The presence of women in fire departments has grown significantly in the last three decades. According to the 2014 Bureau of Labor Statistics, females make up just under six percent of the national firefighting workforce.

Back when Seattle’s first female firefighter, Bonnie Beers, was hired in 1977, the national percentage of women in the department was less than one.

With this progression, when will we see a woman in uniform on Mercer Island?

It’s been a while, but Mercer Island does have some history here. In 1973, Islander Pauline Reed became the city’s and King County’s first female firefighter, working as both a volunteer and then part-time paid firefighter for 10 years. Then in 1983, Mercer Island hired Washington state’s first female fire chief, Lynn Oliver.

Seattle’s department boasts one of the highest percentages of female firefighters in the nation. Current numbers indicate eight percent, or 78 of their 966, firefighters are female.

Bellevue currently employs six women, or three percent of the department, but Mercer Island hasn’t had a female firefighter since 1992 when Oliver left, and she didn’t actually fight fires.

To put this in perspective, the Seattle Fire Department has 33 fire stations and every day 207 firefighters are on call. Mercer Island has two stations, with 28 firefighters in the entire department and seven on duty daily. Bellevue has nine stations, with 203 firefighters in total.

To reach these numbers, both Bellevue and Seattle have created recruiting teams led by female firefighters that travel to college campuses, military bases and community events to attract female applicants. And these efforts are in addition to those carried out by Public Safety Testing (PST), the company that Bellevue and Mercer Island use for hiring in the police and fire departments.

As far as any city is concerned, having a workforce that represents the diversity of their respective communities is important, especially in civil service. That includes women, as well as people of different races and ethnic backgrounds.

“You want a workforce that represents the community you serve,” said Seattle Public Information Officer Kyle Moore. “People want to see people they can relate to.”

The first priority is finding applicants who can effectively do the physically demanding job. Much has changed since the 1980s, but firefighting still is not something women generally believe they can do.

“Our goal with recruiting is providing an introduction for women,” said Bellevue Lieutenant Richard Burke. “We want to provide that exposure and for them to know that [firefighting] is an option.”

Boys grow up dreaming of becoming a firefighter or a police officer, but very few girls have even seen a woman in firefighting gear.

The exposure to firefighting at a young age is key, and is one of the main reasons behind the biennial Camp Blaze, a fire camp for young women. As larger departments, Bellevue and Seattle are able to support and run such programs.

Sharing experiences with other women and seeing them in uniform is extremely validating, said Lieutenant Sue Stangl from Seattle’s Specialty Hazardous Materials Unit.

“I would not have been a firefighter if I hadn’t seen another female firefighter in Seattle’s department already,” she said. “I thought that I wasn’t brave enough or courageous enough to be the first one.”

Lt. Stangl, who attended St. Monica School, has been working for Seattle since 1991. She gives a lot of credit to the women who paved the way, who fought the silent battles and changed the perceptions. Before accepting her position, she met with a woman who was already in the department.

“She just said all the right things,” Stangl recalled.

Firefighting is challenging and surely not for everyone. But according to Lt. Stangl, as well as the other male firefighters, the women who do it are very successful.

Fire departments across the nation look to increase the number of female firefighters, but it’s very challenging for both genders to pass the aptitude and physical tests. Recruiting agencies and PST can encourage women to apply, but it’s up to the applicants to qualify for the job civilians expect them to to do.

“[Diversity] is something we’ve talked about and desire, but it’s really based upon [the applicant’s] skills and how they interview,” Mercer Island Deputy Chief Les Kenworthy said.

A firefighter’s full career is around 30 years, so the department can go years without hiring until they need to fill a vacancy, especially with Mercer Island’s low turnover rate. In fact, the department hired five new firefighters for the first time in five years, and will be hiring two next year due to retirements. After that, who knows when the next recruitment class will be.

While diversity is important, Mercer Island relies on the efforts of PST and programs like Camp Blaze to attract women to apply within the area, as their small size limits them from funding and staffing such programs on their own.

Additionally, Mercer Island, Bellevue, Kirkland and Eastside Fire and Rescue are part of a recruitment consortium through PST that receives the same list of applicants, ranked in order of their test scores.Competition is stiff among the four agencies.

Maybe one day Mercer Island will see another female firefighter. Regardless of sex or race, one thing is certain in all departments, said Lt. Burke.

“[Civilians] don’t care who comes to their door, they just want someone who can do the job.”