It was one shift, but first all-female West Pierce Fire crew hopes it’s not the last
It was no big deal. Just another day at the station.
For Lisa Morin, Marney Fuller-VanSlyke and Rae Ann Haistings — firefighters with West Pierce Fire & Rescue — that was the initial reaction.
All three are women, not that they spend much — if any — time thinking about gender while on the job, they said recently.
In fact, it wasn’t until well after all of them had clocked on at Station 22 in Lakewood as a crew last month that they realized they were making a small piece of department history.
The shift — which was little more than a scheduling coincidence — marked the first time West Pierce Fire & Rescue has employed an all-female crew in roughly a decade of existence.
Morin, 47, served as captain, while the 49-year-old Fuller-VanSlyke drove Engine 22 and 28-year-old Haistings rounded out the three-person team.
The trio took a moment to pose for pictures commemorating the occasion, they recalled, then got back to work.
Even weeks later, it seems like little to fuss over, the women said.
They’re not female firefighters, the trio stressed.
They’re just firefighters, and in the grand scheme, the 24-hour shift was largely unremarkable. As always, they took pride in their work and the chance to help people. Whether their work schedules will align again remains a mystery.
Still, they said, it was an achievement they were proud to be a part of.
The moment particularly wasn’t lost on Morin and Fuller-VanSlyke, who have both been firefighters for nearly two decades.
Over the years they’ve watched firefighting evolve from an almost exclusively male dominated profession to one that’s, well, slightly less male dominated — to the point where it’s now possible for an all-female crew to come together by happenstance.
Even if small, that’s a significant evolution, they said, and it matters.
Today, according to information provided by West Pierce Fire & Rescue, the department employs 186 full-time employees; 28 are female.
Overall, West Pierce has 140 firefighters; 11 are female.
The department has one female deputy chief, one female EMS captain.
While that’s still a whole lot of testosterone and male-pattern baldness, Morin, Fuller-VanSlyke and Haistings all see it as progress and hope the number of women in the ranks will continue to grow in the years to come.
Of the 1,000 applications West Pierce received this summer, 152 were filed by women, or approximately 15 percent.
It gives them hope.
Comparing the present day to when she first started as a firefighter, Fuller-VanSlyke said that while there hasn’t been a sea change in the profession, there has “most definitely” been a shift.
“Obviously, there are more females now, and I think it’s becoming more of the household norm,” said Fuller-VanSlyke. “When I started, and I’m sure when (Morin) started, there were people who were super uncomfortable with it. We had to work really hard to earn their trust and their respect.”
Morin agreed, noting how important it is for the next generation of female firefighters to see that a career in firefighting is possible.
There simply weren’t many examples when she was a girl, let alone an all-female crew, she said.
It’s one reason Morin considers Karen Leming, a retired engine driver with Tacoma Fire Department who 20 years ago led what the department believed was the first full-time all-female crew in the United States, to be an inspiration.
One day soon, Morin said she is working to be a full-time captain herself.
It’s a goal she hopes to achieve “in the near future,” she said, adding that she would welcome a chance to lead a full-time all-female crew at West-Pierce Fire and Rescue.
“Little girls or teenagers, maybe they see this female crew and realize that it’s something they could do, and maybe it’s never crossed their mind before,” Morin said. “And not only is there one (female) firefighter, there are three on an engine who can do just as much as any other firefighter.”
Two decades younger than her counterparts, Haistings said she was grateful to follow in the footsteps of firefighters like Morin and Fuller-VanSlyke.
The idea that a woman couldn’t be a firefighter never dawned on her, she said.
For one, her dad was a firefighter, so she grew up around the profession and “always wanted to be a firefighter just like him.”
Even so, it was an occupation her parents initially urged her to steer clear of, she said.
Haistings’ mother feared the danger, she explained, while her father “saw how the (male dominated) culture was in his department and ... wanted me to go do something else.”
Today, Haistings said both of her parents are proud of her, and the fears that her father had about firefighting culture hasn’t been an issue for her at West Pierce.
“I have never felt that way at this department, ever. I know other women who have been in the fire service who have felt like they are lesser in other departments, but here I’ve never felt any sort of negativity,” Haistings said. “Coming into the department, there was already an established group of women.
“It’s not weird to me. When (Morin and Fuller-VanSlyke) started, it was a really, really big deal. To me, I feel like, ‘OK, all right, I’m just another one of the crew.”
This story was originally published August 15, 2020 at 7:00 AM.
