WISCONSIN — Firefighting is both a physically and mentally demanding profession, and while Wisconsin women have been blazing the trail for others in the industry, some said there is still work to be done.
In 2020, women accounted for less than 5% of career firefighters nationwide, according to the latest estimated numbers by the National Fire Protection Association.
For some Wisconsin departments, that percentage is higher, but women are still underrepresented in the field.
In the state’s biggest department — the Milwaukee Fire Department (MFD) — a little more than 7% of sworn Milwaukee firefighters are women.
In Madison, women make up around 11% of all commissioned firefighters.
That number is lower in La Crosse, at a little more than 4% and women with the Green Bay Metro Fire Department make up close to 3% of all sworn firefighters.
MFD said in the early 1970s, women who worked in the department were part of its emergency medical response system, handling medical emergencies at fire scenes. MFD recognized Debra Pross as its first female firefighter in 1983.
Firefighter Jennie Schaefer is one of three female heavy equipment operators with the MFD. Schaefer was the third woman overall to take on the roll in MFD, earning her a spot in the department’s history.
Fighting fires has been Schaefer’s career goal for a long time.
“From probably 6th, 7th grade on I was like, ‘Yep, I want to be a firefighter like Dad and Uncle Mark,’” she said.
Schaefer said her dad finished his time in the fire department academy in the early 1970s. She said her dad always supported her dream to follow in his footsteps.
She finally realized that dream in the 2000s.
Over the years, the department’s number of women has fluctuated. In the 2000s, MFD actually had its smallest number of women join its ranks.
While Schaefer has been a firefighter for upward of 20 years, she said she still feels some of the misconceptions about women in the profession that society held when she first started, persist today.
“That we can’t do the job as well probably is the biggest. We can,” Schaefer said. “They say there’s a place for everyone on the fire department. There’s some pretty badass females that can do it just as well as any guy can do. That’s what I strive for.”
Over the years, Schaefer said she’s always felt like she belonged in her firehouse. She’s been at Engine 23 on Milwaukee’s Southside more than 10 years now.
Schaefer said she doesn’t glamorize the profession, either. She said it’s a tough job — made even more difficult, in some cases, for women.
“I feel like there’s always just a microscope on us watching every move and seeing if we can do it,” she said.
It’s a stereotype that’s been around for years, no matter where you live. A new documentary, “In Her Boots,” looks at the history of females in the Madison Fire Department and the uphill battle the first women hired faced more than 40 years ago.
“I think I probably only got maybe four or five things where they said you did things correctly, but I didn’t do things any differently than any of the men did,” retired firefighter Mary (Freitag) Sweeney said in the film by the Madison Fire Department and City of Madison.
Sweeney, who went on to become the nation’s first fire-medic, said women had to follow different rules when she started working as a firefighter.
“They turned around and said that we lacked upper body strength. To me, that was another way to put the pressure on the women and get us out of the job,” she said.
“In Her Boots” also highlights Madison as a headquarters of the national movement to recruit more women into the industry, and as a leader in appointing women to higher positions within fire departments.
The path carved by former women firefighters in Wisconsin is not lost on new recruits, including Samantha Hackl. We caught up to Hackl during her second week in the Green Bay Metro Fire Academy.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for the women who came before me. It was a lot more difficult than it does seem today. I’m very grateful,” she said
Hackl was part of the department’s fire cadet program during her junior year in high school; Green Bay said it is trying to expose women to firefighting through that cadet program. Hackl said she learned about firefighting as a career path through a former teacher.
“I heard him talking to the class one day about it, and it kind of sparked my interest. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do at that point in my life,” she said.
Green Bay Metro Fire Department welcomed its first women firefighters in 1989. Even though women have only worked there for a few decades, Hackl said everyone in the academy is treated the same, regardless of gender.
“We’re all just here to train. We all get set to the same standard,” she explained.
The efforts of women around Wisconsin — including Schaefer — have paved the way to that equal treatment.
“I feel like if you’re not here helping those behind you, what good are you doing here?” Schaefer said. “There were also all the women who came on before me, helped me succeed and so I am just trying to do the same for others.”
These days, while there’s still progress to be made, Schaefer said she feels more women are not only drawn to the job, but there’s more effort by her department to get them on board.