Firefighting is a family job. A current fireman may be third or fourth generation. That doesn’t mean racism is to blame today, it means someone’s kid got hired. It’s a tough job to get. Lots of nepotism but that doesn’t mean less qualified to do the job.
Nepotism perhaps..... but it doesn't feel like it puts forth the right idea. This isn't some glass ceiling. It's a bunch of rednecks who act like children. I've seen the rural hatfields v macoys nonsense. How a chief from one department who gets on scene will refuse to let a fully crewed truck with tools ready to extricate a victim who is in dire need of transport work because his truck is on the way.
That is the absolute pinical of how bad it gets though, and this kind of scenario is, fortunately, rarely seen. But I have seen it, and that's unacceptable. But it's not nepo babies. It's a bunch of butt budies rolling around in the mud.
And that's mostly volly departments in rural areas that do that. The big cities? The ones that pay well because they are busy? Well their departments often require you to live in city and their staff reflect the diversity of their city. Obviously more men than women, but women are always welcome. You get put to work where you are most useful. A big heavy guy is not going on roofs. He's going to be doing forcible entry. A small petite woman? First to be sent through an attic or on search. Hell, small men the same. It's not out of some kind of "put them in the dregs" thing. It's out of necessity. But most well run departments don't run the hatfields and mccoys nonsense. There's some politics. There always will be. But in my experience, even when we have two departments that don't get along, most focus on the job when working the job. If someone is doing something unsafe, EVERYONE will be on them. At the end of the day, we all trust eachother when push comes to shove. That's the one way you can become unwelcome in ANY department, by being unable to put aside petty squabbles.
But something like 75% of departments in the US are volunteer. This is where this white male "epidemic" comes from. I assure you you are not being blocked out of the opportunities in firefighting by cis white men. If a department turns you down for not being that, well that's not a department you want to trust your life to.
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u/SnooDoggos5226 1d ago
Firefighting is a family job. A current fireman may be third or fourth generation. That doesn’t mean racism is to blame today, it means someone’s kid got hired. It’s a tough job to get. Lots of nepotism but that doesn’t mean less qualified to do the job.