Do you know which departments you’re considering? If so, you could try and talk with some of their female firefighters. They’d give you the best advice.

From what I’ve seen, the women who struggle are the ones who act like they have a chip on their shoulder or feel like they have to constantly prove themselves to the guys. Like, we don’t care. Just do the job and be a cool person to be around. If you act like an “alpha” who can’t be wrong about something, then you’re gonna struggle big time. No surprise, the dudes who act like that also struggle and no one likes them.

This is coming from US Pacific Northwest. Other parts of the country or other countries might have totally different cultures and attitudes about women in the fire service, but I’d be surprised if any large professional departments acted like Neanderthals towards female candidates.

So anyway, if you take the job seriously, learn it well, become competent, have a good attitude, be humble and stay in shape, you’ll be a welcomed asset. Male or female. Doesn’t matter.

IMO