All women crew makes history in Houston. Watch the story from HFD's Station 10.
The Houston Fire Department has been under a lot of scrutiny over the number of women firefighters in the department and how they are treated. Just yesterday morning we were telling you about conflicting issues as city officials try to follow Mayor Annise Parker’s wishes for resolving the mess at Station 54 over the graffiti incident involving Firefighter Jane Draycott (click here and scroll down).
Now comes word of a notable moment yesterday involving female members of the department. Here are excerpts from an article by Rucks Russell at KHOU-TV:
Houston’s first all-female fire crew made history Thursday night, operating a fire pumper truck and hitting the streets together for the first time.
“We joked about this amongst ourselves,” said Captain Bonnie Richter, a 14 -ear veteran of the Houston Fire Department. “I think it’s pretty cool between us, but it shouldn’t be different for anyone else.”
Richter was joined on shift by three other women, who either through rotation or prior scheduling, found themselves in the glare of history at Fire Station 10.
“We’re going to do the same job that we came to do this morning. It’s not going to be different for us,” added Richter.
The all-female crew responded to emergency calls in their district hours after Mayor Annise Parker announced the unprecedented assignments during her State of the City address.
Members of the crew said they hoped not to be singled out for any special recognition, calling themselves no different from anyone else.
