Lacey Fire’s All Female Crew Brings Awareness to Women in the Fire Service, Breast Cancer

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The women of Lacey Fire staffed an all-female crew on October 16 in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
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By Megan Conklin

Olympia Auto Mall sponsorIn an effort to heighten awareness regarding breast cancer prevention and finding a cure, Lacey Fire District 3 was awash in pink.  Everyone from firefighters to office professionals to the chief of the department, donned bright pink shirts in a rose colored show of solidarity during October.

But the women of Lacey Fire took things a step further.

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The women of Lacey Fire staffed an all-female crew on October 16 in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

On October 16, the career and volunteer women firefighters and firefighter/paramedics of the department staffed an all-female fire crew at Fire Station 34, in the northeast corner of the district.  While it is not unusual for women to be part of a crew at Lacey Fire District 3 – 12 percent of the District’s emergency responders are female – the women are typically spread among three shifts.  And considering that, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women make up 3.4 percent of the nation’s firefighters – Lacey’s 12 percent is fairly impressive.

Crystal Murphy is an eleven-year veteran of the fire service.  She was hired with Lacey Fire in 2008.  Murphy was one of the women who ran calls with the all-female crew last month. Murphy, who was inspired to pursue a career in the fire service after a stint in the Navy, found the experience both fun and different from a usual shift day. “It seemed like some of the pressure was lifted,” she mused. “And, it was really cool when female civilians or little kids would look at us and make a comment. There was just this non-verbal way of acknowledging that anyone is capable of anything. It was a really sweet feeling.”

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Maggie Bean, the first female firefighter ever to be hired with Lacey Fire District 3, receives recognition at the Breast Cancer Awareness Event.

Murphy also noted that her thoughts that day, while serving the community alongside her fellow females in the fire service, often turned to the women who blazed the trail before her. “It meant a lot to us,” she acknowledge. “But it meant so much more to Rita and Maggie, and in ways we really can’t fathom.”

The women that Murphy is referring to are Rita Hutcheson, the first female fire chief in Rainier, Washington and Maggie Bean, the first female firefighter hired in Lacey.  Hutcheson retired as the chief of the Southeast Regional Thurston Fire Authority in 2011. Bean was hired in 1985 and retired in 2003.  On October 16, Bean came out of retirement to ride with the women of Lacey Fire. These women were pioneers in the fire service, and they have left a legacy in Thurston County that has empowered many others to pursue their dreams.

The all-female shift day culminated at Station 34 with a celebration and open house that coincided with a Fire Commissioners meeting. Members of the public, on and off duty firefighters, families, and the Puget Sound Firefighter’s Pipes and Drums band all celebrated the women, past and present, of Lacey Fire District 3.

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Lacey Fire Chief, Steve Brooks, speaks of Lacey Fire’s proud tradition of women in the fire service.

The purpose of the all-female shift day was not only about honoring the hard work and dedication of women in the fire service, it was about breast cancer awareness as well. According to the American Cancer Society, about 232,670 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women in 2014 – and this is a statistic that the men and women of Lacey Fire District 3 care deeply about.

“Do your regular check-ups and screenings,” Murphy urged. “Ask your doctor about mammograms even if you are under 40. I lost a family member two weeks before her 41st birthday to the disease.”

Repeatedly, the Lacey Fire females, participating in the event, expressed their gratitude for the support they have felt from the men of Lacey Fire. “I just kept thinking that I wanted to thank Chief Brooks for his outreach, support, and efforts to promote women in the fire service,” Murphy concluded.

And she has a few words for young women who might be interested in pursuing a career as a firefighter too: “Do it! Don’t shy away and doubt yourself. You are capable, you are worthy, and you most certainly are deserving.”

 

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