Firefighting 'brotherhood' includes women firefighters, too
Averie Kinsey and Paige Bischofberger stand by a Shoshone County District No. 1 firetruck in Osburn. Kinsey is a probationary firefighter at Shoshone County District No. 2 and Bischofberger is a firefighter and EMT for Shoshone County District No. 1.
CAROLYN BOSTICK/Press
Firefighter and EMT Melanie Shelton stands in her gear with her baby strapped to her back. Shelton had never considered becoming a firefighter as a career, but when she fell in love with EMT training and decided to pursue the career, she found firefighting to also be her calling. Shelton said after her two-year-old daughter wanted to dress up as a firefighter for Halloween that it made her think of the implications. "To be able to tell my kiddo she can be anything and that her gender won’t be a disqualifier, and that goes for other little girls, too. Being able to see that is pretty neat…
Shoshone County District No. 1 Fire Chief John Miller said that of women on his staff now make up 50 percent of career firefighting staff and 50 percent of the Silver Valley's paramedic staff.
OSBURN — Women in Fire District No. 1 make up 50% of the firefighting staff and 50% of the paramedic team. That's a much higher rate than figures compiled by the National Fire Protection Association.
The average of women firefighters nationally is 9%, and 5% of all career firefighters are women. In District No. 2, the percentage of women on the firefighting staff is 15%.
Shoshone County District No. 1 Fire Chief John Miller said he hadn’t even realized that his department stood out in that regard until his wife asked him about it when the department hired Paige Bischofberger as a firefighter and EMT.
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