On several occasions this past month, when a Glynn County Fire Rescue Department fire engine reached its destination on St. Simons Island, Syndal Tillotson climbed down from out the driver’s seat.
Capt. Elizabeth Hawkins stepped down from the passenger side. The fire engine’s third crew member, Brianna Depp, also arrived on the truck, ready for action.
Crewing a fire engine is all about putting together the best group possible to serve the community’s firefighting needs, but the uniformity of gender on this truck has not gone unnoticed.
“It’s fun whenever we pull up on a scene and the women say, ‘Look, it’s all females on that fire truck,’” said Hawkins, 51. “That’s kind of cool.”
"Less women choose to enter the more physically-demanding firefighting side of the fire rescue business," she said.