VIDEO: Fire departments across the country are using various different tactics to recruit more females.
Efforts are happening at a boot camp in Boise, Idaho, a girl’s summer camp in Charlotte, North Carolina, to recruiting college athletes in Columbus, Ohio, and changing public perception in Lexington, Kentucky.
Fire departments across the country are doing various different events and recruitment strategies to get more women interested in careers in firefighting and EMS.
Longtime female leaders in the fire service say it starts with department culture.
“I think that if an organizational culture is not inclusive or is not welcoming and open to everybody, that can make a really tough atmosphere for any outsider to come in,” noted Amy Hanifan, president of the organization Women in Fire.