Only two of the 95 firefighters who work for the Menlo Park Fire Protection District are women, but both say they don’t feel singled out.
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.”