Many people are surprised to learn that the first women to join
the Los Angeles Fire Department did so prior to World War I. On
June 16, 1912, the LAFD's first all-female volunteer Fire
Company, led by Captain Marie Stack responded to a grass fire
near the intersection of Third and Flower Streets in what is now
Downtown Los Angeles. These valiant ladies had their first fire
well under control prior to the arrival of the LAFD's next-due
resource, the recently motorized contingent of LAFD Engine
Company 3. Then LAFD Chief Engineer Archibald Eley oversaw the
formation of several other all-female firefighting crews in
1912, including the storied Manhattan Place Volunteer Fire
Brigade led by Captain J.A. Caldwell. Not to be limited to the
lesser ranks or even Captain, the Wilmington Park Fire Ladies
protecting the southern limits of our City in 1912, were led by
Chief Louise Leonardo. Of course, our City and its people were
soon embroiled in the first World War, and as our burgeoning
City grew in the decades follo