Climbing the ladder - the drive to recruit more women firefighters

Women still make up fewer than one in 10 full-time firefighters in Northern Ireland, and the service is working to change that through women-only open days.

Come-and-try days aim to encourage more women to consider a front-line career as firefighters by offering a hands-on introduction to the role and giving them the opportunity to speak directly to female firefighters about their own experiences in the job.

Over the past five years, the proportion of women in front-line positions has risen from 4.97% to 9.56%, and open days catered towards women could be behind the steady rise.

A series of events are being held across several fire stations in June.

The women-only events are being held at fire stations in Belfast, Londonderry, Omagh, Antrim and Armagh.

The days specifically for women form part of the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS) Positive Action Campaign, outlined in its Equality Action Plan, which aims to create a workforce that better reflects the communities it serves.

Ciara McGurk said she knew she wanted to be a firefighter ever since she visited a fire station on a primary school trip.

"I just remember going to the fire station in Primary 2 and being amazed by all the firefighters," McGurk said.

"I actually came home and remember telling my mammy and daddy, 'I want to be a fireman when I grow up,' and they sort of laughed because, back then, they were just known as firemen. But that stuck with me."

McGurk, from Derry, said she knows first-hand how important come-and-try days are because attending one helped her realise her dream of becoming a firefighter.

"I went to a come-and-try day in Armagh three years ago. I applied in 2024 and got in in 2025.

"They are a great way to find out more and see whether it's a career you could pursue."

McGurk said some people might still think firefighting is "a job just for men", but that could not be further from the truth.

"The number of women joining is great to see, and it's not surprising because it truly is the best job in the world."

Gillian Thompson and her daughter Grace, 17, attended the come-and-try day at Derry's Crescent Link fire station.

"We wanted to come down, have a look around the fire station and see what being part of the fire service involves," Gillian said.

"Grace is interested in becoming a firefighter, as is my daughter Hannah, and it's a great way to come and give things a go.

"We got to put on the equipment, climb the ladders and pull a rescue dummy around, which was a lot heavier than it looks."

Grace said because she is under 18 her mum came with her, but they both thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

"I loved speaking with the firefighters and finding out what they do in their daily jobs," she said.

"I liked the physical aspect of the job, especially climbing the ladder, but it's still a bit too early to tell whether it would be the right career for me."

Lisa Osuere, 54, wanted to be a firefighter ever since she was a child and has worked with the NIFRS for 18 years.

"When I started working, it was mostly men," she said.

"In my career, you come across a lot of difficult situations, and I remember a few times coming across females in distress. Because I was a woman, they felt more reassured, and I was able to calm them down and deal with the incident at hand."

Michaela McGuigan, from County Tyrone, joined in 2020. She was an on-call firefighter for six years before moving into a full-time role and has not looked back.

"I think because it is still, in a way, a male-dominated job, it can make some women a bit apprehensive about joining," she said.

"But definitely speak to some of the women in the job and these come-and-try days are a great way to speak to us first hand."

In other parts of the UK, the picture is similar in terms of an under representation in full-time female firefighters, but fire services in Scotland, England and Wales, like Northern Ireland, have initiated programmes to help bolster female representation.

• ENGLAND

Women make up 9.7% of full-time firefighters in England (3,310), up from 4.7% a decade ago. In the London Fire Brigade, women account for 10.63% of operational staff and 19.49% of the workforce overall.

• SCOTLAND

As of January 2026, women made up about 6% of Scotland's full-time operational firefighters (220 of 3,430). Across the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service workforce as a whole, women account for 14.6%.

• WALES

Full-time firefighting also remains male-dominated in Wales. Women make up 11.3% of whole-time firefighters and 8.1% of on-call firefighters in mid and west Wales, while in north Wales they account for 13% of operational firefighter roles.

Shantell Temple said a female family friend was a firefighter and that she had always considered it.

"I saw they were doing the come-and-try days and immediately signed up.

"Hearing about the role from firefighters themselves is the best part of a day like this. You can tell from speaking to them that they really enjoy their work.

"Anyone who spoke with them would want to apply afterwards. Every single one of them clearly loves it."

For Shannon Dunne, a former Derry City player, the attraction was the chance to see what a day in the life of a firefighter was really like.

"It's always been something I've been interested in, and the whole day has been really interesting.

"Coming from a sporting background, any job that requires physical fitness was always going to appeal to me and, you never know, I could be a good fit one day."