While some people may perceive amazing progress in the women’s movement, Amy Stutson sees herself as just another member of the team.
The 29-year-old last week became the first women to graduate from the state fire academy for the Columbia Fire Department.
Stutson has been with the department for a little over a year. Stutson was quick to note she was not the only one who graduated from the academy; she and Michael Allan are the most recent graduates for the department.
Stutson was at the station Wednesday afternoon and was very uncomfortable talking about herself. She doesn’t think of it as a woman stepping into a man’s world, but she sees herself as someone who is doing a job she loves.
“I enjoy it; I love it,” she said.
She also said she likes helping the community and staying fit.
Assistant Fire Chief Lyle Berard said she was a great addition. Her positive outlook and coming ready to work are some of her best traits, he said. He said he knew when he and Chief Jeff McKenzie first interviewed her she would be a great asset to the department.
When asked about how the men in the department took to her at first, Berard said once everyone got to know her, they all knew why she was hired.
Firefighter Chandler Moore said she is like anyone else on the team. She does not allow anything to slow her down.
“I would go into a fire with her faster than I would with a lot people,” Moore said.
In fact, Moore felt one of her biggest strengths is she does not allow the sexism stereotype get to her. If anything he feels, it makes her work harder because she does not want to be treated differently.
Stutson was raised by her father in Jefferson Parish, La., which she said may have contributed to her mindset of being just “one of the guys.” Stutson and her husband, Joseph, live in Tylertown.
One of her greatest strengths, Berard said, is her never-quit attitude. She is determined to accomplish the goal. She doesn’t let her gender slow her down, and in fact if nothing else she tries harder.
For Stutson the only hard time she has received is being a rookie.
“It has been a great department,” she said.
Stutson was quick to say one cannot tell gender when someone is fully dressed in turnout gear. “There is one kind of fire; it is not gender selective,” she said.
