Fighting fires is no easy task. The work is often intense and physical. But that's not stopping about 10,000 women from joining their male counterparts on the front lines. Except, there is one big difference: their gear.
With every zip, pull of a boot, and tug of a coat, the volunteer firefighters of Chaires and Capitola prepare themselves for the toughest of fires.
Jennifer Plaster has been with the department for three years.
She says their department just recently got new gear that is customizable for their body, but her old gear was made for one kind of body.
"The more comfortable we are in our gear, because we live in it pretty much, the better off we are with it," Plaster says.
But more often than not the gear they count on, which is known as a turn-out suit, does not always have their back. Plaster shimmied into her gear and showed off the waistband.