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At the time they thought it was a rather innocuous photo. With 24-hour shifts, it鈥檚 something they do all the time to have a little fun during their downtime at the Southwest D.C. firehouse around L鈥橢nfant Plaza. But then it went viral, and they think it鈥檚 a good thing.
The picture showed five firefighters 鈥� all Black women 鈥� standing in front of their truck last week. The photo blew up, getting hundreds of comments and thousands of likes.
鈥淢y mom’s reaction was, 鈥極h, that’s nice,鈥欌�� technician firefighter Krystal Stover said. 鈥淢y family 鈥� some of my ignorant cousins, 鈥榃hen a calendar coming out?鈥欌�� she said to some laughs.
But all joking aside, if a picture is worth a thousand words, they said they believe this one spoke volumes for little girls.
鈥淣o one really expects when it’s your time to go viral. I’m grateful for it,鈥� Stover, a 17-year veteran with the department, said.
She also works as a recruiter with D.C. Fire and EMS.
鈥淭here鈥檚 little girls out there that’s watching that never thought, 鈥楬ey, I wanted to be a firefighter before, but shoot, they’re having fun while they’re becoming a firefighter,鈥欌�� Stover said.
Working out of L鈥橢nfant Plaza on 4th Street Southwest, they run calls down to the Wharf, but also at the White House. Crews from this house are on standby whenever Marine One takes off or lands. That means a lot of important people might have to rely on them at a moment鈥檚 notice.
鈥淚t shows young girls that they can come on this job and do this job,鈥� Monique Collier said. 鈥淲e do have fun, but we work and we are held to the same standard as the men. We have to pull the same weight, we have to pass the same type of courses and the same type of physical tests that they have to take.鈥�
Truck Co. 10 at our L鈥橢nfant firehouse staffed today by an all female crew of
鈥� DC Fire and EMS Department (@dcfireems)
Joining them that day, but not part of the crew on a regular basis, was Sgt. Whitney Ward, who was there for some training work. The 19-year veteran of the department said she鈥檚 had a lot of people tell her it was work she couldn鈥檛 do.
鈥淭hese are roles that you can take and you can become officer, a technician, a fire investigator, fire inspector. You can do the job just as well,鈥� Ward said. 鈥淒on’t limit yourself whatsoever.鈥�
They鈥檝e also heard from other women firefighters around the country. All these ladies knew that D.C. Fire and EMS is 13% women, and they also know that鈥檚 still nearly triple the national average.
So they were also getting peppered with questions about gear that鈥檚 been fitted for women, as well as policies 鈥� including how the department handles pregnancy and new mothers.
Stover and Ward were mothers when they joined. Chanel Olden wasn鈥檛, but is today. They all praised the city for how it鈥檚 accommodated them.
鈥淭he department does not make you pick between your job and your family,鈥� Olden said.
But don鈥檛 make the mistake of thinking they aren鈥檛 dedicated.
鈥淲e are a bunch of pretty faces in the picture, but we still do the work here, day in and day out,鈥� Olden said. 鈥淎nytime we’re on shift, whether it’s our shift or overtime.鈥�
The crew made clear that if other girls around the city are curious, they鈥檙e happy to talk more about being a firefighter with them. They also said they wanted to get the word out about their upcoming Camp Sparks, which is a weekend camp held at the city鈥檚 fire training facility in Southwest that鈥檚 targeted at girls between 12 and 17, as well as the cadet program for those who are between 18 and 21 and have either graduated high school or have a GED.
鈥淲omen are taking over right now within the fire service, and I would love for more of us to join,鈥� Ward said.
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