PLAINFIELD, Ind. — The fire department in Plainfield made history Sunday.
For the first time in the department's 100-year history, an all-female crew staffed a 24-hour duty shift at one of Plainfield Fire Territory's stations Sunday.
Fire departments are known to create bonds like no other, but this crew created something more.
"We sleep here. We eat here. We cry together and we laugh together. We play pranks on each other. The bond is much like sisters," said Capt. Kathy Pennington.
And for the first time, these "sisters" have the whole house to themselves. PFT staffed four female paramedics and one female EMT on Engine 123 and the ambulance on the shift that started Sunday morning.
They said it's an exciting time, not only because they have enough women to accomplish this, but because of the women qualified for these positions.
"When I got on here, I didn't think we'd be able to do something like this, and now we are doing it," said firefighter paramedic Carole Klinger.
After 27 years, Klinger will be retiring after her shift on Wednesday. She says it's been a long road to get to this moment.
"We still have people who, when they see us, they say 'Oh, you're on the ambulance?' We say, 'No, that engine right there is our engine.' People are still surprised about that," Klinger said.
It's an idea even Klinger didn't consider when she began thinking about becoming a first responder.
"I didn't know that being a firefighter was an option," she said. "That wasn't on my radar."
The women are hoping to put expanded options on younger girls' radars through this historic moment. When they go on a run, they're not only suiting up to protect their community, but to show other people – especially young women – what a firefighter can look like.
"Us being able to stand here and be able to all be in the same building together and fill in the different roles that make a fire department is huge. It says a lot about our town, our department and who we are as women," Pennington said.