All-Female Company Makes History At Manchester Fire Department

MANCHESTER, CT — A milestone was reached Sunday at Manchester Fire Rescue EMS with the first all-female crew to staff a company in the department's 125-plus-year history.

The origin of the department dates back to 1897, and, on Sunday, Engine 5 Medic 5 was staffed by Lt. Moria Perez, Firefighter-Paramedic Lauren Mazzoni and Firefighter-Paramedic Tia Cortese.

Manchester Fire Rescue EMS Chief Daniel French said the shift wasn't planned. It was, rather the by-product of a variety of scheduling factors.

"With a small department, you'll always have different people on different shifts," French said. "But on Sunday, we had a hallmark moment. It's exciting and they made up a great shift."

Perez who was on an overtime shift, said she was ecstatic to see the crew draw a few days earlier. She said she quickly realized what was transpiring.

"I think it's really cool," she said. "I've been here 27 years and haven't had it happen. We're now trying to research whether it's even happened in the state."

She said the entire shift was supportive.

"I Love Manchester. It's always been a very progressive department. Everyone made sure we had that picture taken to celebrate the moment. It was history. Nothing but good can come out of this. It shows you the number of quality young women we have and maybe we can use it to get more outstanding women to become firefighters."

Battalion Chief Deb Burch was also the night shift commander that day to add to the moment.

It was a milestone for a department rich in history. The need for a fire department arose in the late 1800s and a loud proponent was F. Ernest Watkins, one of the partners of Watkins Brothers.

A fire, which destroyed the Weldon business block in 1897, spurred action and a petition signed by 12 men was delivered to the Board of Selectmen asking its members to call a meeting to form a fire district. On April 21, 1897 and a fire district was organized by a citizens vote of 56 to 46.

Boundaries of the district were set roughly through the center of Middle Turnpike, south through Parker and Autumn streets, west along Charter Oak Street and Hartford Road and north through Cooper Street and in a line with Bigelow Brook. In response to a petition submitted to the Selectmen less than a week later, the southern boundary was extended to include Spring and Hackmatack Streets, history tells us.

Management of the district's business and property was assigned to the officers acting as a committee: President Frank Cheney Jr., Clerk F.E. Watkins, Treasurer Justus W. Hale and Assessor and Collector R.M. Rood.

The residents who met and voted to extend the original boundaries also voted a tax of 1.5 mills and authorized the borrowing of $3,000 to purchase apparatus. The tax levied by Rood was 15 cents for each male in the district between the ages of 18 and 60 and a personal property tax that included about 5 cents for a bicycle.