Woman in a man’s world: Hong Kong’s top female firefighter, Anna Wu
23-year veteran and one of only 11 women fighting fires in the city initially signed up to challenge herself. As she counsels youngsters in her spare time, your sex doesn’t matter if you have the heart and ability for the job
When she puts on a firefighter’s bulky protective clothing and helmet, Anna Wu Lai-fong is often mistaken for a man. It’s not until she takes off her mask or speaks that people realise she’s a woman.
Wu is a rare woman in a male-dominated field. A divisional officer in Hong Kong’s Fire Services Department, she saw action at the devastating 1996 Garley Building fire and now oversees four fire stations with some 300 firefighters under her command, all of them men.
Watch: Meet Madam Wu, one of Hong Kong’s first female firefighters
There are just 10 other women among the department’s 6,250 firefighters. At 46, Wu is the highest-ranking woman firefighter – and an inspiration for others eager to break through gender stereotypes.
She signed up when the department went on a recruitment drive in 1993 in response to a manpower shortage. Their newspaper ad quickly caught her eye. She recalls it read: “For the first time in our 125 years’ history, we are recruiting females to join the Fire Services Department. Do you dare accept the challenge?”
