TampaBay.com
TAMPA — Nearly 40 years after the first female firefighter began working at Tampa Fire Rescue, a majority of the city’s fire stations still lack designated women’s bathrooms and private changing areas.
Many male firefighters wear boxers when they sleep in the open dorms at firehouses. But some female firefighters who sleep in T-shirts and underwear have become targets for vulgar and sexist insults. And in some firehouses, verbal abuse and harassment reaches levels that one male firefighter described as “a living hell.”
Fire stations across the nation have had to adjust their policies as more women enter the male-dominated field. But some say Tampa Fire Rescue, which employs nearly double the national average of women, has been slow to adapt.
Full story: Women face multiple hurdles within Tampa Fire Rescue