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At the time they thought it was a rather innocuous photo. With 24-hour shifts, it’s something they do all the time to have a little fun during their downtime at the Southwest D.C. firehouse around L’Enfant Plaza. But then it went viral, and they think it’s a good thing.
The picture showed five firefighters — all Black women — standing in front of their truck last week. The photo blew up, getting hundreds of comments and thousands of likes.
“My mom’s reaction was, ‘Oh, that’s nice,’” technician firefighter Krystal Stover said. “My family — some of my ignorant cousins, ‘When a calendar coming out?’” she said to some laughs.
But all joking aside, if a picture is worth a thousand words, they said they believe this one spoke volumes for little girls.
“No one really expects when it’s your time to go viral. I’m grateful for it,” Stover, a 17-year veteran with the department, said.
She also works as a recruiter with D.C. Fire and EMS.
“There’s little girls out there that’s watching that never thought, ‘Hey, I wanted to be a firefighter before, but shoot, they’re having fun while they’re becoming a firefighter,’” Stover said.
Working out of L’Enfant Plaza on 4th Street Southwest, they run calls down to the Wharf, but also at the White House. Crews from this house are on standby whenever Marine One takes off or lands. That means a lot of important people might have to rely on them at a moment’s notice.
“It shows young girls that they can come on this job and do this job,” Monique Collier said. “We do have fun, but we work and we are held to the same standard as the men. We have to pull the same weight, we have to pass the same type of courses and the same type of physical tests that they have to take.”
Truck Co. 10 at our L’Enfant firehouse staffed today by an all female crew of #DCsBravest pic.twitter.com/SmZjbugnb5
— DC Fire and EMS Department (@dcfireems) July 10, 2025
Joining them that day, but not part of the crew on a regular basis, was Sgt. Whitney Ward, who was there for some training work. The 19-year veteran of the department said she’s had a lot of people tell her it was work she couldn’t do.
“These are roles that you can take and you can become officer, a technician, a fire investigator, fire inspector. You can do the job just as well,” Ward said. “Don’t limit yourself whatsoever.”
They’ve also heard from other women firefighters around the country. All these ladies knew that D.C. Fire and EMS is 13% women, and they also know that’s still nearly triple the national average.
So they were also getting peppered with questions about gear that’s been fitted for women, as well as policies — including how the department handles pregnancy and new mothers.
Stover and Ward were mothers when they joined. Chanel Olden wasn’t, but is today. They all praised the city for how it’s accommodated them.
“The department does not make you pick between your job and your family,” Olden said.
But don’t make the mistake of thinking they aren’t dedicated.
“We are a bunch of pretty faces in the picture, but we still do the work here, day in and day out,” Olden said. “Anytime we’re on shift, whether it’s our shift or overtime.”
The crew made clear that if other girls around the city are curious, they’re happy to talk more about being a firefighter with them. They also said they wanted to get the word out about their upcoming Camp Sparks, which is a weekend camp held at the city’s fire training facility in Southwest that’s targeted at girls between 12 and 17, as well as the cadet program for those who are between 18 and 21 and have either graduated high school or have a GED.
“Women are taking over right now within the fire service, and I would love for more of us to join,” Ward said.
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