NY Woman to Become Fire Fighter Without Passing Physical Exam

[theNater]

how do you know they just didn't have a higher rate of people who were able to pass the exams this year than last year?

I don't know for sure, but it's a jump that took place immediately after a relaxation of requirements. It'd be strange for the relaxed requirements to have almost no effect.

That said, if anybody knows where I can get more information, I'd love to look at it. Scores from this year would be best, though they seem unlikely to available. Graduation rates from previous classes would allow for an approximation of how unlikely an increase in the rate by 5 percentage points is, and might be easier to find. I wasn't able to, but maybe you folks have better google-fu.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

What is the woman's reaction to all this? Is she going to call out the Mayor for pushing this through? If she's fine with it, her career in the fire department will be a short one.

 

[NeutralDrow]

Let's see...New York Post, Washington Times, Daily Mail, Hot Air...

Think I'll wait to see if this gets any worthwhile attention before speculating.

 

[cleric of the order]

This stupid.
The kind of fascist double think stupid that makes me cringe.

http://www.quickmeme.com/img/07
Not that I agree with this, but frankly I don't think I can handle the headache that comes with dealing with both this and the Twitter mess at the same time. I agree that this is wrong, but I can only take so much bile being thrown at feminists in a day. And I just know that that is what is going to happen here.

There is a good reason it is being levied at the larger body of them, this can get at least one person killed, her.
Lacking the ability to preform is bad enough, will generally make life miserable and end up making your coworkers despise you but this is in a place people can die from.
Killing people, through negligence and incompetence for the sake of ideology is beyond selfish.
This isn't equality, it's double think.
and shit like this makes me rather annoyed that I was once close to that movement.

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

I live in Westchester County, the northern suburbs of Manhattan.

As we speak, there's a fire that has ravaged 2000 acres of land in Ulster County [http://7online.com/news/evacuees-return-home-in-forest-fire-in-ulster-county/696406/], an hour north of me. Some of these firefighters have been fighting the blaze nonstop since Sunday.

I feel no need to be sarcastic. This is a great disservice to people that will depend on her if she truly can't even go up several flights of stairs without getting winded. IF they can get her up to snuff, I'm all for it. But I'm afraid that with them waving the protocol, there won't even be a desire to try to get her to that level after she 'graduates'.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Why only her though? Were there no other women who needed a little help from Mommy to get into the Fire Department?

If she was the only one who couldnt make it then damn she will have a rough time.

Any firefighters here? How do you feel about this?

 

[Nazulu]

This is obviously dumb for reasons that shouldn't have to be explained. Hopefully a backlash will fix it.

 

[Bat Vader]

This sounds like a plot to a bad Lifetime movie. If I was in charge of the fire house where she was assigned I would have her train and unofficially re-take the fitness test until she is able to pass.

I can sort of sympathize with her though. I have both Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis. Ever since I was young I wanted to join the military and it wasn't until I was talking to a recruiter about 13 years ago or so that I learned that I would never be accepted. I admit I was pretty angry and sad because of it. I thought about it and realized my disabilities would just end up putting other soldiers in danger. I can't run or even walk as fast as many people and each day the pain ranges from moderate to extreme. Basically life sucks and it isn't fair.

 

[SecondPrize]

The exam is not there to keep certain groups out. The exam is there to see if you can carry people out of buildings while wearing your full kit and there's fire and shit everywhere. Call me crazy, but that seems as if it were kind of an important attribute to have in a fireperson.

 

[tilmoph]

Why only her though? Were there no other women who needed a little help from Mommy to get into the Fire Department?

Funny you should ask; turns out there are a few other women in her graduating class, all of whom passed all the tests. Yes, even the physical one. So to answer the question, nope, there were no other women who needed help from Uncle Bill to get into the fire department. They could do it all on their own.

 

[jklinders]

Yeah, I refuse to get behind this. Some crazed wannabe firefighter tried to sue the capital city of a neighboring province about 18 years back on the same grounds. She made the claim that the test was sexist because it was too hard for women to pass. This was despite the fact that there were several women serving in the department already. I'll bet that notion was popular with them.

Affirmative action stops being a positive thing the moment unqualified people start getting hired for quota meeting reasons. Anyone who thinks otherwise is delusional.

 

[Buffoon1980]

ITT: A few dozen people allow one incident to confirm their bias. It reminds me of that thing, what's it called? Oh yeah, confirmation bias.

 

[iller3]

I really have to wonder what this feels like ... to the other women who DID take and pass the physical Test? I'd love to see their honest opinions on it

 

[jklinders]

I really have to wonder what this feels like ... to the other women who DID take and pass the physical Test? I'd love to see their honest opinions on it

So far only an anonymous source has commented at all. They said nearly all firefighters of both genders were pissed. I doubt any f them will officially come forward. It looks a little like they were muzzled. the gear one wears into a fire is around 50 lbs. that's nearly half the weight of the average woman who is in top condition. You can't lighten it too much because both the jacket and breathing apparatus are not optional. The jacket alone is around 35 lbs.

I have great respect for anyone man or woman who can qualify to put that uniform on. this woman is not one of those people.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

Ever watch Spartacus? She is pretty much Ashur. Poor woman will never be respected by her peers.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

Ever watch Spartacus? She is pretty much Ashur. Poor woman will never be respected by her peers.

Ashur was a terrible little shit and an awful person though. In regards to this woman. Respect is earned and she did not earn her. She should of done the right thing and refuse to graduate until she could finish the tests.

He got a lot worse from bitterness with how the gladiators treated him as they didnt think him worthy.

 

[Metailurus]

If I were a firefighter, I would hate to have someone on my team who I knew was incapable of performing their role. She is clearly a liability and it is unfair on others to have to carry her role during life threatening emergencies given that she is clearly unfit to carry those in danger.