Making Herstory: NC Department's All-Female Arson Investigation Team
According to Zippia, roughly 12 percent of arson investigators in the United States are women. The other 88 percent who hold an arson investigator position are male. The U.S. Bureau of Statistics states that there are roughly 14,600 current paid arson investigators, meaning that there are only roughly 1,752 female fire investigators in the United States.
The Greensboro Fire Department is not only a department with a female investigator, but one that had all three of their arson investigators positions (A, B and C shifts) be female at one time. Bridget Crump, Vicky Martin and Jennifer Mann call themselves the Greensboro Charlie's Angels.
These arson investigators protect the third largest city in North Carolina and take pride in what they do. Not only do they have a full-time apparatus dedicated to their team, but they also have an Investigation Station from where they can respond to fires all over the city. This building is fully dedicated to the investigators. The newest name for this building is the House of Shadows. When asked about where the name came from, the response is that Shadow is what they called the arson investigator in the movie "Backdraft." Therefore, with multiple investigators, Greensboro has a House of Shadows.
Crump has been with the Greensboro Fire Department for more than 21 years. Of those 21 years, she has been an investigator for more than seven of them. She currently holds her International Certified Fire Investigator Certificate.
Recently, Mann was promoted into a captain position and Sean Walker filled her position on the team. However, two of the three positions are still female. They now just have a Charlie to their Angels.
Victorian Simmons
Victorian Simmons currently works for the Greensboro Fire Department as the Community Engagement Specialist. Though she is fairly new to the fire industry, she has an extensive background in marketing and communication.
Simmons has a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Keuka College, a master’s degree in business management from Elmira college and is currently working of her PhD in strategic communication from Liberty University. She has spent the last 8 years in manager and director roles focused on writing, photography, social media, communication and design. She now uses those skills in her current role with the GFD.
