Only city to have firewomen, Mumbai recruits 97 more

In a step towards promoting women's representation in testosterone-charged fields, the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) has recruited 97 women so far this year as fire fighters. Mumbai already has 17 women firefighters. The fresh recruitment will take their number to 114, making Mumbai arguably the only city to have women as firefighters.

Pointing out the 'unique feature' of his force, Deputy Fire Officer of Mumbai Fire Brigade, Hemant Parab, said, "Metros like Delhi and Bangalore have women staff in their fire brigade services, but none as a firefighter. Mumbai is the first city to have women as firefighters working on ground during disasters." MFB officers say the move to recruit so many fire-women should inspire more women to join the service.

Chief Fire Officer of MFB, Prabhat Rahangdale, said, "20 of them will join the force on March 1, while the remaining recruits will wait for vacancies to open. This is the first time so many women applied for jobs with MFB."