KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — When Captain Pat Perrin became a firefighter 20 years ago, the industry looked a little different.
"There may have been three or four within this department," she said.
But then that started to change.
"As things went along more and more women got involved in the fire department," Perrin said.
Now, there are 15 women in the Knoxville Fire Department out of more than 300 total. One of those is Carla Jones, whose story starts just five years before Pat's.
"It is awesome, I love it," she said.
Back then she worked at Walgreens until she met a firefighter with a particularly good selling point.
"He goes, 'We only work 10 days a month.' I'm like, 'Sign me up.' 25 years later, I'm still here," she said.
In 2019, she is still here and on the road to breaking a barrier. Jones, along with another firefighter named Vicky, is in the running to be assistant chief,
which is historic.
"They've never had a female assistant chief in the department before," Jones said.
It is a fact, she believes, neither of them takes lightly.
"It is so nervous, it's a waiting process to see. Everybody on the list is a great candidate, so it will be hard to choose, but it's an honor," she said.
Not just any honor, it is an accomplishment that is years in the making.
"I've prepared myself through the years to get to this point so hopefully we both get it and it's an easy choice," she said.
While the two still have to wait on the outcome, Jones believes even though the industry has made progress, there is still more work to do.
"Not as far as we would like it to be, but it's small steps," Jones said.
Jones added the simple act of encouraging more women to join is what matters.
"It's so important that we put out that you can do anything you want to do," she said.
If she or her coworkers could impart any advice to little girls wondering if they could fight fires too, they'd say something like this.
"I always tell them if I can do it, you can do it," Jones said. "So don't give up if you have a dream. Go for it because dreams do come true."
