On May 6, 1978, Barbara "Bonnie" Beers graduates as the first fulltime professional woman firefighter in the 89-year history of the Seattle Fire Department. Beers, who first applied for a firefighter job three years earlier, is one of 23 recruits to pass examinations, physical tests, and months of probationary work. Beers became interested after seeing efforts to draw women into male-dominated professions, and Mayor Charles Royer (b. 1939) says her graduation opens a very important door in the city of Seattle. Fire Chief Frank Hanson says Beers and the other recruits have job security at its best and predicts they could be with the department for 30 years. Beers will be: When hundreds of friends and supporters gather three decades later for her retirement celebration at the Westin Seattle Hotel, Beers will be honored with a city council proclamation and credited as a trailblazer who led the way for the 92 women then with the department, including 21 in management positions.
"I'm Strong Minded and I Do What I Want"
Before the 1970s, women who worked for the fire department primarily did clerical work. The first was Marcella Delfel Hook, who was hired in 1942 as a stenographer and clerk in Chief William Fitzgerald's office. But in the early 1970s, an effort to bring women in as firefighters had support from city council member Jeanette Williams (1914-2008), head of the Human Resources and Judiciary Committee, and Mayor Wes Uhlman (b. 1935), who in 1974 discussed hiring women firefighters with Fire Chief Jack Richards.
To become a firefighter in 1975, applicants had to pass a written exam, an oral interview, a physical-abilities test, and a medical-standards test for law-enforcement officers and firefighters. Following that, applicants participated in a 10-and-a-half-week recruit school followed by a six-month probationary employment period.
That year there were 125 women and an estimated 1,500 men who applied for Seattle firefighter jobs, including Beers, who learned of the job from a city postcard that encouraged women and minorities to apply. On June 18, Beers passed five physical tests, including hose-carrying and descending a 100-foot ladder, and she advanced to the recruit program the following March.
Beers's parents, Edward and Mary Beers, didn't want her to be a firefighter -- or play sports -- "but I'm strong-minded and I do what I want" (Lacitis). Beers played basketball at Western Washington University and on the University of Washington's first intercollegiate team. She graduated with a degree in psychology, but was uncertain about her future -- until she received the firefighter recruiting postcard.
One of Six Women Recruits
Beers started as a recruit in 1976 -- the first year that Seattle had women among the fire department trainees. But earlier that year, 16 men who were in the top 25 percent of their class but not selected filed an injunction to keep the women out of training, saying they were picked because of selective certification. However, a King County court ruling sided with the city, and on March 17 Beers and five other women started the recruit program alongside 24 men.
One, Deborah J. Hanson, left the following day and a second, Beverly Raine, left on March 23. The third, June Frabblele, resigned two days later. Beers left on March 31. In interviews with the Post-Intelligencer that year, those four said physical demands were the main difficulty, but Beers and two others wanted to try again. The two women recruits who remained that year were Lori Lakshas, a 22-year-old graduate of Nathan Hale High School who was a swimming captain for the University of Washington, and LaDonn Usitalo, a 21-year-old Edmonds Community College student who also was part of the volunteer auxiliary with Snohomish County Fire District 1. Usitalo resigned April 27 in the seventh week of the program.
Lakshas, who sprained her wrist during a training accident in early May, was dismissed on May 20 and filed a sex-discrimination complaint with Seattle's Office of Women's Rights, saying the women were more harshly evaluated and that the department "had no interest in seeing the women succeed" and that "The department succeeded in convincing the other women that they would never make fire fighters and that they should resign, but I refused. I have the strength and the intelligence and I also feel that most of the other women were doing as well as the men trainees" (Tewkesbury, "Fire Trainee ..."). Fire department officials said Lakshas was given the option to resign or be dismissed because of "her inability to retain the knowledge and techniques necessary to perform basic ladder and hose evaluations" and "was physically incapable of performing some of the firefighter tasks" (Tewkesbury, "Fire Trainee ...").
An Office of Women's Rights investigation found the testing was discriminatory and in 1984, after the Department of Human Rights found Lakshas' sex discrimination charge to be true, she was awarded $40,000 from the city for back pay, legal fees, and interest, according to the city archives.
"They Kid Me about Making History"
In January 1977, Beers and two other women who had resigned from the 1976 recruit training entered the the department's "first female firefighter pre-recruit class" ("Strength & Stamina"). The other two women resigned within a few months but Beers continued, at first on her own and then in a class with minority male recruits. Beers became the first woman to graduate from the recruit training school on December 9, 1977. Having done so, she said few women could come off the street and be firefighters -- they would have to be mechanically inclined and in good physical condition particularly in the arms and grip.
"I was way ahead in knowledge when the current recruit class started last Sept. 26. The men gave me no trouble when they saw I could do it. Now of course, we're all even in knowledge. The men think all the attention I'm getting is funny. They kid me about making history" (Tewkesbury, "She's in ...").
Beers began in December 1977 as a probationary firefighter working the A shift at Ballard's Station 18, at 15th Avenue NW and NW Market Street. She was sent to that station, completed five years earlier, because it had two bathrooms. In her handwritten notes for the retirement speech she gave decades later, Beers recalled:
"The crew of E18 did not want me and treated me as an inferior being. I knew the equipment better and was physically in much better shape than my crewmates. One of the crew members acted like an animal in the zoo -- when a woman walked by on Market Street he would rattle the levelers on the windows. Inappropriate comments and general hazing were all part of my day. Ladder 8 (the other truck company in the station) was good to me. The surrounding engine companies were also nice to me, E9, E35. I think they felt sorry for me because they knew E18 had some jerks on the crew" (Beers, notes).
One firefighter transferred because he didn't want to work with Beers.
"And I get along with him fine. He says he is transferring just because I am a woman. I didn't say this to him, but I wanted to: 'There are going to be more women than me that are going to be here and if you're going to transfer every time you have to work with one, you're nuts'" (Swanson).
Some coworkers claimed her nail polish wasn't allowed. She pointed out it was. Beers also told the Post-Intelligencer about colleagues swearing excessively and watching pornography around her. "They are always saying that I better stay in shape. I run a mile or two miles every day and lift weights. They sit and watch television, get fat and eat a ton" (Swanson).
Beers faced extra attention outside the firehouse, too. The night of Christmas Eve 1977, she responded to a house fire at 6746 Alonzo Way NW. A 56-year-old woman, Ella Streitmatter, had gone back inside, possibly to save her dog, and Beers found her body under the charred Christmas tree. Co-workers wondered if Beers would freak out. She didn't.
Beers told the Post-Intelligencer in 1978 that she didn't like being first, but could handle it. In her retirement speech, she said:
"I accepted that change was slow. I was held to a higher standard. I was drilled twice every shift. I was the only female voice on the radio. I was always watched" (Beers, notes).
"A New and Promising Direction"
Beers was the only woman among 23 successful recruits on graduation day, May 6, 1978. Among attending was Mayor Charles Royer, who said, "We've opened up a very important door ... in a new and promising direction" ("Seattle Gets ..."). For being one of the 23 who lasted through graduation (six others did not advance), Beers earned a $1,256 monthly salary. At the time of her swearing in, there were another 11 women in Seattle's pre-recruit program.
"I had to pay for it dearly. There were people who said, 'You're taking someone else's job,' and you have to show them you can do it. It made my life very hard. People hated me, but it's one of the prices you have to pay" (Fryer).
In his graduation-ceremony remarks, Fire Chief Frank Hanson said the 23 recruits had completed the "death march" on probation. But Hanson remained unconvinced about women firefighters. On August 9, 1978 -- three months after he was at Beers's graduation -- Hanson told the city council that women weren't physically strong enough to be firefighters. That came after a council committee wanted answers for why Beers was the only one of 17 women recruits who became a firefighter following a training program that cost taxpayers $192,000. Training standards had been reduced, and councilmember Tim Hill (b. 1936) questioned if the program was valuable without the success rate being improved.
After completing her six-month probation, Beers transferred to engine 25 at 13th Avenue E and E Pine Street, where she found a better environment despite continuing challenges:
"The assistant chief of operations made the comment 'we will fire her there.' He was wrong ... I fit in better here. The emphasis was on teamwork and getting the job done. I learned the basics of firefighting here. I was competitive and focused. I always stood up for myself because I knew that I represented all women. I would not give in. I fought a lot of battles and encouraged other women firefighters to do the same. For example, some officers would not let women firefighters drive ... even if they had more seniority. By going along, you said it was OK. I was verbal and assertive. The Office for Women's Rights [OWR] was a great advocate for women in non-traditional work. ... When I had no other choice, I called OWR and they would call the mayor's office, who then would call the fire chief, and so on. I did not abuse this assistance" (Beers, notes).
Difficulties across Decades
On October 7, 1981, Beers became Seattle's first fire lieutenant, though the union opposed the promotion and there were multiple complaints because Beers was not in the top 25 percent of those eligible for the promotion. Beers ranked 128th on the list of 137 and was selected for affirmative-action reasons, officials told the Post-Intelligencer. But Fire Chief Robert Swartout said the exam could not be the only criterion. The following year, Seattle had 27 women firefighters -- more than any other city in the nation.
Beers was promoted to captain in 1992 and became a battalion chief in 1996 -- a role that had her managing eight fire stations and roughly 50 firefighters.
But frustrations in the department lingered. In August 1994, a survey of women firefighters found many felt demeaned by having to share bathrooms and locker rooms. Of the department's 73 women firefighters, 49 took the survey and 24 women said they had been sexually harassed on the job, including 18 who said they were harassed by supervisors. Many responded that they were afraid to complain for fear of retaliation, and Beers said at the time the problem was rooted in the boys-club history of the department.
In 2001, Beers served as interim deputy chief. That year, Beers and three other women firefighters told KING 5 television they didn't want either of the two Seattle candidates for fire chief, Gregory Dean and A. D. Vickery, to be selected. They said they were fed up with the administration and that the department needed to get away from good-old-boy traditions. Beers explained, "The fact is they're not for women ... they're not ... After almost 25 years it's the same," adding that she felt Gary Morris, then the assistant fire chief in Phoenix, was the right choice because he valued diversity and "he's very open to new ideas and he has a way of going into the future that we don't find in the two leaders in Seattle" ("Women Firefighters ...").
Mayor Paul Schell (1937-2014) selected Morris on May 25, 2001, and Morris stayed in the job until his January 13, 2004, resignation. Dean, who was interim chief when Morris was selected, served as Fire Chief from 2004 through the end of 2014.
Trailblazer for Future Generations
In the months before Beers's retirement as a battalion chief in May 2008, at least eight coworkers nominated her for the department's lifetime achievement award. One wrote:
"As an officer, she had an open-door policy and was easy to talk to. She promoted teamwork and camaraderie by encouraging the crew to help and support each other, providing meals and hosting off-shift gatherings. She always demonstrated true loyalty to her crew, keeping their welfare and safety in the forefront. ... At the times when she held an administration job, she did so with the goal of making it run smoother and more efficiently. She dealt with issues head-on rather than passing them off" (Solberg).
By the time Beers retired, the number of women in the Seattle fire department had increased to 92 of 1,035 personnel, including 21 in management positions. Of the city's 697 sworn firefighters, 71 were women.
But Beers said she had thought she'd retire as a deputy or assistant chief, and noted during her retirement speech at the Westin Hotel that administrators alienated her and some other battalion chiefs.
"Sadly, I do not see the Seattle Fire Department progressing as it should be. The current leaders are stuck in the past. The department is filled with capable and knowledgeable firefighters and officers. As leaders, you must listen and change and value firefighters."
"I am very proud to have been a member of the Seattle Fire Department. It has brought me great rewards and some sorrow. It is time to pass the baton to the courageous men and women who follow me" (Beers, notes).
At Beers's May 18, 2008, retirement party, councilmember Sally Clark presented a proclamation that was read to the full council the following Monday. It praised Beers for being a trailblazer with "tireless efforts and steadfast disposition in doing what she believed in" (Rosenthal email).
"A lot of people speak their minds and that's not a bad thing," Chief Gregory Dean said after Beers's speech. "I hope all my chief officers believe they could do any task they're given. I love her confidence" (McNerthney, "A Career ...").
A year later in May 2009, Sue Rosenthal became Seattle's first woman assistant chief. Rosenthal was one of eight women who joined the department in 1980, completing the Non-Traditional Training Program and joining Ladder 7 that September. At the time of Rosenthal's promotion, Beers said Rosenthal was smart and diplomatic and would do a good job with the administration. Referring to Beers and the other women who served with her, Rosenthal said:
"All the women in the fire department have always been the strongest supporters and the people who I turn to first to seek advice and counsel. Those people who supported me are as responsible for my success as anybody. I couldn't have done this alone" (McNerthney, "Seattle Fire Names ...").
