A three-part interview with Toronto Firefighters Julie Petruzzellis and Stacey Hannah about what it’s like to be a woman in a dangerous and demanding occupation—one where they are outnumbered 20-to-1 by men.
We spend a lot of time talking about the TTC: worrying that it’s going to be shut down by strike action, complaining that the buses don’t run on time, trading opinions on whether the drivers are saints or crotchety demons.
Recently though, the Queen Street fire put us in mind of another of the city’s essential services, one we don’t necessarily notice until something goes wrong. Toronto’s fire department is the largest in Canada and the fifth largest in North America, with some 3,000 people currently employed. Of that 3,000, only 150 are female.
We spoke to two women who weren’t put off by those numbers, by working 24-hour shifts, or by the prospect of walking into burning buildings: Firefighters Julie Petruzzellis and Stacey Hannah.
