Women To Join FDNY
NEWS
After a four-year bout in court, 52 women have passed a court-ordered physical agility test in their attempt to become New York’s first female fire fighters. These women had previously passed the written exam given in 1978 by the department, but failed the physical agility exam at that time.
The new test bears little resemblance to the physical exam which the court ordered revised. In the original test, candidates wore no particular gear and were able to retake those parts on which they scored zero.
Original test
The following exercises, given in no special order, were scored separately:
- Dummy carry: Lift a 120-pound dummy to shoulders and carry it up and down a flight of stairs without dropping it, and lay it on a mat;
- Hand grip: Squeeze a dynamometer with arm extended and palm facing away from body;
- Freestyle broad jump;
- Flexed arm hang: Hang from bar with chin at bar level, using overhand grip;
- Agility test: Run an obstacle course that included scaling an 8-foot wall, crawling through a window, climbing a 30-foot horizontal ladder and sprinting 45 feet;
- Ledge walk: Walking on a 30-footlong ledge with breathing apparatus; and
- Mile run
Revised test
For the new physical agility test, candidates wear full turnout gear, and should perform the following exercises in order, in 4 minutes and 9 seconds:
- Hose stretch: Drag 50 feet of 3½-inch hose (80 pounds) 145 feet;
- Hose carry: Transfer a folded length of 2 1/2-inch hose (46 pounds) from a shoulder-height stand on wall to shoulder, and carry from building entrance to fifth floor;
- ½ minute rest period;
- Ladder raise: Lift a 20-foot ladder (58 pounds) to a vertical position;
- Ladder and stair climb: Qimb ladder to second story, enter window, pick up tool for forcible entry (16 pounds), and climb stairs to fifth floor, carrying tool;
- Forcible entry: Use an 8-pound sledgehammer on fifth floor, hitting a rolled up 3½-inch hose, (weight not exceeding
- 60 pounds), across a length of 12½-foot table; and
- Simulated rescue: Drag a 145-pound dummy along a marked path.
Discrimination suit
The battle to put women in the New York Fire Department began when Brenda Berkman, one of the women who failed the first physical agility exam, brought a discrimination suit on behalf of herself and the other 87 women who had failed the test. U.S. District Judge Charles P. Sifton found the competitive physical agility test discriminated against female candidates and ordered a more job-related test to be developed.
The women are scheduled to spend six weeks training before being assigned to city firehouses. Probationary fire fighters earn $22,000 a year, plus fringe benefits.
A hearing has been granted by Sifton to 17 men who brought suit to retake the physical agility exam, which they also failed in 1978. The Uniformed Firefighters Association, which represents New York City fire fighters, fought to keep the department from regiving or changing the tests.
Plans are under way to establish a maternity leave policy and to install locks on toilets.
