GREENFIELD — The Buck Creek Township Fire Department has five full-time female firefighters. That’s the most the department of 33 has ever seen. The ladies who are serving that community say they have seen the shift take place over the last five years.
"When I initially started, especially as a full-time career firefighter, there were only four women in the entire county,” Lt. Sarah Burgin a Firefighter and Paramedic with Buck Creek Township said. “I was the only female full-time member at Buck Creek Township."
Burgin has been in the public safety industry since the late 90s. She was inspired by male family members who were firefighters. Now she's glad to share the firehouse with more women.
"We now have as many women on staff here as we did in the entire county when I started so seeing that growth is a wonderful thing,” Burgin said.
One of those women who joined the department was Ellie Clark. She started as a cadet when she was in high school. She says working with other women is inspiring.
"We do the same job, we do the same things,” Clark, a Firefighter and Paramedic at Buck Creek Township Fire Department said. “So, it's cool to see that change, that transition into watching women become more empowered in this field. Not necessarily in this field but in public safety as a whole. "
According to the National Fire Protection Agency’s latest data, there were 17,200 career female firefighters in 2020. The Indianapolis Fire Department has 71 women out of 1,242 total firefighters. While there are still hills to climb the women we talked to say, that women will always have a place in public safety.
Volunteer fire departments have been struggling to recruit trained professionals and first responders are needed, according to the women we spoke to. They say women can and should fill many of those needed roles.
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