Not too long ago, a woman’s place was in the home, and it was rare to encounter a female doctor, police officer or firefighter. But times have changed “” and today, Point Loma’s Fire Station 22 relies on an all-woman crew at least twice a week.
While convention-defying women of past decades “” including the first female firefighters of the ’70s “” can surely be credited for their part in making such a crew possible, its four women, in turn, are forging ahead for future generations simply by doing their job without fanfare or compromise.
Capt. Joi Evans, 48; engineer Melissa Cleary, 48; firefighter/paramedic April Lallo, 42; and firefighter Robyn Benincasa, 40, make up the city’s only all-woman crew and work out of station 22 on Catalina Boulevard.
Lallo remembers when she first started her firefighting career 17 years ago in the city of Los Angeles. She described the L.A. department as a “boys club.”
“That was a whole different story [than San Diego],” Lallo said. “It was hard being a female in that atmosphere.”
She said she believes the difference in attitude toward female firefighters has to do both with the times and society as well as with the location.
“I think the people in this department are awesome,” she said. “I love San Diego Fire. I haven’t had any issues with anybody.”
In 1974, the first female career firefighter was hired in Winston-Salem, N.C, though other women had served in various and unofficial capacities since 1818. That same year, the San Diego Civil Service Commission ordered the hiring of women and minority men, according to Women in the Fire Service, an organization begun by women firefighters in 1982. It took a while, but support of the change eventually caught up with its implementation.
Fire Station 22 serves Point Loma and its surrounding areas, including Shelter Island and Sunset Cliffs. Each of its three crews works a 24-hour shift about 10 times per month.
The all-female crew has worked together for 14 months. “Fourteen months, seven days, 14 and a half hours and 28 minutes to be exact,” joked Lallo, the resident ham.
Each crewmember has her duties, with Evans, a firefighter for 20 years, the group’s leader.
“Technically, my word is what goes, but we really do work as a team to get the job done,” Evans said.
Cleary “” a 17-year member of the department “” operates, maintains and drives the engine. She also is in charge of mapping the quickest route to the emergency destination, though lifelong Point Loma resident Evans often doesn’t need a map to know where they are headed.
Cleary also works as the safety operator at the scene and pumps the water when fighting a fire.
And while Cleary is a certified paramedic, Lallo is the paramedic on record with the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. When necessary, she performs advanced life support, such as pushing drugs, defibrillating and intubating.
Lallo also works closely with Benincasa “” the newest crewmember to the department with eight years’ experience “” who is also an emergency medical technician (EMT) in addition to being a firefighter.
Casual observers can see how close the women are. Laughter is often heard coming from the kitchen, and Lallo has been known to play practical jokes with a whoopee cushion.
“Even though we joke around, we’re very serious people,” Lallo said.
They look out for each other, as evidenced when Cleary, attempting to brew a pot of coffee, spilled the hot liquid down her arms and shirt. Before the steam could begin rising from her soaked clothes, the others jumped to her assistance to see if she was seriously hurt.
Despite working together “” or perhaps because of it “” the crew also enjoys each other’s company during their free time.
While the crew admits there are perks to working with other women, they appreciate the males in the department.
Shifts begin at 8 a.m., with routine station and apparatus maintenance, including housework and paperwork. The crew then heads down to Shelter Island for jogging and stretching. Three meals a day are served during each shift, and the crew does its own grocery shopping. But despite being away from the station at times, both the engine and firefighters remain in service.
“People are always asking us while we’re all at the supermarket, ‘What are you guys doing here?'” Cleary said. “We still have to eat.
“We’re never not ready to respond,” she continued, adding that the crew must be able to reach to a given destination within a four to six minutes.
Working until 8 a.m. the next morning, the crew does get some time to sleep, provided there are no calls during the night.
The crew is always busy, never sitting around waiting for a call. Typically, Evans explained, the station averages about five emergency calls a day. “But that really varies,” she said. “It could be two, it could be 11.”
The alarm bell rings in the station at the same time that each of the women’s pagers starts buzzing. The crew is up and moving within seconds.
As they board the engine and, sirens blaring, take off down Catalina Boulevard, there is no thought of gender. An anomaly at times, the city of San Diego’s only all-woman crew is in this moment just a group of firefighters preparing to face the emergency before them.