Sally Dickens is just one of the lads at Idle fire station and that's the way she likes it.

The 24-year-old, who has been a firefighter for more than two years, said she is not given special treatment because she is a woman.

But she still has to fight against most people's stereotype of firefighters as being big, burly men.

"You learn to give as good as you get," she said.

"I've never been a shy person and I've always had a lot of male friends which has helped.

"There's a lot of banter but you just learn to join in like everybody else.

"It was a bit daunting at first. I was the only woman on my training course but it prepares you for work.

"You think how am going to cope with all these men but you just manage.

"I'm treated as an equal at all times. There are no different physical standards for women and I tend to be at the more fitter end of the scale."

Sally's boyfriend, who she has been seeing for three months, is also a fellow firefighter and understands the job.

"It would be very difficult going out with someone who wasn't in the fire service," she said.

"They would have to be very trusting as I work in an all-male environment and that could make a lot of people insecure.

"Most men I've met seem to be intimidated by what I do. They seem to be scared of the fact you have to be very physically fit and think I should be really butch.

"At one point I even started lying about what I did. If I met people, I told them I worked for the fire service bit didn't say I was a firefighter.

"People do still expect firefighters to be men and they're always shocked when I take my helmet off and they see I'm female.

"When we go out to schools, the children always look at me in amazement and say they've never seen a lady fireman before.

"Fireman Sam does nothing for equal opportunities and people still call us firemen rather than firefighters.

"It can be an advantage being a woman sometimes as some people relate to you better, particularly children."

Sally refers to the rest of her watch as "the boys" while she is known as the sprog as she's the youngest of the crew.

"When I first started the crew were really minding their p's and q's and apologising every time they swore," she said.

"Now they realise that I'm not easily offended and I'm one of them so it makes no difference.

"New recruits are always called sprogs so I'm getting the same treatment as if I was a male.

"They do realise there's a line they can cross and perhaps I don't get as many pranks and practical jokes played on me but I've had my fair share.

"Firefighting isn't a glamorous job and it's very physically demanding which might put a lot of women off.

"Your fingernails get covered in muck and you spend your days crawling through little holes in all sorts of conditions.

"It certainly doesn't appeal to everybody and you've got to be very committed.

"I believe that it's always going to be a male-dominated profession because it is so physically demanding. But I would like to see more women join."

Sally loves her job and wouldn't change it for a thing.

"I was the only woman on my training course but you just get used to it," she said.

"I never wanted a job where I was stuck in an office all day doing the same thing over again.

"It's nice when I meet the other women firefighters to get a bit of female company and talk about fire stories.

"Firefighting can be a dangerous profession but it doesn't make any difference if you're a woman.

"We've had to deal with quite a few nasty incidents while I've been at Idle but you don't think about it at the time, you just get on with your job.

"It's only afterwards that you look back and reflect on what happened."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.