Fire Service Looking for a Few Good Women Recruits

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Fire Service Looking for a Few Good Women Recruits

SACRAMENTO, CA - The California Fire Service is looking for a few good women. That was the theme at a recruiting event at a fire service testing facility Saturday morning in Natomas.

The recruitment outreach effort has been spearheaded by the California Fire Fighter Joint Apprenticeship Committee and the Commission to Recruit Women for the Fire Service.

Davis City Fire Captain Emily Lo, who is also a spokesperson for the Commission to Recruit Women for the Fire Service, said that only five percent of California's fire fighters are women. That was a number she hoped would change through recruiting events like the one on Saturday.

"We've seen doctors, lawyers and other male dominated professions change the culture and the way of thinking," Lo said. "We're hoping to do the same for the fire service."

Rebekah Jacobson was one of the recruits who came out to try out the course at the Candidate Physical Ability Testing Center. Jacobson is a single mother with two young children to support. Jacobson said a career in the fire service could change her life.

"I'd be able to buy a house, and support the kids," Jacobson said. "It's really hard, especially in this economy. You can't just work at a restaurant."

Lo estimated about 500 men and women turned out to the event. At least 10 California fire agencies were there recruiting, including CAL FIRE, Sac Metro Fire Department, and Sacramento City Fire Department.

FIREFIGHTER RECRUITING: Find out more about joining the California Fire Service

Source: News 10

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How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States. CDF - CAL FIRE Firefighters answer the call more than 300,000 times a year. CAL FIRE Firefighters make up the fire department for 30 of our 58 counties in California and more than 100 local communities. We serve as the incident command during many of California’s most serious disasters. CAL FIRE Firefighters respond to many various types and forms of calls ranging from structural fires, to auto accidents, to earthquakes, to floods, to the spilling of hazardous materials, to every conceivable disaster; CAL FIRE answer's the calls. CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States . CAL FIRE firefighters protect 33 million acres of State Responsibility Area (SRA). We have over 4,000 members within CAL FIRE and CAL FIRE is associated with the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF).

CFN - CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS - CAL FIRE NEWS

Sunday, April 26, 2009