Female Firefighters Are Taking On Bigger Roles, Especially in Rural Fire Districts
By Scott Laird
In an industry that has historically been dominated by men—and remains that way in many communities—women are starting to take a more active role as firefighters and leaders at their agencies, especially in smaller and more rural fire districts.
Just 4% of career firefighters nationally are women. Volunteers make up about 10%.
The community of Vernonia is bucking the trend. About 60% of the current paid staff and almost half of the volunteers are women. 2 of the 5 department officers are women, and 4 of the 6 emergency medical services personnel who work out of the station, along with 9 of the agency’s 20 volunteers, are women.
“I think women definitely complement the fire service and bring a unique perspective to what is commonly thought of as a male-dominated field,” Vernonia Fire Chief Greg Brody says.
Brandi Abney is 1 of the firefighters leading the way at the Vernonia Rural Fire Protection District. A volunteer firefighter for 24 years with the agency, Brandi was promoted to a full-time paid lieutenant position last year, becoming the first ever female officer in Vernonia.
“When I first started considering a career in the fire service 20 years ago, I ended up going in a different direction because of the limits and biases,” Brandi says. “Nowadays, that’s changing.”
Lt. Charollette Tannery assists with administrative duties and serves as public information officer for the district. She joined as a volunteer 3 years ago and was promoted to lieutenant at the beginning of 2025.
Christina Wolfe is a paid EMS worker, a volunteer firefighter, and 1 of 3 women hired this past summer as a seasonal firefighter with Oregon State Fire Marshal grant funding. VRFPD used that funding to hire 6 seasonal firefighters.
Trish Smith works full-time in emergency medical services and is a longtime volunteer firefighter who recently transitioned to helping with fire logistics.
Brody says the fire service is traditionally a field where sons follow in their fathers’ footsteps and join the industry. But at VRFPD, it’s the opposite, with 3—and likely soon 4— mother-daughter teams helping fill the ranks. This includes Brandi and her daughter, Trinity, along with daughterin- law Trish Smith and her daughter, Georgia; Christina and her daughter, Jessika; and Charollette, whose daughter, Talia, hopes to join when she turns 18.
“We’ve had quite a few trauma calls that we responded to with an all-women crew,” Christina says.
Brandi says women offer a different perspective on trauma calls.
“It’s just the way we see things,” she says. “You know, men and women, our brains are wired differently. We solve problems differently. We just see things differently.”
Having more women around the fire station has initiated positive changes, Brody says.
“I think it brings a sense of more balance, especially living and working in a communal environment,” he says. “We’re a little more cognizant of our people. It brings out a bit more humanity here than in other places. We’ve had to make some accommodations, but it really hasn’t been an issue at all to do it here.”
Amy Hanifan is an operations chief with the McMinnville Fire Department and is a past president and current member of the board of directors for Women in Fire, a national nonprofit that advocates for women in leadership and participation in the fire and emergency services.
VRFPD hosted Amy in October for a mini conference on women working in the fire and EMS services. Amy met with 16 women involved with regional service agencies—Vernonia, Mist Birkenfeld, Banks, and Olney Walluski—as volunteers and personnel representing 4 different agencies and 3 counties.
“I think it’s important to be able to serve our communities and those that we respond out to to the best of our ability,” Amy told the group. “I think that takes a well-varied team. Certainly, there are different skill sets that everyone brings to the table. If you don’t have a balanced team, sometimes you miss out on a perspective or maybe an approach that women can bring.”
Brandi says the meeting with Amy was “important for the camaraderie.”
“We had women from different departments come with different experience levels,” she says. “We had some very young women who are very new in the fire service. It was great to bring us all together and show support for each other, encourage each other, and help each other out. Be each other’s cheerleaders. We’re going to be stronger in the end when we bring each other up.”
A new resource for women is the Portland Metro Fire Camp, a free, 3-day event held specifically for young women ages 16-22 who want to learn about careers in the fire industry.
VRFPD’s Brandi and Charollette volunteered as instructors at last year’s Portland Fire Camp, another opportunity to bond with other women, share their experiences, and encourage other women to join the industry.
“You get to work with other women, learn from other women, share those experiences, the struggles, and get different ideas,” Brandi says.
VRFPD continues to find ways to break down barriers for women in the firefighting field. In spring 2025, VRFPD hosted a SKID (Stop Kids Impaired and Distracted Driving) event, an educational program that uses crash simulations to teach high school students about the dangers of impaired and distracted driving. Christina organized the program and put together a crew of 26 emergency responders, all of them women, from various local agencies. Brody believes it was the first time that has ever been done.
Like most small, rural fire departments in Oregon and across the country, VRFPD struggles to recruit and retain volunteers. For Brody, seeing more women show interest in joining the fire service helps address a critical need.
“It’s a new age,” he says. “I think as an organization, we’ve embraced it because I’ve got people knocking on my door here that are enthusiastic, want to learn, and want to do something and be part of the community. How can you turn that down? So, I’ve encouraged them. I push them. I challenge them. And they rise to the occasion.”