Lidia Celebrates America

(light music) (indistinct radio chatter) Having been the first female in Jersey City, it was a big shock to everybody. So I had to literally be accepted by a 700 member male department as their first female. In the beginning, I would say that was probably the hardest because I was changing the entire department, everything about, it right down to how men talked, how they dressed, how they did everything. (light music) They can't tell we're women when we're in a fire or we have our gear on. It's when we come out of the fire and rip our helmet off. It's the best when we're the person putting the fire out and then you come out and you take it, and they're like, "Oh my God, that's a female." Yeah. Nice to meet you. See you later. (indistinct radio chatter) I think one of the reasons why we are both strong, independent women is because our father passed away of cancer when we were children, actually, Francesca was a month old. So we watched our mother who was a strong, independent woman, raise us and work, and she had five young children to take care of. So when you decided, this is 18 years ago, to to become a firewoman, what did your mother say? Her words, that I remember them till today, were, "Why would you want to be a firefighter? Any idiot can be a firefighter." And I know today she would take those words back because she knows it's not true. She knows how demanding our jobs are and how much I've studied to be a chief and get promoted. I'm sure she's very proud of you today. How about you, Francesca? Before this, I was a police officer for Jersey City. So I went from one scary job to the next and she's never going to be okay with it. She's scared for both of us all the time. She thinks it's crazy that we run into buildings that are on fire. Like who does that? That's a mother's thought. I used to explain it to my mother because she's always been afraid for us that we don't even think about the fear factor of it because we know we're safe. So it's a real team. The second fire I believe I went to, I came out of it and I saw Connie's face and I have never been so relieved in my life to see her. And it's very comforting knowing that she's going to be there, always. Women really play an important model role in these kind of tough positions. That sends the message. Yes. You know, I can become that to other women. Guess what, you're watch tonight. (laughter) As long as you're able to pull your own weight and so everything just like the guys, they all accept you just like you're one of the guys. Every single thing that you do, you're relying on someone in your house to help you. You have to trust them and you have to work together and you spend 24 hours with them. So you learn a lot about them. It's literally your second home, your second family.