Falling Barriers: Women firefighters blaze new paths in Pakistan

• Thick black smoke clawed at the sky over Karachi’s industrial zone last week as firefighter Syeda Masooma Zaidi raced toward a blazing storage facility filled with truck and car tyres.

Flames leapt hungrily, black plumes twisting skyward. Heat shimmered off the asphalt, stinging her eyes and lungs. Zaidi, 23, didn’t hesitate — helmet strapped tight, hose in hand — as she and her all-male team battled the inferno. Hours later, the fire was under control. No lives were lost, though damages ran into tens of thousands of dollars. When the firefighters finally emerged from the smoke, faces streaked with soot, onlookers cheered.

Zaidi’s presence on the front lines is rare in Pakistan, where women firefighters were virtually unknown until 2024. Her work symbolises small but significant progress for women in the conservative, patriarchal nation.

The first spark came in 2010, when Shazia Perveen became Pakistan’s inaugural woman firefighter in Punjab province, where she now trains recruits. In Sindh, where Karachi is the capital, women began joining firefighting services only last year after receiving training in Punjab.

Women still make up less than 1% of Pakistan’s firefighting force, but officials expect more to enlist as cultural attitudes shift in the country of 255 million. Most professional Pakistani women traditionally pursue careers in medicine, engineering or teaching, Zaidi said. She wanted to prove “we can do this too.”

Her chief fire officer, Humayun Khan, praised Zaidi and her female peers for their determination and discipline. Dr Abid Jalaluddin Shaikh, head of the Sindh Emergency Service, said Zaidi is one of 50 women firefighters in the province, with another 180 training as rescue divers, medics and emergency responders.

“The focus is no longer on breaking taboos,” Shaikh said. “Now we see real results.”

Zaidi trained at the Punjab Rescue Service Academy, where she mastered high-angle rescue techniques and fire control methods. The job remains gruelling and dangerous, but Zaidi says the scepticism she faces is often harder.

“When we arrive, people say, ‘She’s a girl — how can she rescue anyone?’” she said. “Every time we save a life, we prove women can do this job.”

Her colleague Areeba Taj, also 23, recalled chaotic missions in Karachi where she and other women helped save lives. Their supervisor, Ayesha Farooq, said that female firefighters often excel when responding to incidents involving women and children.

“By joining rescue services, they earn respect — for themselves and for the country,” Farooq said.

Zaidi grew up with seven brothers and one sister. Her motivation, she said, comes from courage, duty and faith. Despite lingering doubts from the public, she remains steadfast.

“People still doubt us,” Zaidi said. “But every time we go out there, we keep proving them wrong.”

As the smoke cleared over Karachi’s skyline, Zaidi and her crew returned to the station — exhausted but ready for the next call.

Every day on the job, Zaidi, Taj and their fellow firefighters prove that in Pakistan, bravery has no gender.

Associated Press