About Women in Wildland Firefighting

It has been awhile since I have written about women in wildland firefighting, for a review of what I have written see these tagged posts, most recent is first. I was intrigued by a Facebook Post by the Bureau of Land Management in Oregon and Washington that I saw recently on the Bureau of Land Management Fire's Facebook page. I enjoyed this brief but good post where they shared about two female wildland firefighters. 

I care a lot about wildland firefighters and have a special place in my heart for female firefighters and want the best for the female wildland firefighters. I understand, as pointed out in this March 2024 article, Women in Fire: Blazing Through Barriers by Danielle Knight, Southern Region (US Forest Service) Office of Communication, that women in wildland firefighting face have faced gender discrimination among other issues. Knight says that "currently, the fire workforce in the Forest Service is about 87% male and 13% female. Often, women face being the only female in a unit, or being one of the few." 

I do know that there is at least one special wildland fire training program for women out of the US Forest Service, see this January 2024 article by Julianne Nikirk (Colville Ntl Forest) where Nikirk discusses the competition to get into the program, a little about the training program, and the goal to get a more inclusive wildland firefighting force.

There is nothing in my experience that directly compares to what female firefighters go through. I want all women wildland firefighters to know that I care about what you do and the sacrifices you make in time away from your family and loved ones.