Be Brave
Dave Holmes
I knew Jo during her service at thetford fìŕe Station amazing young woman and a really good book
"The UK’s first full-time female firefighter Jo Reynolds, 57, said she was horrified by the findings.
She was 17 when she joined Norfolk fire service in 1982, but says today’s women firefighters have a much harder time than she ever did.
‘It sends shivers down my spine. It’s so awful,’ she says. ‘The majority of firefighters are not like that, but there’s enough of them to cause a big problem.
‘I faced sexism and misogyny, but the people I ended up working with were great. It was the old guard who didn’t like change, but I never felt any animosity towards me just because I was a woman.
‘Teasing was part of the culture, but I was never singled out and it happened to all of us. The guys I worked with were fun, but it seems to have gone nuts now.’
Ms Reynolds, who now works for an NGO in Cambodia, is involved with Women in the Fire Service UK which is now working with the National Fire Chiefs Council to create a code of ethics.
‘I try to be patient and say: “These things take time.” But 40 years on it’s still happening or getting worse,’ she says.
With one damning review published and two more under way, could female firefighters working elsewhere in the UK be ready to trigger another?"
She was 17 when she joined Norfolk fire service in 1982, but says today’s women firefighters have a much harder time than she ever did.
‘It sends shivers down my spine. It’s so awful,’ she says. ‘The majority of firefighters are not like that, but there’s enough of them to cause a big problem.
‘I faced sexism and misogyny, but the people I ended up working with were great. It was the old guard who didn’t like change, but I never felt any animosity towards me just because I was a woman.
‘Teasing was part of the culture, but I was never singled out and it happened to all of us. The guys I worked with were fun, but it seems to have gone nuts now.’
Ms Reynolds, who now works for an NGO in Cambodia, is involved with Women in the Fire Service UK which is now working with the National Fire Chiefs Council to create a code of ethics.
‘I try to be patient and say: “These things take time.” But 40 years on it’s still happening or getting worse,’ she says.
With one damning review published and two more under way, could female firefighters working elsewhere in the UK be ready to trigger another?"
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Freeda En ·
“You’re a publicity stunt, you won’t last, you’re just here to make the brigade look good” and it hurt. I’d be crying when I was driving home. It just kind of gives you more energy to keep going when things are difficult” |
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"Take it from a pro, it’s time to upgrade to Flopro"
Thank you Westland Horticulture, for featuring me as a firefighter / gardener in this tongue-in-cheek ad. Enjoy!
Thank you Westland Horticulture, for featuring me as a firefighter / gardener in this tongue-in-cheek ad. Enjoy!
It was the first time I had met Alice, a serving firefighter. This LADbible show format has us asking each other questions that we hadn’t seen before picked up from the table between us. We then compared our experiences in our jobs, generations apart. Enjoy!
It was the first time I had met Alice, a serving firefighter. This LADbible show format has us asking each other questions that we hadn’t seen before picked up from the table between us. We then compared our experiences in our jobs, generations apart. Enjoy!
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An early interview in 2017 with BBC World News. I was invited to their studio to talk live about Fire Woman being published. The piece included archive press photos from jobs, and their footage of me passing my HGV test to drive the fire engine.
