On the other hand, Giau Nguyen, a firefighter/EMT hired in 2013, and Neiley Hunt, a fire captain hired in 2001, say they feel they have to work harder to prove themselves in a profession that didn’t start accepting women until the 1970s and is still experiencing growing pains.
“The honest truth is, and most men will say it too, women have to work three times harder than men” to prove they have what it takes, said Nguyen, a 13-year firefighter who spent her early training as the only woman in the classroom. “I always had friends who were guys, I was a big tomboy. I guess I noticed (being the only woman) but it wasn’t anything that bothered me.”
Once they’ve proven they have what it physically takes to be a firefighter, Nguyen said, women quickly gain the trust of their male peers. In part that’s because firefighters receive the same pay based on experience, and all recruits must pass the same physical agility tests.
“You’re going to have your bickering and you’re going to have your issues, but ultimately if your brothers and sisters feel like they can trust you to do your job and put in the work, not looking for special favors … it feels like a team environment,” Hunt said.
“You’ve got to earn respect,” agreed fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman. “(Firefighters) have to trust each other, especially on the ground. They have to know Neiley and Giau have their back. … That’s across the board, that’s not even a gender or race issue.
“I’ve had to earn that (respect) back myself. You think it’s normal for a fire chief to be in a wheelchair?”
Catherine Capriles, deputy fire chief of operations in Palo Alto, has a different take. She said she still feels like an outsider 25 years after becoming a firefighter.
Capriles said she doesn’t expect the situation to change until more women join the force. Though women began making inroads as firefighters four decades ago, the total number peaked at around 15,000 (5.2 percent) in 2007, according to the National Fire Protection Association, and as of 2014 women represented 3.8 percent of the workforce.
“Something as simple as sitting in a classroom, I’m the only woman there, and (the men) apologize to me after saying something that might be considered offensive, not in a gender way, but they apologize just to me (when) they should apologize to the entire room, not me,” Capriles said.
Another example, she said, is overhearing snide comments about a sexy woman on television in the fire station.
“You have to turn off your filter,” she said. “… I don’t think guys do that to be rude or malicious in any way, (and) I think the majority of our guys are better than most.”
According to Palo Alto, 4 percent of its applicants in 2014 were women, but of 13 hires between 2014 and 2016, just one was a woman and she didn’t make it past probation. With women making up just 2.1 percent of Menlo Park firefighters, it stands below the national average and suffers from a lack of applicants — which Schapelhouman said could be attributed to the district’s high standards. The district fares better on the administrative side, with women in 16 of the 40 positions.
“We have a harder probation because we expect a lot from these people. You’ll have to study harder, work harder, it’s not going to be easy,” said Schapelhouman, adding that he receives criticism for the dearth of female and minority firefighters in the district. “We allow anybody in here who can make the grade.”
It’s also been easier for women to get firefighting positions with large cities such as San Francisco and San Jose, Hunt said, because “for a long time, all they required was a driver’s license.” In Menlo Park, to even qualify for a position, applicants need a year’s worth of volunteer fire service, training at a fire academy and an EMT certificate.
Brenna Rowe, the district’s human resources manager, said of 443 people who applied for 20 firefighter positions in 2016, just 18 were women.
“The challenge is obviously getting them to apply,” said Rowe, adding that the district is considering new recruitment tools geared toward women.
Schapelhouman said the district is doubling the size of its internal cadet program and is considering offering scholarships to locals interested in college-level fire training and increasing recruitment at local high schools, but added that won’t necessarily benefit his district.
“There’s a lot of things we’re doing to diversify,” he said. “It’s just sometimes we’re not as successful as we wish we were.”
It takes a special kind of person to work as a firefighter, Schapelhouman said. He said there is little to no downtime, incidents have the potential to be as intense as combat missions and firefighters spend a third of their lives with one another.
Nguyen, a self-described tomboy who went against her mother’s wishes to work at a nail salon to become a firefighter, sums it up in four words: “I love a challenge.”
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©2017 the Palo Alto Daily News (Menlo Park, Calif.)
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