TOLEDO, Ohio — This weekend marks the end of Women's History Month, and women are certainly playing an expanded role at the Toledo Fire Department, as evidenced by the leadership of the current chief, Allison Armstrong, the first woman to lead the department.
But Armstrong is just one of many women in the department.
We met Kendra Borum last fall when we talked to her and her father, whose own career inspired her to become a firefighter.
"You know you always get told as a kid you can do whatever you want to do. I'm proving that. I wanted to do this. I'm doing it. And now I have other young women coming up to me asking me for tips and help," said Kendra Borum.
Kendra is a recent graduate and 1 of 6 women out of the 47 recruits who made it in her class.
"We actually didn't have any problems. None at all. Everybody was very accepting. We all struggled together," said Borum.
Kevin Gordon, Borum's dad, who was part of the department for 27 years before retiring, offered a different perspective from the situation today.
"When I came on there weren't very many woman on the department," said Kevin Gordon. "It's been good to see the growth of the department and the diversity of the department, not only as far as race is concerned but as far as gender is concerned as well."
Out of 600 firefighters at the Toledo Fire Department, over 70 of them are women, 14 of them are officers, including the chief.
"That means that eventually along the line, that's something that I can achieve," said Borum. "I have had a couple of female officers take me under their wing already and it's just nice to know that I have somebody looking out for me."
Kendra says life at a station house is like being with family, and man or woman, everyone has each other's backs.
"We have fun. We joke with each other. We cook together. We have station chores that we have to do. We clean around. Doing it together makes it more enjoyable," said Borum.
And when it comes to advice for girls behind her who may have an idea that they might like to be firefighters too?
"Do it. It's the best job in the world."
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