Cherry Grove, Fire Island, has been a symbol of the historic gay civil rights movement and the advancement of post-Stonewall LGBTQ rights. However, an overlooked advancement within the community is that the Grove’s volunteer fire department is the first in New York State to break down gender barriers.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, all New York State volunteer fire departments were overwhelmingly male-dominated. The New York City Fire Department (FDNY), the largest department in the United States, had a ban on women joining until 1977.
Incorporated in 1947 as a brigade of brooms, buckets, wagon-drawn hand pumps, and three metal rings donated by neighboring Point O’ Woods as fire alarms, the first female members were Jeanne (Gerrodette) Skinner and Judy Hester, who joined in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1980, Lyn Hutton became the department’s first Fire Chief.
Hester, moving up the ranks, would later become the first assistant chief in New York State. Within 10 years of Hester’s advancement, Lyn Hutton would become the first woman chief in 1980. Hutton would remain acting chief of the department until 1994. In addition to breaking gender roles in leadership, the department appointed Joan Van Ness as the first board-certified woman Safety Officer in New York.
“My husband and I bought our home in 1997, and I wanted to help my community. I’ve been with the fire department since 2000,” said Steve Williams, Chief of the Cherry Grove Fire Department. “Our department is within a boardwalk community, with no proper roadways. We modify our vehicles to operate on our six-foot-wide walks, including pump trucks and EMS trucks. We all receive the same training as other volunteer fire departments. New York State has a straightforward but universal firefighting curriculum that all counties implement.”
When asked about the interactions of mainland departments, which are a sharp contrast to the Grove’s department, Third Assistant Chief Denise Samide explained, “The mainland fire departments have been very respectful. There is a joke that when we come into the Yaphank training facility, it’s ‘here comes Cherry Grove in their flip-flops,’ referring to us coming from the beach, not in a derogatory way. We are treated like any other fire department among the other departments.”
Second Assistant Chief Monika Kost, sharing her experience, explained, “I feel we have earned their respect [mainland departments] as firefighters. We were always held to the same standard and took every challenge like any other department. We have developed a trust factor amongst the other mainland departments.”
When asked about the department’s biggest changes, 35-year member Diana Di Prima, the department’s Safety Officer, explained, “When I got here in 1991, we were still in the paper-and-pencil era, and when I had the opportunity, I introduced the department to computers, which helped me rise to Chief in 2003 and later step down to my current role as Safety Officer.”
Breaking another barrier, the Grove became one of the first volunteer departments to include trans members.
“Trans became an established group within the community years ago, and I love these kids,” added Di Prima. “God bless these people willing to do it. What many people need to understand is that we have to get to know a person’s essence. Forget about sexual identity, lover preference, and color; it is about getting to know people.”
Today, women make up 11% of all volunteer firefighters in New York State, while New York City has an estimated 3% of women firefighters. In comparison, Cherry Grove is made up of 50% women firefighters and two trans people.
At a time when many New York State volunteer fire departments struggle to recruit new volunteers, this is not a problem for Cherry Grove.
“You develop a sense of family here,” Di Prima explained. “This community is a special place, which allows us to be us.”
