Montana News
Families and fire: Forest Service group aims to keep more women fighting wildfires
Firefighters jump out of planes or dig miles of line to try and stop a fire’s spread. Some do this while pregnant. For women in firefighting, balancing careers with the demands of motherhood can often force them out of the jobs they love. But a new group of women in fire is trying to change that.
- Broadcast on:
- 03 Oct 2024
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- other
With Montana News, I'm Austin Amastoy. Firefighters jump out of planes or dig miles of line to try and stop a fire spread. Some do this while pregnant. For women in firefighting, balancing careers with the demands of motherhood can often force them out of the jobs they love. But a new group of women in fire is trying to change that. Montana Public Radio's Ellis Julin has more. Meghan McKinney walks outside the Missoula smoke jumper base, carrying her four-month-old son, Boone. "So this is what we refer to as the Forest Service ramp, so this is where we park the smoke jumper aircraft here and then across the way is the tanker base." Inside, she steps into the ready room where gear is piled high next to lockers. Boone takes it all in as he chews on his hands. "Yeah, he's just discovering them and I can put these in my mouth." McKinney used to suit up in a room like this when she was a smoke jumper, parachuting out of planes to fight wildfires for the U.S. Forest Service. But that all changed ten years ago when she found out she was pregnant with Boone's twin older brothers. "It was just kind of like had to shut the door on, you know, jumping out of airplanes and being gone at a moment's notice and just kind of be all in on me and mom, nobody." McKinney found a different job managing at the nearby air tanker base. Now she coordinates the flights that drop bright red retardant onto wildfires while she juggles her twin soccer games and midnight feedings for Boone. "As a smoke jumper, I saw a lot of women, started families, ended up leaving the agency and I just wanted to see a way to help women try to maintain their careers." What McKinney saw is true across the agency. Data collected by the U.S. Forest Service shows that most women firefighters leave the field six or seven years in right around the age when many begin having kids. Women make up 13% of the firefighting workforce and can feel pressure to cut back hours or stay home for their families. McKinney is part of the Forest Service's new Women and Wildland Fire Advisory Council. It was formed to encourage more women to stay in the profession. Jamie Toland created the council. She was also a smoke jumper like McKinney until she had her son 14 years ago. "I realized I wasn't going to be able to, you know, be out on a fire, doing stuff and being like, 'Hey, could somebody go pick up my kid because I don't know when I'm going to be back.'" She got a desk job in dispatch so she could raise her son. She rose through the ranks with the Forest Service over nearly 30 years and is now one of the few women in leadership roles in wildfire management. "Through my career, I always felt like I had to prove myself, like prove that I could be there and keep up and do the job. So there still is a lot of that, like, the good old boy network." The advisory council formed almost a year ago and includes 22 women across the country. They're looking at solutions like daycares at Forest Service facilities, changing the agency's pregnancy and postpartum fitness requirements for firefighters, and building all women training camps. The council doesn't have a dedicated budget yet, so they'll have to request funding to implement these initiatives as needed. Being part of the council is something all the other members have taken on in addition to their day jobs. Tolin was amazed the outpouring of interest she got when putting out the call for people to join last year. For Sarah King, this group of women felt like a lifeline. "This is amazing. I have wanted something like this to come to fruition for a long time, you know, because I've wanted to try and figure out, like, a way to connect women better in fire, especially those women who are in those more remote areas, and they might be by themselves, but in my career, I've predominantly worked with men, and, you know, so it's, like, so validating, like, being with these women and, like, just hearing their stories." King is early on in her career compared to Tolin and McKinney and early on in her motherhood journey as well. Her daughter, Cadence, was born nine months ago and sleeps next to her while she talks. "It's, like, still somewhat registering, like, 'Oh, my gosh, I have a daughter,' you know, like, but it's so amazing, yeah. Really, I'd say my favorite part is just being able to see your smile and face everyday." She left firefighting during her pregnancy when breathing in smoke wasn't safe for her or her baby. Now she does prescribed burning on the Custer Gallatin National Forest, intentionally burning underbrush to make wildfires less intense. King brings Cadence to the office when she's planning those burns and can lean on family to watch her when she's out in the field. But she wants different options in the future. "I really miss that aspect of my job, you know, and so I think just balancing, like, life and a career and a kid and also just, like, desires, it really takes a toll on your mental health, you know, then I'm learning that the hard way." She hopes being part of the council will help her figure out what that future looks like. They'll meet in person for the first time this winter. Missoula, I'm Ellis Julin. - This is Montana Public Radio.