Women make inroads in Pakistan as they become firefighters and barriers slowly fall

KARACHI Pakistan AP Thick black smoke clawed at the sky last week over the industrial zone in Pakistan s largest city as firefighter Syeda Masooma Zaidi raced toward the raging blaze in Karachi The storage facility was packed with truck and car tires and the flames leapt hungrily black plumes twisting skyward Heat shimmered off the asphalt turning the air heavy and acrid stinging her eyes and lungs Zaidi did not hesitate amid the deafening roar hose in hand her helmet strapped tight The -year-old and the rest of her firefighting association all men aimed the jets of water at the molten rubber which hissed and steamed under the torrent The gang worked methodically every movement precise every second critical Hours later the blaze was under control Nearby factories were spared no lives were lost though the damage ran into tens of thousands of dollars millions of Pakistani rupees When the firefighters emerged from the smoke their faces streaked with soot dozens of onlookers cheered behind safety lines Zaidi is a rare sight in a country where women firefighters were mostly unheard-of until Her career like those of other women in Pakistan s crisis services underscores the gradual inroads being made in the staunchly patriarchal and traditional Islamic nation Selected were inspired when Shazia Perveen became Pakistan s very first woman firefighter in in eastern Punjab province where she is now a trainer In Sindh province where Karachi is the capital women started joining firefighting services in after getting their training in Punjab And though they still make up less than of Pakistan s firefighters personnel say more women are likely to join firefighting units in the coming years in the country of million Majority Pakistani women who go into professional fields choose careers as doctors engineers or teachers Zaidi declared She demanded to show that we can do this too Her chief fire officer Humayun Khan has praised Zaidi and her female colleagues Dr Abid Jalaluddin Shaikh chief of the Sindh Urgency Operation announced Zaidi is one of women firefighters in the province Another are in training as rescue divers ambulance medics and emergency responders The focus is no longer on latest taboos he commented Now we see real results Zaidi graduated from the Punjab Rescue Organization Academy where she mastered high-angle rescues that use ladders ropes and trolleys and typically involve casualties trapped in skyscrapers industrial towers or other high elevations as well as various types of fire and water emergencies Still she says she feels several doubt her ability on the job When we arrive people say She s a girl how can she rescue anyone she revealed Every time we save a life we prove that women can also do this job Zaidi s fellow firefighter Areeba Taj also recalled missions in Karachi where she and her female colleagues helped save lives amid chaos and smoke Their supervisor Ayesha Farooq highlighted the unique strengths women bring especially when casualties include women and children By joining rescue services they earn respect for themselves and for the country Farooq noted Zaidi who grew up with seven brothers and one sister says her motivation was simple courage duty and faith People still doubt us she reported But every time we go out there we keep proving them wrong As the skyline above the Karachi industrial zone cleared last week Zaidi returned with her gang to the fire station ready for the next alarm Every day on the job Zaidi Taj and their other female colleagues prove that gender is no barrier to bravery Ahmed stated from Islamabad Associated Press writers Abdul Sattar in Quetta Babar Dogar in Lahore and Riaz Khan in Peshawar Pakistan contributed to this assessment Source