This guide was produced by the Illinois Fire Service Institute Library to provide information on women in the fire service. As of 2017, women represented 7% of firefighters in the United States (NFPA). Included here are links to books, articles, research papers, videos, and online resources intended to highlight this minority population in the field.

The video above features the experiences of participants in the Women-in-Fire Prescribed Fire Training Exchange (WTREX), a wildland fire training program for female firefighters. Many speak of the challenges of being the only female firefighter on their crew.

The Illinois Fire Service Institute Library contains books, codes and standards, DVDs, CDs, periodicals, manuals, e-resources, audiobooks, and other fire emergency resources, totaling over 65,000 items. We serve all first responders in the state of Illinois. Materials can be requested in person, by phone or email, or online through our catalog. You can search our catalog by title, author, keyword, subject, or publisher, and choose the formats you want to see. Enter as few or as many search terms as you would like; the more search terms you use the fewer results you'll get, but the results will be more specific. If you live in Illinois and have a public library card, we can send materials to your public library via interlibrary loan. Anyone is also welcome to visit us in person!

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