Kathy Wilkerson, the city of New Orleans’ first female firefighter, died Saturday of complications from cancer, reports wwltv.com. She was 57.
A statement from the New Orleans Fire Department said Wilkerson died in Eau Claire (WI).
Wilkerson entered the fire department ranks in 1992 becoming the first female firefighter in the city’s history.
“She broke the barrier for females coming into the fire service in New Orleans,” said the department in its statement Saturday.
In interviews marking her first days on the job back in 1992, Wilkerson admitted that she had encountered some resistance from her male counterparts, but that it evaporated once they saw her doing the job.
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