Right: as rural areas and towns have lost population to the cities, more and more women are volunteering for the Country Fire Authority. The hot, dirty and often dangerous work of the "bush" firefighter has tested these volunteers and women are now looked on as just part of the crew.
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Arguments against setting quotas for female representation in firefighting
1. The same standards of physical strength and fitness will not be met if set numbers of women have to be recruited
Those who are opposed to targets being set for the recruitment of women into firefighting services are concerned that this will mean that the current level of fitness and strength required will be reduced.
At the moment those candidates accepted are those who score highest on a range of measures of strength and physical fitness including a physical aptitude test (PAT). A key component of the PAT is the shuttle run or Beep Test. This is a test of speed, fitness, and agility. It requires a person to sprint between two parallel lines at an increasing pace and after each interval is achieved, a new level is announced and the aim is to reach the highest level possible. A base level, normally a score of 9.6, has to be achieved if a candidate is to be considered as a firefighter. However, recruitment tests are competitive and it is currently those who achieve the highest scores above the cut off point who are selected.
Critics of the mandatory inclusion of a certain number of women in each intake of firefighters are concerned that women who do not score as highly as some male candidates will displace them purely on the basis of their gender.
Peter Marshall, the secretary of the United Firefighters Union has stated, 'The Melbourne Fire Brigade wants to lower the standard for new firefighters, and to scrap the "order of merit" which ranks applicants in order of ability.' Defenders of quotas for women claim that the physical aptitude test will not be made easier to allow women into the service; however, if critics like Marshall are correct and 'order of merit' is no longer the sole basis for selection then the result will be a lowering of the standard of physical fitness.
Critics of gender-based quotas have also looked to developments overseas, where the absolute standard of physical fitness required has been dropped so as to allow a predetermined number of women to be taken on.
On April 11, 2011, The Daily Mail reported that British fire chiefs had made the 'ladder lifting' tests that all new recruits must go through easier to allow more women and less-strong men into the service. Previously, potential firefighters had to extend a 100kg ladder by themselves in 20 seconds to qualify. However, now they are only required to life a 30kg weight over their heads.
Strenuous runs, where candidates had to complete increasing fast sprints have also been scrapped, along with having to carry a 75kilo person 90 metres in less than a minute.
A government study comparing new and old firefighter tests confirmed that standards had been altered with less emphasis now being placed on fitness and strength.
In December, 2014, the New York City Fire Department also altered its selection procedures. Under the new process recruits will be admitted on the basis of their combined score on the physical aptitude test and a test gauging knowledge of procedures. Formerly, all probationary officers had to pass the physical competence test. In addition, the physical competence test has been scaled back. The number of exercises that simulate pulling down a ceiling has been reduced. The Department is also having supervisors use videos to evaluate trainees not on the time it takes to perform tasks, but on 'a minimally acceptable pace of performance.' Critics have claimed that this lowering of standards has occurred so that more women firefighters can be hired.
2. Gender quotas mean safety will be compromised and female firefighters' health may be put at risk
Critics of gender quotas promoting the entry of women into firefighting services argue that such quotas will create safety risks.
In 2008, LA Weekly published an extensive report on women firefighters in Los Angeles which concluded that the vast majority of candidates applying to join the service were simply not strong enough safely to perform the tasks required of them. The article notes, 'Firefighters pull heavy lengths of hose, climb stairs while wielding giant power tools like chain saws, and lift 180-pound, 35-foot wooden ladders - akin to carrying a concrete lamppost.'
On February 25, 2010, The New York Post published a report critical of the physical prowess of a number of the women firefighters the city had employed. The report quoted New York's Deputy Fire Chief Paul Mannix, a vocal opponent of quotas. Mr Mannix stated, 'They don't have women and men compete head-to-head in something as trivial as the Olympics. And when it comes to safety, that's what they want to do.'
The Deputy Fire Chief went on to state, 'I'm worried about the women who live in New York City. They deserve the best Fire Department we can give them. If we continue to reduce standards, we're not going to have that.'
Some male firefighters have also expressed concern about their own safety if they have to depend on female fellow workers who are not strong enough to meet the demands of the job. Another male firefighter quoted in the February 2010 New York Post article stated, 'I have a family. I can't count on a 110-pound female to carry me out of a burning building.'
The same concern regarding a majority of female firefighter candidates not being strong enough to meet the real operational demands of the job have also been expressed in Victoria.
Peter Marshall, the secretary of the Victorian United Firefighters Union has stated, 'Community protection will be compromised.' Marshall has further stated that requiring firefighting services to enlist a fixed number of women will result in 'potential danger for the community, the new recruits, and their fellow firefighters'.
The same view has been expressed by a Victorian professional firefighter, Rachel Cowling . Ms Cowling has stated, 'Firefighters must have confidence in each other, and the community must have confidence in the fire service. The recruitment of firefighters must be about ability and merit, not politics.'
It has also been noted that firefighting poses particular health risks for women and thus it is unwise to encourage more women to become firefighters.
According to research by Cornell University scientists undertaken in 2009, the toxic chemicals all firefighters can face every time they respond to a call might be especially dangerous to women responders, because many of the chemicals are known to increase the risk of breast cancer. The chemicals to which firefighters are routinely exposed have been shown to be mammary carcinogens in animal toxicology studies and warrant further study.
A 2013 Canadian study of the health of female firefighters examined their higher incidence of physical injury and psychological conditions and concluded, 'Female firefighters are exposed to increased risk of injury due to the psychological and physical occupational stressors in firefighting.'
3. Current female firefighters do not want the entry standards lowered or quotas applied
Critics of quotas to encourage the entry of women into firefighting argue that these measures diminish the achievement of those women who have become firefighters in equal competition with men.
In an opinion piece published on February 1, 2016, Herald Sun commentator Rita Panahi stated, 'Whether it's the boardroom, the police force or the fire department, the desire to increase workplace diversity seems to be having some unintended consequences, including undermining the women who got there on merit alone.'
Referring to the response of some members of the firefighting community to the prospect of quotas to prompt the admission of women into firefighting services, Panahi stated, 'Several women who won their positions as firefighters by beating hundreds of mainly male applicants were aghast that they could be working alongside those who were selected because they ticked a minority box rather than being the very best available candidates.'
Victorian firefighter Louisa Cannon has been quoted in The Herald Sun defending the current selection criteria and the manner in which they are applied. Ms Cannon stated,
'Not everyone can be a firefighter or a brain surgeon or an AFL footballer. Firefighting is a job which demands physical, intellectual and psychological rigour ... of course, we want a fire service that reflects contemporary Australia, but not at the cost of standards and community safety.'
There is concern among some that a quota system would undermine the position of women already in the firefighting service, who would be seen as having entered via a less rigorous process.
Referring to this potential injustice, Peter Marshall, the secretary of the Victorian United Firefighters Union has stated, 'Women firefighters currently in the CFA and MFB earned their place on ability. In some cases their brother or husband applied and was not successful.'
In an interview published in the Age on January 29, 2016, career firefighter, Rachel Cowling, said she did not want crews' safety put at risk by affirmative action for female recruits.
Ms Cowling stated, 'When it comes to performing the job under pressure, this isn't a job for everyone...
It's a job for a certain type of person, and a certain type of female ... changing the selection processes just isn't the right way to get female numbers up.'
Ms Cowling said she had to train every day with a personal trainer before she first passed her physical 11 years ago.
Cowling stated, 'I only have three people on my truck ... and if we have a house fire, I need to know that everyone has the fitness and the strength to do things correctly.'
4. Fire fighters do not have to be representative of the communities they protect
Critics of quotas designed to ensure that women and minority ethnic groups are represented within firefighting proportionately to their occurrence within the communities they serve argue that firefighting is not like representative government.
There is, opponents claim, no logical reason why, for example, women should be represented within firefighting up to a level commensurate with their numbers within the community they serve.
According to this line of argument, firefighting is not a community service industry comparable with the police force. Police officers have to engage with members of the public in a wide variety of contexts. There is a legitimate reason for wanting to have a police force which reflects the community it serves both in gender and ethnic balance. Such a police force would be better able to serve its community in a manner sensitive to community composition and concerns.
Opponents of quotas assert that this argument does not apply within the firefighting service where the quality that determines suitability for the job is not community awareness, but the physical strength and stamina needed to perform the job.
In a comment published in his blog on March 27, 2010, Herald Sun columnist Andrew Bolt used exaggeration to highlight what he sees as the absurdity of trying to create a firefighting service that reflects the composition of the community. Bolt asks, 'Is the plan to set up rival ethnic services, so Muslims can ring their own Muslim fire service, Africans theirs, Jews theirs and so on?' Bolt then counters the need for a representative firefighting service by asking whether it might not be easier if a community accepted that when receiving emergency assistance 'it's all in together'.
5. Non-firefighting roles are available to women
Those who argue that only a very small number of women will be physically capable of being a firefighter also often note that there are other roles that women who wish to serve in emergency situations can fill.
Within firefighting, there is a wide range of what are referred to as 'nonsuppression roles' that a much larger number of women are able to carry out. Women attached to fire brigades can take part in fire prevention services, inspection, arson investigation, communications and public education. Within fire departments there are also administrative and clerical roles that women without the physical fitness to be firefighters can perform. Rural communities dependent on volunteer firefighters also require the support of their local communities in terms of supplying food for firefighters and helping to fundraise. These are areas where women can supply valuable service irrespective of their level of physical fitness.
Other emergency service roles include being an emergency medical officer or paramedic. Emergency medical officer training allows certificate holders to render specialist assistance in an emergency situation normally occurring within the workplace.
Other related services include being a park ranger which can also involve fire prevention activities. The bushfire prevention page of Parks Victoria's Internet site states, 'We work year round to prepare parks and reserves to reduce the potential impact of fire through planned burning and other fuel reduction. The $21 million Melbourne Fire and Emergency Program is improving the fire preparedness of our urban and fringe parklands.' Under the 'Response' heading, the Parks Victoria site states 'Around 70 percent of Parks Victoria staff are trained in specific fire fighting roles. Each summer, many rangers and office staff are deployed to fight fires in parks and forests across the state.'(It should be noted that statistically many more men occupy these roles in this service as well and it has been suggested that gender bias is at play.)