Knoxville Journal
Knoxville, Tennessee, July 18, 1973

 

NAPA, Calif., (AP) -- The hands that rock the cradle can also put out fires. Northern California has its first all-female fire-fighting crew, nine housewives who help patrol a hilly 50-square mile area west of here. They augment male volunteers who are tied up during the week at their regular jobs. "This isn't women's lib," said one of them, Joyce Bowen. "This is just common sense and being reasonable." Napa County fire coordinator Norman Silver speaks highly of his distaff crew. In one drill, he said, the women put out eight fires in a demonstration building. He added: "Then it was the men's turn. The fire got away from them and the place burned to the ground."

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