Female firefighters blaze a trail

In honor of Women’s History Month we sat down with women from local fire departments to get their hot take on being a female in this field.

When wildland firefighter Amber Janas sees another female on a fire crew, she has an internal “Hell yeah!” moment. That’s because it’s estimated that women make up only 9% of all firefighters and 6% of fire chiefs in the US, according to findings by the Women in Fire organization. In Socorro County, female firefighters have carved out space in this male dominated field, and encourage the next generation of women to do the same.

Janas joined the crew in 2012 after moving here from South Carolina. She was introduced to the career by her brother-in-law and said the job is difficult but has grown her into a great person. Today she is one of three female firefighters employed with the Socorro District State Forestry Wildland Crew, which covers over 8.9 million acres of state and private land in Southwestern New Mexico. She is in her third season as a hotshot and is a firefighter type one, meaning she can take out and run a fire crew. She is also training to be a type five wildfire incident commander. Fellow women on her crew are Danica Arciero and Sonia Kline, who joined this month.

She said it can be intimidating being the only woman on a crew, especially when you are camping and with them 24/7, but at the end of the day it is more empowering than anything.

“It’s just a really powerful thing to see another woman working in fire, and I just hope that this younger generation can realize that you can do whatever you set your mind out to,” Janas said. “It doesn’t matter who your parents are, what path they might be going down. You can make your own path, and you can have a bright future. At the end of the day, you have to believe in yourself.”

She says the gratitude people show is what makes her job rewarding, especially when children draw her pictures or retired hotshots come up and talk to her about their time fighting wildfires.

At the City of Socorro Fire Department Ashlyn Aguilar is the only female firefighter. She has been with the department for just over a year and in that time received her firefighter level one and two certifications, as well as her EMT-basic license. She is the first woman at the department to be certified.

“I think there’s a stereotype that women aren’t capable or are more comfortable at a desk job position, so I could see why it would be so scary to join an organization where you may be the only female,” Aguilar said. “But I think as women we are very strong. We have things to offer in this field and fields alike. We can do anything a man can do.”

Aguilar said the best part of her job is being face to face with the community and assisting people on their hardest day.

Heather Donaldson said she grew up being inspired by the movie “G.I. Jane”, watching the character Jordan O’Neill talking about pushing herself as hard as the men.

“I know some women, you just look at them and think ‘Oh my God how did you do that?’” Donaldson said. “Women have this power that all you have to do is reach inside if you have the heart to try.”

With a background in construction, Donaldson said she’s always been in a male dominated field, but even so, when she moved to Socorro from Denver it took her a year before she decided to volunteer for the Midway Volunteer Fire Department. That was three years ago and today Donaldson is their training officer and the interim fire chief for the fire house that also includes female volunteers Jaime Galaz and Glennys Elliot who is still active in her 70s.

“To push through as a woman takes perseverance and drive, but every one of us women have that in us to step up and say I want to make a difference,” she said. “We have great assets that we bring to the table that are overlooked because we are female. But once they get to know us and that we are able to do this job – I’m out there with the guys shoulder to shoulder, just like these women here, and at the end of the day the guys are like, ‘Great job, you kicked ass.’”

Northern Socorro County Volunteer Fire Department boasts female fire captain Amber Watkins and volunteer firefighter Louanne Ducan. Watkins, who became captain last year, said she joined the department in 2022 to set herself on a better path and said firefighting has changed her life. She is the single mother of two boys, ages 9 and 13, whom she said watched her go through a hard time and rise above it to become someone they are proud of. Today they go with her to trainings, and the men in the department are father figures to them.

Watkins said one of the values women bring to firefighting is creating space for the men to acknowledge and express their emotions, especially after a challenging or traumatic experience, as a way to help with mental health in the field. She said women know how to be soft and tough at the same time, and it’s something men can learn from, and something she is instilling in her own sons.

“I don’t just do this for me,” Watkins said. “I do it for my boys and I do it for my community.”

Women, or men, who are interested in exploring firefighting can contact Adam Steinke at 575-835-2029 to learn about volunteering with Midway or Northern, which fight both structure and wildland fires. The Socorro Fire Department is currently hiring firefighter cadets.