City airport gets first woman firefighter

She joined as Junior Assistant (AFS) at Chennai Airport on November 1, an official release from AAI said here on Wednesday. Remya underwent four-month rigorous training at the Fire Training Centre (FTC) in New Delhi, prior to assuming duty at the Chennai Airport.

Speaking to DT Next, Remya said, “When I was in training, I was the mother of a one-year-old child. I had to run carrying 40 kilograms of weights. It was very challenging and I managed to complete it successfully. I would like to tell women out there not to make themselves comfortable inside a box. They should come out of it and do the job that they like. Their families should also give them full support to achieve their dreams. My family supported me from the beginning,” said Remya.

“I think, I have taken up a job which is challenging and I am confident of delivering. I hope more women will join Fires Services (FS) in future, but then we need to have the right mindset to explore the avenues at our disposal,” she added.

Hailing from a modest family at Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, Remya is a post graduate in Structural Engineering. She is also mother of a two-year-old child. She was an Assistant Professor at LBS Institute of Technology for Women prior to joining AAI.

Firefighting job at airports is hard. Being the first respondents to a disaster call or situation, the officers should have remarkable physical and mental strength to sustain with it. A work space that remained as a male stronghold for long looks a tad different now. AAI had inducted the first woman fire fighter in its ranks in 2018, heralding a change. Taniya Sanyal from Kolkata was the first women firefighter to join AAI. AAI didn’t have the provision to hire women before as firefighting was considered a man’s job.