Women Fire Fighters Are Here to Stay
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The Editor’s Opinion Page
Over the past several years considerable argument has been generated on the employment of women as fire fighters. And like most arguments, the subject has created more heat than light, mainly because there were no facts to base a judgment on.
Women have been working in the fire service for many years, particularly in the volunteers. The ladies auxiliary comes readily to mind, as does the clerical staff in paid departments. But in more recent years women have become paramedics, dispatchers and drivers. And in several volunteer departments as reported in Fire Engineering, they have undertaken active fire fighting duties without too much fuss being made.
What really kicked up a fuss was the appointment of the first paid woman fire fighter in the country—in Arlington, Va., in 1974. (She is still there.) However, as one chief put it, there were “a lot of overconcerns about problems that may or may not exist… a fear of the unknown.” And the only way these overconcerns can be resolved is to place qualified women in the fire fighting force and see what happens. After all, there were female athletes in the Olympics who could put most men to shame. There are also female pilots, truck drivers, miners and telephone linemen, to mention but a few.
Actually, the question of female fire fighters is an academic one. The law of the land now states that nobody can be denied a chance at employment because of race, religion, age and sex. Anyone who refuses to accept this law can get into a lot of trouble. The Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications, NFPA Standard 1001, which were developed by a committee of the Joint Council of Fire Service Organizations, lists general entrance requirements, medical requirements and minimum physical requirements for fire department candidates. Under medical requirements there are conditions that apply for obvious reasons only to the female sex. But nowhere does the standard rule out women as candidates.
The lesson of this standard has not been lost in our big cities. Detroit, New York, Houston and Washington, D. C., among others, have not only opened entrance exams to women, but have encouraged their applications. It is interesting to note that in these cities there has been no change in entrance requirements. Women and men take the same test on a competitive basis. And as far as we are concerned, anyone who can pass the test and perform the fire fighter’s tasks is entitled to the job.
Elsewhere in this issue you will find two opinions on women in the fire service. Choose sides if you will. But remember the question is only an academic one unless you are prepared to go all the way up to the Supreme Court.
