Fort Worth Fire Department Expands Efforts To Recruit Women

Arlington TX

17 April, 2022

8:05 PM

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By Emily Wolf | Seth Bodine, Fort Worth Report April 17, 2022 Cameron Brown, a former firefighter for the Fort Worth Fire Department, is used to manual labor. She grew up on a farm in Virginia and regularly lifted hay bales and threw them on trailers. A physical ability test to get into the Fort Worth Fire Department wasn't difficult, and she never had a problem with her male coworkers. She could also do things her male counterparts could not, she said, such as fitting into attics and vehicles during rescues. "I was always open with them," Brown said. "And I said, 'I'm not the tallest. I'm not the strongest. But there's one thing that I can guarantee you — if you're down in a fire and I can't get you out, you will not die alone.'" Getting into the fire department isn't easy. There's many reasons why potential women firefighters aren't hired. Some of the biggest reasons — failing an endurance test; no-shows; not passing a background check or interview. And around two-thirds of women who made it through the testing process weren't hired by the department in 2017-18. Two years later, that number rose to 84%. The report sounded the alarm on the increasing washout rate for women, and some council members assumed the department had taken a step in the wrong direction when it came to recruitment. The data reveals a more complicated story. To read the full article, click here. Fort Worth Report is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that produces factual, in-depth journalism about city and county government, schools, healthcare, business, and arts and culture in Tarrant County. Always free to read; subscribe to newsletters, read coverage or support our newsroom at fortworthreport.org.