Women on fire! - Brigade’s all-female response crew on show
Published:Tuesday | March 10, 2020 | 12:24 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
International Women’s Day may have passed on Sunday, but the Jamaica Fire Brigade pressed the reset button and deployed an all-female crew on Monday to cool tempers and out blazes across the capital.
Jamaica’s first appointed female superintendent, Julian Davis-Buckle, head of the Kingston and St Andrew Division, said it was a signal achievement for women to be on the front line of firefighting, battling not only flames but blazing a history-making trail.
“We just want persons to understand that we are here. Most times we go out and are on the fire truck in our gear, people don’t know, because when we are all dressed up, they don’t recognise us easily,” Davis-Buckle, the highest-ranked woman in the brigade, told The Gleaner.
“But today, we were able to showcase that this is an all-female crew, and they did well and handled themselves well.”
The all-woman crew showcased at the York Park Fire Station yesterday was proof that the brigade had enough muscle to take on the job themselves.
Before the shift changed about 3:30 p.m., the women responded to two calls – a malicious false alarm on Pechon Street, and the second for Wellington Drive at 1:02 p.m.
“We got a call that a kitchen was on fire. However, when we got there, it was a storeroom burning moderately and was smoke-laden,” Davis-Buckle said.
The all-woman crew used two medium jets to bring the fire under control. They were offered backup with a water tender by the Half-Way Tree crew.
“They controlled the fire and extinguished it,” the Kingston and St Andrew-based superintendent added.
For Buckle-Davis, the occasion was sentimental and a defining moment for women in the brigade.
Glass ceiling broken
Women have ranked higher than Davis-Buckle – the first female assistant commissioner has retired – but she said that the awesome mandate of protecting life and property was a humbling responsibility.
“The ceiling has been broken and we are making our way … . I have the support of the men, and that makes my job much easier,” Davis-Buckle said.
Acting District Officer Tsahai Powell, who was in charge of the nerve centre that received all dispatch calls, said that yesterday’s exercise “shows that we can go out and are capable of carrying out our duty”.
“Six persons work inside here. Today, the numbers are down to four, because it’s an all-female crew,” said Powell.
“The day was good; only difference is that we got our day today. Normally, we have one woman to a truck, but to see an all-female crew, it was really good.”