Morris, Only Female Firefighter in Carrboro
By Elsa Hasenzahl
Staff Writer
Brian Sykes, Larry Mann, and Stephanie Morris.
Commons Photo by Elsa Hasenzahl
Even though women have made strides in the fight for gender equality, there are still professions that currently lack female representation. One of these is firefighting.
Stephanie Morris, 27, is the only female firefighter at the Carrboro Fire-Rescue Department and has been there for almost seven years.
Morris said that her dad was in law enforcement while she was growing up in Durham, so she has seen the gender changes in the field. In the 1970s the situation for females was much worse, with women having to deal with things like sexual comments.
Nowadays, Morris said that the situation has improved, but females still have to prove themselves more than males.
“You don’t want to come across like you’re here to be with the guys, but that you’re here to actually be here,” Morris said on working in a male-dominated profession. “It’s about how you prove yourself from the get-go.”
Larry Mann, a fire driver at the Carrboro department, said that it is not any different working with a female firefighter.
“We treat her like any other one,” Mann said.
The Carrboro department runs on 24 hour shifts with three rotating shift groups. Morris is on Shift B. She enjoys working with her fellow Shift B colleagues. With all the hours her shift spends together at the station, they have become close friends. She especially finds these friendships important when they run into gruesome scenes, since they are able to empathize with each other when enduring these difficult things.
Morris’ husband Brian, 39, is also a firefighter in Durham, so their three kids have a double dose of firefighting parents. She jokes that her kids, ages 1, 4 and 5, think everyone must have a firefighter in their family.
As a female firefighter, Morris is an important role model for her two daughters.
“They are in the generation where women can do anything,” Morris said. For now, Daughter Madison, 4, still wants to be a princess when she grows up though, mostly because they are pretty.
“In a perfect world, I’d stay home, but if I have to work this is a great place to be, and you’re working ten days a month, and that’s hard to beat,” Morris said on being a working mother with small children.
Being a firefighter has its pros and cons for females, however, according to Morris. There is a lot of heavy lifting involved, which requires one to stay in shape. Morris said that Carrboro provides the firefighters with free gym memberships to help with this.
Also, lots of equipment and uniforms are designed for a male build, and only recently have these things been made for women.
She also said that being a female has advantages over some of the larger males: for instance, she has an easier time fitting into small spaces, which can be crucial.
Morris said it is important to be able to adapt and know the limits and strong points of the people you’re working with.
“This shift is really good about camaraderie. It’s nice having that group right there, and it really is like a family,” Morris said. She laughed and continued, “Real World has nothing on a fire house.”
