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Video: Sally Bliss
explains what it is like to be a female firefighter

Reporter Ruth Banks meets a rare species - a
female firefighter. Could this be the start of a new career?

If I am honest, I never considered becoming a firefighter while
I was growing up.

Whether it was the lack of role models, the absence of the fire
service from my (all girls') school career fairs, or
just gender stereotyping, it simply did not cross my mind as a
potential career path.

And the whole walking into burning buildings with nothing but an
oxygen tank for company thing probably didn't help.

But it seems I am not alone.

Women make up only 3.5 per cent of all firefighters in Kent and
barely a fraction more (3.6 per cent) across England.

It's something the fire service wants to change.

The government is trying to encourage teenage girls to consider
a career in the service through a new campaign, using the tag-line
Ordinary People, Extraordinary Careers.

Judging from the reaction of my friends, though, when I told
them I was going to do a feature on the fire service (endless
‘hunky male fire-fighter’ gags) they have got their work cut out
for them.

The obvious question is whether women have the strength to
perform such a physical role, but you may be surprised to learn the
recruitment criteria are exactly the same for men and women.

Requirements include the ability to drag a 55kg casualty,
walking backwards, and to carry a 30kg portable pump for 100m. Not
something I would undertake in a hurry.

“Obviously strength is a factor,” says Sally Bliss, crew manager
at Eastchurch fire station, “but it is a team effort. There are
always six people on a pump.”

And, of course, there is more to being a firefighter than
carrying people out of burning buildings. They also devote a lot of
time to giving fire safety advice and preventing fires from
happening in the first place.

Eastchurch fire station is recruiting retained firefighters -
could you make the grade?

Visit the Kent Fire and Rescue website for more details.