Santa Rosa public safety event showcases growing role of female first responders

With dogged determination, Deja Jones and Lewelyn Orlandi, both 18, used heavy hydraulic rescue tools, commonly known as jaws of life, to cut and pry the doors and roof off a green mini-SUV.

Standing behind a line of orange safety cones, parents and children — many of them grade-school girls — watched in amazement at the two firefighters-in-training simulated a severe traffic accident rescue.

Assisted by a number of veteran firefighters, Jones and Orlandi, both part of the Sonoma County Fire District’s youth Explorer program, drew applause from the crowd with every piece and chunk of the vehicle they cut away.

The extrication demonstration was among several key exercises during the third annual Women in Public Safety event, held Saturday at the public safety training tower on W. College Avenue, near the Finley Community Center.

The event, hosted by the Santa Rosa Fire Department, drew public safety agencies from all over the North Bay with the goal of inspiring women and girls to pursue careers as firefighters, paramedics, emergency medical technicians, emergency dispatchers and other public safety services.

Jones, a junior at Santa Rosa High School, said she’s been a fire district Explorer for two years and is only days away from becoming a volunteer firefighter. Orlandi said she plans to study fire service and kinesiology in the fall at Santa Rosa Junior College before pursuing her career as a firefighter.

While women have made great strides breaking into other public safety careers, as police officers, paramedics and EMTs, their participation in firefighting is still in the early stages.

Jones and Orlandi are the only female Explorers of the current 16 trainees. Of the Sonoma County Fire District’s 150 employees, only seven women are full-time and volunteer firefighters.

In contrast, the district has 44 female EMTs, said Karen Hancock, a district spokesperson.

Cori Rickert, a training captain and engine captain with the Santa Rosa Fire Department, said of the agency’s 140 employees only five women are “suppression” firefighters. Rickert is one of the five.

Rickert said female firefighters comprise roughly 7% of all firefighters in the United States, and Santa Rosa’s average is slightly below that average.

“We want to be able to show everybody that women are out here doing it, we want to try to recruit more women at the same time ... just show the populace that this is an accessible career,” RIckert said.

The event drew a number of Bay Area public safety agencies, including first responders from Alameda, Napa and Marin counties.

Sarah Bayersdorfer, 31, a newly anointed firefighter with the American Canyon Fire Protection District, participated in a ladder climbing demonstration that took her to near the top of the training tower.

Bayersdorfer said she is the American Canyon district’s first female firefighter. Originally from Short Hills, New Jersey, Bayersdorfer was a Division I hockey player while in college at Boston University.

Before turning to a career as a firefighter, she worked for several years in the restaurant business, managing restaurants and working as a chef, including at The French Laundry.

But firefighting is now her love and priority.

Bayersdorfer has simple advice for girls interested in public safety.

“Just stick with it if they love it,’ she said. ”Own it and take charge.“

Jones and Orlandi, the Sonoma County Fire District Explorers, have learned as much during their training. Jones has been in the program for two years and Orlandi for one year.

Because most men and women are physically built differently, Jones and Orlandi said they have to go about some of their duties differently, making the most of strategy and tactics.

“Women, we’re a little bit smaller ... than male firefighters, we have to think how can we use leverage and our different skills and tools to get through a door,” Jones said.

Both Orlandi and Jones are unfazed by the physical and mental challenges of becoming firefighters. Their odyssey in a realm dominated by men has given them a strong sense of accomplishment and pride.

“As women, we’re looked down upon,” said Jones.

“We’re undermined,” chimed in Orlandi.

“Yeah, we can’t just lay down and just take anything,” Jones said. “We have to come with the idea that this is our turf and we’re going to rule this turf.”

Orlandi said the event offers her and other young women the chance to showcase their talents and to establish a sense of camaraderie that inspires them to push forward in their careers.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @pressreno.