LAFD loses female trainees
In setback for mayor’s goal, all four women in current boot camp have been eliminated.
All female recruits have been eliminated from the Los Angeles Fire Department training class set to graduate next month, dealing a setback to Mayor Eric Garcetti’s drive to increase the number of women in the agency’s rank and file.
Last December, four women were among the 43 recruits picked to enter the grueling boot camp required to become a city firefighter. All four have left, city officials say, putting the Fire Department on track to graduate its second consecutive all-male class.
Two of the women departed because of injuries and will be invited to a future training camp to attempt difficult challenges including handling heavy ladders, hoses and tools. Another failed to pass a series of physical drills designed to simulate a response to a fire. City officials declined to say why the fourth woman left.
The results show the lack of progress toward the decades-old goal of introducing more women at the LAFD, revitalized by Garcetti last year when he overhauled the hiring process after a series of Times reports triggered accusations of nepotism and mismanagement.
Despite repeated calls from City Hall for reform, the percentage of female firefighters remains at slightly less than 3% — the same as in 1995. Nationwide numbers are just as low.
“It’s heartbreaking,” said Capt. Tamara Chick, president of a group representing female firefighters at LAFD. “Every time one of these women gets hurt or gets fired or quits, it breaks your heart.”
Because state rules outlaw government hiring quotas for women and minorities, city officials say their best chance to increase their numbers is to entice more to apply.
Of the more than 10,000 people who took part in last year’s lottery to enter the hiring process, only 5% were women.
Aides to the mayor say they are working on an expanded effort to recruit women, but have declined to provide specifics. Garcetti requested $375,000 for the task in his latest budget proposal.
At a Wednesday budget hearing, Fire Chief Ralph M. Terrazas said his goal was to use that money to double the number of female firefighters to 6% of the ranks over the next five years.
Chick said the city should also consider introducing more specific job qualifications to ensure that those best qualified to advance are drawn in the lottery.
Candidates currently are given no advantage if they have a college degree, firefighting experience or certifications such as a paramedic license.
“It’s one of the most desirable jobs in the world but we have no way to choose the most qualified candidates,” she said. “It’s crazy when you think about it.”
The recruits who do complete LAFD training next month will join a 3,100-member force charged with fighting fires within the city limits, but also one in which sworn firefighters perform many less physically demanding tasks.
Those jobs can include handling 911 calls, enforcing the fire code and rolling out on medical rescues, which have become the bulk of emergency responses.
In many other cities, officials say, those tasks are assigned to civilian employees, and that, among other things, tends to result in more women being hired.
At the Oakland Fire Department, 10% of rank-andfile firefighters are female. The numbers are higher among fire inspectors and 911 dispatchers, civilians who can be hired without having to pass a difficult physical exam.
“Our standards have been lowered since the 1970s, and I would argue that’s not necessarily a bad thing,” said Oakland Battalion Chief Robert Lipp. “We got rid of things you couldn’t really compare to the job.”