter we heard of was Molly Williams. She was a servant in New York City and became an employee of the Oceanus Engine Company #11 in 1815. In this article, we will talk about the history of women in firefighting.
One woman frequently mentioned as a female firefighter from the beginning could be one of the San Francisco heiress, Lillie Hitchcock Coit. She was an Honorary Member of Knickerbocker Engine Company #5 as a teen in 1859 after she helped them pull the engine out of the scene of a fire at Telegraph Hill.
The name disappeared from the history books
There is no doubt many names of female firefighters during the early and 19th centuries have disappeared from the history books. However, we have glimpses of women firefighters from New Jersey and Connecticut during the time. Girton Ladies College, located in Great Britain, had an all-women’s fire brigade between 1878 and 1932. From 1910 to 1920, female-led voluntary fire departments were operating throughout Silver Spring, Maryland, and Los Angeles, California.
The first Women in Firefighting
In the 1920s, Emma Vernell became a member of Westside Hose Company #1 at 50. Following the death of her husband, a firefighter in the service. The first woman to be acknowledged as a firefighter by the State of New Jersey. In New Jersey, a woman known as Augusta Chasans became a volunteer firefighter in the same decade.
In World War II, many women across the country joined the fire service. They join the service as volunteers to replace men called to the military. Two fire departments that were part of the military in Illinois were run entirely by women during the conflict.
The first all-women fire department was formed in King County, California, and Woodbine, Texas, in the 1960s. In the 1970s, it was becoming more typical for women to be part of the regular volunteer fire departments and to work in tandem with male colleagues. The concept of all-women fire departments started to diminish.
Women in the Wildland Fire Service
The first women of the postwar period to be paid for work in the field of fire suppression were firefighters in wildlands employed by The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and BLM. Bureau of Land Management (BLM). All women on a BLM crew were tasked with fighting the fires in Alaska in the summer of 1971. A group of USFS women was employed during the year and later that one in Montana.
Early Female Career Firefighters
When the war erupted in Great Britain during World War II, many women participated in the Auxiliary Fire Service. Worked on an hourly and full-time basis. While most were assigned other roles than suppression, some also worked as firefighters and pump operators. Over two dozen women employed by the AFS were killed in the service of their duties during the war.
Sandra Forcier and Judith LiversÂ
1973 and 1974 witnessed the introduction of two women into roles in the field of fire suppression on a pay-per-hour basis. The first women we are aware of who were paid to fight fires in urban settings. Sandra Forcier was hired as Public Safety Official (a police officer who also serves as a firefighter). She join the service in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in July of 1973. In the following month, Judith Livers was hired by the Arlington County Fire Department in Virginia and became the first woman to be a career firefighter anywhere in the world. Both women worked full-time within their respective departments and then retired to battalion chief.
Furthermore, At the time of the mid-1970s, women were working as firefighters in various parts of the United States. Many African-American female firefighters, including Genois Wilson in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1975 and Toni McIntosh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1976.
More than 6,500 women are employed in firefighting and officer posts within the United States. They have hundreds of colleagues from Canada, Great Britain, and other countries worldwide. The paid and volunteer firefighters and EMS units in the United States are perhaps 35-45,000 female firefighters and a slew of more paramedics and EMTs. The story of the women who serve as firefighters and their mothers has been long-running and wonderful.
Hi, I am John Smit a Captain in Fire Department City of Newyork with over years of experience in the field of Firefighting and HSE. My passion for fire safety started when I was a young boy and witnessed a neighbor’s house go up in flames along with precious lives. Since then, I had dedicated my life to ensuring the safety of buildings, properties, and individuals in case of a fire and medical emergencies.
