DELAND, Fla. — March is Women’s History Month, so it’s rather fitting that Dejah Woods just made a little history of her own in DeLand.
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Woods, 24, recently became the city’s first Black woman to complete the probationary year of employment as a DeLand firefighter.
On Monday night, she was pinned during the DeLand City Commission meeting.
Having previously worked in the health care field, Woods’ ongoing drive to help others led her to enroll in the firefighter program at Daytona State College.
When she attended DeLand Fire’s annual Pumper Pull event, she felt that the camaraderie between the department’s firefighters stood out.
“I couldn’t help but notice that DeLand’s pumper pull team was more in sync than any other team, including mine,” she said.
It was also a team “whose main focus is helping the community,” she said.
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So Woods joined the department in February 2021 and is now one of four female firefighters employed by DeLand.
In 2018, the National Fire Protection Association estimated that only 4% of career firefighters were female.
Black firefighters, both male and female, accounted for about 7.5% of all firefighters in the U.S.
Upon joining the DeLand Fire Department last year, Woods said, “It’s exciting to know that I could be the start of an even more diverse fire department in DeLand and other departments.”
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“As long as we all have the heart for it, it doesn’t matter the color, size, shape, gender, none of that matters,” Woods added.
City officials also proudly pointed out that Tuesday is International Women’s Day.
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