JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — When Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department Chief Theresa Kinstle joined her first fire station at 27 years old, she was the only woman on the fire truck; she never thought she would end up as a chief down the road.
"I didn't originally think that I wanted to be a firefighter until I started EMT school," Kinstle told First Coast News. "And I had another instructor that said, 'Hey, what about fire school? Once you came in, it was a big family. And the guys treated me just like anybody else."
Kinstle's 20-plus year career in firefighting has led her to now become the division chief of training, thus making her the highest ranked woman with JFRD.
"With fire rescue, everything's different," Kinstle mentioned. "Every call you go on is different. You have to use your mind, you have to figure out what's going on with this patient. How can I do to help them and that sparked an interest for me. And I've loved it ever since."
By growing within the department, Kinstle has noticed more women join fire stations.
"People are getting out and about, they see firefighters more, it's now become more of an interest," Kinstle explained. "Not just to the women, but has come more interest to the whole populations the women part of it. I think they're just seeing us more and more out and they're starting to see women out."
Recent data from the National Fire Protection Association says Jacksonville crews are twice as likely to have a woman putting out flames compared to the national average.
The national average of women in firefighting is just under five percent. And in Jacksonville, almost twelve percent of firefighters are women.
From a JFRD recruiter to now overseeing all of the incoming students in fire school, Kinstle works with the next generation of firefighters.
In JFRD's most recent hiring class, 11% of students were women, which is more than double the 4.7% of women in career fire departments nationally, according to data from the National Fire Protection Association.
"I think it helps those of us that have been on the job for a long time to be mentors to help those and then those that are coming on the job today, now can be mentors for the future, the women that continue to come on this job," Kinstle said.
Kinstle adds that with more women involvement, she believes this move will help not only Jacksonville, but other fire departments across the country solve their staff shortages, hoping to see the number of women firefighters continue to rise for years to come.