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The Conversation

Factual: Life Stories

Two women from different parts of the world share the stories of their lives

Two women from different parts of the world, united by a common passion, experience or expertise, share the stories of their lives.

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The Conversation: Firefighters

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Meenakshi  Vijayakumar and Dany Cotton

Firefighters

BBC World Service - The Conversation, Firefighters

Two women who lead teams of firefighters into burning buildings

Female firefighters from London and Chennai talk about handling dangerous incidents, crowds of people and blatant sexism, all in a day's work.

Fighting fires and stereotypes at the same time - Kim Chakanetsa speaks to two senior fire women in India and the UK. 

Dany Cotton joined the London Fire Brigade at 18, just a few years after it opened up to women.  She has worked her way up to be the force's first ever female Commissioner, and is now spearheading a campaign for the general public to stop using the term 'fireman' because it's sexist. Dany still regularly attends fires with her force, including at Grenfell Tower, where more than 70 people died in June 2017.  She says it's the worst incident she has ever experienced in 30 years of firefighting, and she has never felt such an overwhelming sense of responsibility.

Meenakshi Vijayakumar is the Deputy Director of North Western Region at the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Service. She was one of the first ever female divisional fire officers in India, joining in 2003.  Meenakshi has been called out to over 300 fires in her career, as well as frequent floods and the devastating 2006 tsunami in the coastal city of Chennai.  All the way she has battled a widely held belief among her own colleagues that women should not be firefighters, and says she has had to work twice as hard as a man.  In 2013 she was awarded the President's Fire Service Medal for Gallantry for rescuing two people from underneath a collapsed building.

(L) Meenakshi  Vijayakumar. Credit: Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Service 
(R) Dany Cotton.  Credit: London Fire Brigade

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