A woman at the top

Earlier this year, Dany Cotton became the first-ever female head of the London Fire Brigade, responsible for 5,600 staff. Part of her job, she told Tracy Mcveigh in The Observer, is to ensure that more of them are women. “One single thing that would help bring women into the fire service? Stop saying ‘fireman’,” she says. “Why did they have to go for Fireman Sam? What’s wrong with Firefighter Sam? We have to change that perception of a six-foot hairy-arsed bloke who can kick a door down.” It doesn’t help that some firefighters cling to that image themselves. “If a woman can do the job, then it isn’t the big hero job it was. It de-machos their role.”

In fact, says Cotton, the job has changed hugely during her three decades in the service. The number of house fires in the UK has fallen, thanks to better furniture regulations and the decline in smoking. “Perhaps 70% of our work now is fire prevention [and] social engagement,” she says. There is still danger, though. Poverty and mental illness are now the biggest risk factors for major fires. “People with no money tend to huddle close to a fire or light a candle, or fry food because it’s cheap. Hoarding is on the rise and a big issue – not only are people hoarding combustible material but also they won’t be able to get out of a room easily, or a firefighter won’t be able to get in.” Cotton still goes out to fires herself – although she no longer travels in the big red engine. “I do miss being in the cab, although I never trained as a driver because I just didn’t want the hassle,” she says. “A woman fire engine driver? Just non-stop criticism and cracks about my reversing. It would be unbearable.”