On Saturday morning at the San Diego Fire-Rescue Training Facility in the Midway District, two dozen trainees got to experience what it's like to be enrolled in a firefighter academy. This year's program consists of 12 men and 12 women.
The morning started off with a serious workout, meant to challenge your body and mind. From jogging and flutter kicks to planking and lunges, trainees endured exercises that prospective firefighters do on a daily basis.
Participants were then split off into groups and sent off to different practice areas. One site taught trainees how to lift and operate a roughly 70 pound ladder that firefighters typically use to access a building. Another taught firefighters how to use a charged fire hose while having to navigate a narrow building. Trainees also learned how to put on their personal protective equipment in less than a minute.
Capt. Selena Laniel with SDFD helped get this program off the ground four years ago. The goal is to encourage more women to pursue a career in public safety. That goal has largely been a success, according to Laniel.
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"It doesn't, in no way, lead you into an academy and say, 'Yay, you're going to make it,' but it's definitely an eye opener and gives you the opportunity to develop the skills and adapt your trainings and get prepared for a real academy," Laniel said.
SDFD is considered a leader nationwide when it comes to the number of women working for the department. SDFD has 5% of women working for the department, compared to the national average of 4%.
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This is the fourth week of the six-week program. Candice White is one of the trainees with the eventual goal of entering into a firefighter academy. She flies in every weekend from Modesto, California.
"The flight is about an hour and 15 minutes. I wake up at 2 a.m., drive to Oakland Airport. It takes me about an hour and 10 minutes, get there around 4. I leave my house around 3. Get on the plane, 5:30 flight, make it here around 6:50, and get here for the day," White said.
White learned about the program through social media. She thought it was a great way to invest in herself and her future. She is one of roughly 1,500 other applicants who wanted to be a part of this academy.
"It's mentally and physically draining, but it's all worth it. Once you're finished, you're like, 'Man, I want to go again' because it's just so much fun," White said.
Who gets selected for the Women's Fire Prep Academy is a competition of sorts, according to Deputy Fire Chief Robert Logan.
"Once they apply, they compete for spots just like they would in any other competitive process, and in this one we ended up with 12 men and 12 females," Logan said. "This is the first program where every single person in attendance is in the application process."
SDFD has been running this program since 2020, and has helped recruit more than 20 firefighters to the department. It's one of the only programs of its kind in the country, aside from the original program that started in Los Angeles County.
Logan told NBC 7 that, right now, most fire stations along the West Coast are in need of more firefighters. That includes the city of San Diego, which particularly needs more bilingual firefighters.
To find out more about the program, you can visit the city of San Diego's website.
