The Oklahoman
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Barbara Ward never set out to be the first of anything when she came to work for the Oklahoma City Fire Department.
She simply wanted a decent job with insurance that would help her provide for her young son, more so than the temporary jobs she had been working, after her husband died of a heart attack.
It was just timing that made her among the city’s first female firefighters.
“I’ve had so many blessings in this job,” said Ward, who retired this week after 27 years of service.
Ward spent the first 17-and-a-half years of her career with the fire department working in fire suppression and the last 10 years working as a quality assurance officer in EMS operations.
‘A men’s profession’
When she joined the fire service in 1987, only a few female firefighters had been hired before her in Oklahoma City. The city’s first female firefighter, Karen Kirkham, was hired in 1984. Two more female firefighters were hired in 1986.
Ward was one of three females in her recruit academy.
“I was infiltrating a men’s profession,” she said. “I wanted to do the very best I could and earn my place.”
She said she was fortunate to have wonderful teachers and mentors. A few people didn’t think she belonged in the fire service when she started out because she was a woman, Ward said. She said she just tried to do her best and prove to them that she did have a place there.
As one of the city’s first female firefighters, there were a few tricky situations to navigate early on in her career. For one, there weren’t any female locker rooms and bathrooms when she started. Ward said she would count all the heads and then knock on the door before entering the locker room.
After a while, someone came up with the idea to put a sign on the door to indicate if the area was occupied by men or women. Newer fire stations have been built with facilities for women, Ward said.
Ward remarried in 1993. To her knowledge, she was the first woman to get pregnant while working for the fire department in suppression.
Ward requested to be put on light duty after she became pregnant with her second son, and she worked in code enforcement during her pregnancy up until the day she gave birth in 1993.
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