KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — As thick black smoke rose above an industrial area in Pakistan’s largest city last week, firefighter Syeda Masooma Zaidi raced toward the raging flames. karachi.
Storage facilities were crammed with truck and car tires, flames leapt greedily and black plumes twisted skyward. Heat shimmered off the asphalt and the air became heavy and harsh, stinging her eyes and lungs.
Zaidi, hose in hand, helmet strapped in, didn’t hesitate despite the deafening roar.
The 23-year-old and the rest of the firefighting team, all men, sprayed water at the melting rubber that hissed and steamed beneath the rushing water. The team worked methodically, every move was precise, and every second counted.
The fire was extinguished after several hours. A nearby factory was spared and no lives were lost, but the damage amounted to tens of thousands of dollars (millions of Pakistani rupees).
As the firefighters emerged from the smoke, their faces streaked with soot, dozens of onlookers cheered behind the safety line.
Zaidi is a rare sight in this country. Female firefighters will be almost unheard of until 2024. Her career, like that of other women in Pakistan’s emergency services, emphasizes a gradual entry into society. Stubborn patriarchy and traditional Islamic state.
Others were inspired by Shazia Parveen, who became Pakistan’s first female firefighter in 2010 in the eastern province of Punjab, where she now serves as a training officer. In Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital, women trained in Punjab will begin participating in firefighting operations in 2024.
Women still make up less than 1% of Pakistan’s firefighters, but the country of 255 million is likely to see more women join its ranks in the coming years, officials say.
Most Pakistani women go into professional fields. Choose a career as a doctorBe it an engineer or a teacher, Zaidi said. She wanted to show that “we can do it too.”
Her fire chief, Humayun Khan, praised Zaidi and her female colleagues.
Dr. Abid Jalaluddin Shaikh, director of Sindh Emergency Services, said Ms. Zaidi is one of the 50 female firefighters in the province. An additional 180 people are being trained as rescue divers, paramedics and emergency responders.
“The focus is no longer on breaking taboos,” he said. “Now we are seeing real results.”
Zaidi graduated from the Punjab Rescue Services Academy, where he mastered high-angle rescue using ladders, ropes and trolleys. Typically, there are victims trapped in high-rise buildings, industrial towers, and other high places, as well as various types of fire and water emergencies.
Still, she says many people question their ability to do the job.
“When we arrive, people say, ‘She’s a girl, how can she save people?'” she said. “Every time we save a life, we prove that women can do this job, too.”
Zaidi’s colleague, firefighter Areeba Taj, 23, also recalled her role in Karachi, where she and her female colleagues helped save lives amid chaos and smoke. Their boss, Ayesha Farooq, emphasized the unique strength women bring, especially when the victims include women and children.
“By participating in rescue operations, they gain respect for themselves and for the country,” Farooq said.
Zaidi, who grew up with seven brothers and a sister, said her motivations were simple: courage, duty and faith.
“People still doubt us,” she said. “But we continue to prove them wrong every time we go out into the field.”
Last week, as the skies cleared over Karachi’s industrial area, Zaidi and his team returned to the fire station to prepare for the next warning.
Zaidi, Taj and other female colleagues prove this every day at work. Gender is no barrier to courage.
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Mr. Ahmed reported from Islamabad. Associated Press writers Abdul Sattar in Quetta, Babar Dogar in Lahore and Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this report.
