https://www.google.com/search?q=women+in+firefighter&espv=2&biw=1236&bih=606&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwih08HXmc7JAhXISBQKHSvuAToQ_AUIBigB#imgrc=w5c0S2apsm0iGM%3A

All over the nation, fire departments are easing physical standards, in response to litigation to increase the number of women firefighters. It’s roiling fire departments, and the turmoil is a preview of what’s to come for the US military, which has committed to opening all combat roles to women by 2016. Wax tried six times to pass New York’s Functional Skills Test within the 17-minute, 50-second deadline. Five times she couldn’t finish at all; on the sixth try, she needed 22 minutes. Women’s groups claim the test is needlessly difficult and unfairly bars women. Trainees wearing 50 pounds of gear and breathing through an air tank must climb six stories, raise ladders, break down doors and drag a dummy through a dark tunnel, all at breakneck speed. Sounds like firefighting. As a result, there are more women firefighters.