Friday, January 27, 2006

The New York Times Feels Good About An All Female Fire Engine Company

The New York Times reports on an all female fire engine company in San Diego:
"I could have written a book," said April Lallo, 41, the firefighter-paramedic, who worked for the Los Angeles Fire Department for five years and in Orange County for nine. Ms. Lallo left the fire service to become a stockbroker but returned to the profession in San Diego after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks because, she said, "My heart is really in this job."

"If you speak out," Ms. Lallo said, "it really hurts you to go on because then guys look at you and they're afraid of you. I don't want that. I can't change things here, or in the fire service, but I feel like I can influence them by being positive, coming in and just showing them we don't have an agenda, we're here to work with you."

The engineer, Melissa Cleary, 47, who maintains and drives the fire engine and has worked for the department here for 16 years, said she felt that as a female firefighter working with men, "You can't mess up."

"The thing about the four of us being together," Ms. Cleary said, "is we can make mistakes and we can laugh at one another and you don't have to feel like you're never going to hear the end of it."

"What if you need help with something?" she added. "I would never ask a man to help me with something."
Sort of like a Women's Studies department at some major university with fire hoses?? Makes you feel safe knowing those fire professions are coming to your San Diego neighborhood.Via The American Thinker