First-ever all women’s crew makes history at Florida fire department

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (NBC) – Five female firefighters at Palm Beach Gardens Fire Rescue are making history. A couple of days ago, the first-ever all women’s crew was called to serve as a team for the first time in the department’s history.

“We’re breaking barriers,” said Krystyna Heiser Krakowski, Rescue Lieutenant at Palm Beach Gardens Fire Rescue. “It’s the first time we had in our department a female as a captain, a driver, a firefighter, rescue lieutenant, and a medic,” she added.

She admits that in a male dominated field the road wasn’t easy.

“Fire school was definitely really hard, I’m always the smallest one smallest height smallest weight it’s hard to keep up with the boys, I trained as hard as I could,” Krakowski said.

All jokes aside, the men there say it was a momentous occasion for them, too.

“That day the stars aligned and it happened to be the day that Justice Ruth Ginsburg passed away as well so it made the event even more special,” said James Ippolito, deputy fire chief of operations, Palm Beach Gardens Fire Rescue.

Krakowski says her message to the next generation of female firefighters is to keep breaking those glass ceilings.

“We can do anything, we are capable of anything, don’t let anyone stop you,” she added.

Chief Ippolito says Palm Beach Gardens Fire Rescue currently has 12 female employees with room for plenty more