BRAVE WOMEN
FDNY recruitment push draws 200 eager to help
THE FDNY turned up the heat Saturday in its efforts to recruit more women firefighters.
About 200 women fired up about joining the ranks of the city’s Bravest donned gear, battled mock fires and worked hydrants during a hands-on “Women’s History Month” recruitment event at the FDNY’s training facility on Randalls Island Saturday afternoon.
Currently, a minuscule 44 women count themselves among the department’s 10,500 firefighters.
The group included teens in the FDNY explorers program, military veterans and women who already took the most recent firefighter exam and are currently on the list of potential hires over the next few years.
“I think women are just as capable as men,” 23-year-old Illana Polanco said after trying her hand at running a hose and battling a staged dumpster fire. “I just want to be able to help people, put out fires and save lives.”
The Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, resident, currently an EMT, hopes to make the next class of firefighters scheduled for 2017.
The daylong event featured training demonstrations, mentoring sessions and panel discussions about careers for women in the FDNY.
Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro and Chief of Department James Leonard looked on as the wannabe smoke-eaters strapped on full firefighter gear, helped extinguish fires and hauled heavy weighted vests and hoses.
Nigro testified before the City Council last week that the department has increased its efforts to welcome women into its ranks — and plans to spend $50 million to finish installing facilities for women firefighters in 47 firehouses that only accommodate men.
“It was really empowering,” Katherine Gonzalez, 24, a retail manager from Bushwick, said of the back-breaking pre-training event. “We as women have to prove that we can do anything that a man can do, sometimes better.”