Veteran Firefighter Helps Candidate Train

Rocky Jones, part of the FDNY during the 1980s and beyond helps candidate Francesca Smith train for the physical exam circa 2000.  Organizations like United Women Firefighters helped to forge relationships and connections within the community of female firefighters, but these systems of support were also built on an individual basis.  Often, veteran firefighters, like Jones, offered support, encouragement and aid to new candidates during and long after their retirement from the force.  In an industry so dominated by males, these relationships and systems of assistance made a great deal of impact for females in the FDNY and provided them with the comfort of an exclusively female space in a workforce that was (and is) far from that.

Read more about females in the FDNY at LaborArts’ Women Firefighters in New York City.