GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — In a male-dominated industry, Grand Haven Township Fire & Rescue is breaking barriers. Back on August 2, the fire department had an all-female crew for the first time in its 76-year history.
Angela Headley and Sloan McLean were put in charge of protecting the Grand Haven community.
"It was actually a pretty normal, routine day," Headley said modestly.
Headley is a part-time firefighter/EMT who joined the team last October. McLean is a part-time firefighter/paramedic who came on board last fall as well.
Fire Chief Shawn Schrader quickly chimed in to say, "It was actually a pretty exciting day. The week before, I looked at the schedule, and I had noticed that we had two firefighters on shift. We normally have two firefighters on shift 24/7 to provide coverage for the community. We just noticed that it was Angela and Sloane (who) were on shift. I was trying to think back in our history, 'Have we ever had two female firefighters on shift at the same time?' We hadn't."
So they went ahead and posted a picture on the Grand Haven Township Fire & Rescue Facebook page to document that moment in history for the department. Now with 1,500+ likes and 400+ shares, it's safe to say that post blew up.
According to a Zippia report published in April 2022, there are more than 142,000 firefighters in America. Of that group, 88.2% are male and just 11.8% are female.
Headley said, "I think it's great for ladies and girls to see us in this field because they know that they can join us. That's part of your statistics that you were talking about earlier — just seeing each other in this role shows that we can encourage more people."