They all did it for various reasons but the women in the Guyana Fire Service over the years came together in their agendas: to serve people and to provide support where needed. Unlike their colleagues in the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Defence Force the women in the fire service are not as well known, as they are seldom seen out fighting fires.
In fact, according to the most senior female fire officer, Divisional Fire Officer Administration (the first woman to hold position) Jacqueline Greene, when she joined the service 30 years ago, there were about 12 other women and they were not “allowed” to go out and do actual firefighting. “But I used to get away sometimes. The men use to allow me and I would go out with them because they would have seen you had this enthusiasm,” Greene told the Sunday Stabroek in a recent interview with a smile that must have been on her face when she ‘got away’ in those early days.
“I think that may have happened because the men then just did not want [women] to go out because they thought maybe… [women] could