VIDEO: This Women's History Month holds a special meaning for the Louisville Fire Department. March marks 40 years since LFD welcomed its first three female firefighters in recruit class 158.
Vicki Bell, Deidra Berry and Cynthia Lewis paved the way for firefighters like Captain Tamara Stewart, who has been on the department for about ten years. “Back in Texas in the 80’s I don’t remember seeing female firefighters," Stewart said of her own upbringing. "So even though we tell our children 'you can be anything when you grow up,' sometimes it takes seeing that to believe it.”
Stewart was previously working as a teacher, when a friend and female firefighter told her she would be a good fit for LFD.
In the four decades since those first women on the department, Stewart said only 28 women have graduated the Louisville fire academy as suppression members.