Posted on 09/07/2007 7:10:08 PM PDT by NoKoolAidforMe
Historic night in Yonkers: First female firefighter to be sworn in (Original Publication: September 7, 2007)
YONKERS - Five years after scoring higher than all but 11 men on a competitive firefighter's test, Lianne Navedo will break history tonight by becoming the first female firefighter in the Yonkers Fire Department's 111-year history.
She will also become one of the few paid female firefighters anywhere in Westchester County.
The ceremony is planned for 6 p.m. tonight, the fire department confirmed at noon today.
Navedo earned a spot on the short list in 2002 by outperforming males on both the physical test and the written exam.
She was backed up by a federal order in 2004 requiring Yonkers to keep the list open.
Yonkers and other big city fire departments in Westchester are under a 1980 federal decree to increase their ranks of minority and female firefighters.
Navedo, who is married to a Yonkers fire lieutenant, says her motivation to join the department was the inspiring example of firefighters to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Among the victims that day were 343 New York City firefighters.
Fittingly, the anniversary for that infamous day is just around the corner.
Check back for updates on LoHud.com and read more about this story tomorrow in The Journal News.
http://www.nyjournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070907/NEWS02/709070461
Equal opportunity?
I had to check the publication date. This is the type story you probably would have seen a few decades ago in most places.
As long as she could carry my 6’ 2”, 240 lbs. butt out of a burning building … I don’t care about her gender.
If only that were the criteria for being appointed.
Ah, you are enlightened about such things.
On a standard, traditional competitive firefighter's test, or a PC watered down firefighter's test?
If she can lug inert heavy bodies out of burning buildings, or drag heavy hoses around AS THE MEN DO, then good on her and the best of luck to her.
If she's gotten her place due to pussified exams and PC "women are just as strong as men" nonsense, then forget it - AND the men who took the same pussified test.
But, but … she passed all the tests?
Of course. Why else would this article be written?
Five years after scoring higher than all but 11 men on a competitive firefighter's test
how far can she carry you? (apart from to bed}
Do you know what the physical agility test involves? Don’t believe everything that the newspaper prints.
But, could she carry you out of a burning building? Perhaps a trip that would be via many floors and stairs, without assistance.
Would love to see the physical parameters for her test, and her overall score.
Firefighters wear about 80 pounds of gear. Now compound that with running up six flights of stairs in a burning building carrying a hose and then dragging a 250 pound unconscious man to safety. Men are biologically and physically different from women. That’s not a sexist statement. It’s a fact.
Not guilty!
We have had female firefighters in our county for many years. The standards were even lowered way back when so they could pass the physical tests.
You are right, very few of them make it very long at all. They all go off on disability for permanent injuries.
We have 1 left from the ‘burst’ of females that were hired. She figured out right away she needed to kiss the behinds of the right people. And she did. She became very high profile by volunteering to go on any and all high profile rescue assignments. She even went overseea once as a volunteer to train fire department personnel. She was gone much more than she worked and is now a Battalion Chief. rofl
We are conservatives aren’t we.. we judge individuals, not their label. If she passed her tests (and based on the article, she kicked ass on her tests) and there wasn’t any special accommodations made for her, then oorah for her.
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