The Berkeley Fire Department is looking to hire more women firefighters and paramedics. To that end, the department hosted a two-day “First in Fire” camp at its training division on Cedar Street over the weekend, seeking women interested in joining the fire services.
As recently as 2020, only 5% of career firefighters in the US were women, according to the National Fire Protection Association. The stats for volunteer firefighters were more equitable, but even in that contingent, women comprised only 11% of working firefighters.
Berkeley’s department is ahead of the curve as far as professional fire departments go — and its firefighters say the culture is welcoming, inclusive and diverse — but the agency is still only 9% women.
The city’s fire department reached its peak employment shortly after World War II, reaching 179 sworn firefighters, many of whom were male military veterans returning from service, according to the Berkeley Fire Fighters Association.
“And so that tradition just kind of hung on for so long, it being a ‘man’s job,’” BFD Deputy Chief Keith May said, “But there were some women in the fire service as well back then.”
May recalled a former paramedic school classmate by dropping out because her parents wouldn’t pay for her to train for what they saw as a “man’s job.”
“So there are barriers out there,” May said. “We try to do our best to knock those down, and we can dispel some of them.”
Last weekend’s prospects varied in age from mid-teens to women in their 40s. The two-day camp included classroom-style instruction, stretching and practical drills, with the prospects gearing up to drag dummies, hew logs with fire axes, practice breaking through obstructed doors, stretch hoses and set up ladders in teams of two. Some drills are designed to test whether prospects can handle heights or claustrophobic working conditions, and others teach techniques for different aspects of entry and rescue.
“There’s a lot of females who are very intimidated just because of the work you have to do. You’re not only lifting heavy things, but you’re wearing heavy gear simultaneously, so that demands a lot just in terms of your general strength coupled with your cardio,” said Firefighter-Paramedic Christine Lopes, who helped run the weekend camp.
Lopes said that when she decided to become a firefighter, she could only do a single pushup — with bent knees. “But I was determined, I said to myself, this is the job I want to do… I hit it hard. I was working every day; I changed my nutrition, anything that could dial me in further so that I could get to where I want to be. And so I went from a pushup to two years later deadlift 255.”
“The reason these camps are so impactful is because you actually have females who are working in the fire service telling you… we can train you to get you past physicality and build your confidence, show you workouts to do, give you a taste of what it feels like, allow you to identify weaknesses in yourself,” Lopes said.
Compared to other parts of California and the US, Lopes said, BFD was much more welcoming to women.
“It’s all about empowerment. No one cares what you look like, your background, where you come from, boy, girl, whatever,” Lopes said. “We just want qualified individuals to be working the line.”
Lopes said she encountered men in other fire departments who told her she would never make it as a firefighter and were unwelcoming to women looking to become firefighters. And nationwide, paid parental leave for firefighters is a rarity, which proves another barrier to recruiting and retaining women.
“It’s very discouraging to have people tell you, you know, ‘You don’t belong, you’re never going to make it,’” Lopes said. “It’s very satisfying to prove them wrong.”
