Berkman Retires As Captain

FDNY Pioneer Packs It In

By GINGER ADAMS OTIS

One of the FDNY's first female firefighters, who was hired after being the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit that successfully challenged the department's physical exam as gender-biased, ended a storied career last week after 24 years on the job. Capt. Brenda Berkman, whom critics in the FDNY predicted would swiftly give up firefighting to practice law when she was hired in 1982, retired Sept. 14.

SEARED BY THE TRAIL SHE BLAZED: Brenda Berkman overcame the derision and suspicion she encountered among firefighters as the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit that forced the department to open its doors to women, and became the FDNY's second female Captain. She said upon retiring last week that she believes her fellow officers 'have come to see how much I love the job. I always kept trying to be a better Firefighter and a better officer, and I'm very proud of the things I have done.'

'Find Another Joy'

She plans to take six months to a year off to spend time with friends and family, and then "find another joy in life, be it volunteer work or a second career in fire service."

Unlike her entry into the FDNY - which involved a protracted legal battle and years of media attention - Captain Berkman's exit was a family affair.

She celebrated her last night on the job with the firefighters in her Brooklyn engine company, and attended her last union meeting last week.

"Peter Gorman [President of the Uniformed Fire Officers' Association] very kindly announced my retirement to the officers at the meeting and asked if I wanted to say something," said Captain Berkman during a Sept. 15 phone interview.

Pride Mixed With Regret

"To everyone's shock, I did not. Afterward many of the officers in the room came up and said some very wonderful things to me, and then I was sorry that I hadn't spoken," she said.

"I wanted to say to all of them in the room, my fellow officers, how proud I was to be one of them, and how sad I was to be retiring. I think they have come to see how much I love the job - in the same way that they love the job. I always kept trying to be a better Firefighter and a better officer, and I'm very proud of the things I have done," she continued.

Mr. Gorman later commented that the FDNY was "losing a trailblazer."

He added that while there was a controversy over hiring women in the 1980s, "I think the women in my union have proven themselves not just as competent and skilled Firefighters, but as competent and skilled officers, too."

A Bitter Struggle

The struggle by women to gain a toehold in the FDNY - which remains 99 percent male a quarter of a century after U.S. District Judge Charles P. Sifton ruled that the physical entrance exam relied too much on upper-body-strength tasks that weren't job-related - was recently the subject of a documentary film that ran on PBS.

"Taking the Heat," by Los Angeles filmmaker Bann Roy, uses archival footage to tell the story of Ms. Berkman in 1978, who after graduating from New York University Law School, decided she was going to become a Firefighter.

The FDNY's refusal to make its heavily-weighted physical exam more job-specific - even after it was legally challenged - led to a class-action lawsuit filed by Ms. Berkman on behalf of several dozen other women who wanted to join the department.

PETER L. GORMAN: Gives Berkman her due.

Judge Sifton eventually ordered that a special physical exam that also tested flexibility and stamina as well as upper-body strength be given, which most of the women passed.

A Hostile Reception

But the perception among the rank and file that women had been given an easier exam rather than proving themselves in competition contributed to the resentment and hostility that many male firefighters displayed toward the 41 females who joined the FDNY in 1982.

"I think that lawsuit really forced the FDNY and the U.S. Fire Service to take a serious look at how they hired people," said Captain Berkman. "And it benefited men and women firefighters, and the communities they serve."

She said she would like to dedicate more time to promoting "Taking the Heat" now that she's retired, and hopes it can be aired again in the New York area.

Ms. Berkman's legacy extends well beyond the tri-state region, however. Alicia Smith, a Fire Captain for the Los Angeles City Fire Department, which has in the past year had three high-profile events involving female firefighters, including one sexual assault, said Captain Berkman is a "brain trust" for women's groups.

'She Set the Tone'

"Brenda is amazing. Her knowledge base is phenomenal, and I've been calling her a lot for help with some of these problems," said Captain Smith. "But she should also be celebrated as one of the forerunners of the women firefighters - she set the tone not just for women, but all firefighters on how you should conduct yourself and how to be truthful, be honest and fight for what you believe in," Ms. Smith added.

Being the face of the feminist movement within the FDNY had its drawbacks. After being fired along with Zaida Gonzalez - who appeared on the cover of New York Magazine - while training as Probationary Firefighters, Captain Berkman sued the FDNY again, this time for creating a hostile work environment. She and Ms. Gonzalez were reinstated, but the FDNY did little to curb the animosity swelling in firehouses around the city.

'We Were Targets'

Linda Willing, the co-founder and former president of Women in Fire Service who joined the Boulder, Colorado Fire Department in 1980, remembered writing Ms. Berkman a letter of support after hearing about her struggles to get on the job.

"Nobody followed the same route that Brenda did - there were plenty of women firefighters having problems around the country, but nothing was of the magnitude of what was happening in New York," she said. "Brenda always stepped up, and she was willing to put herself out in front, take the heat, and make herself the target - and that's what we were: targets."

Her high profile didn't win her many friends or allies within the FDNY.

"Firefighting by nature is team-oriented - you're not supposed to distinguish yourself," said Ms. Willing. "The fact that she had to distinguish herself to help the larger struggle for women did her no favors."

Captain Berkman doesn't harbor regrets, although she acknowledged that there had been occasions when "I said things or did things that hurt my career personally - but that's what people should do. There should be a larger purpose to our lives."

During her career Ms. Berkman became one of only three female FDNY Captains, helped the department regroup after 9/11, and served as an advocate and mentor for young women coming onto the force.

Other Key Roles

She taught at the Randalls Island Training Academy, worked with the Safety Division on line-of-duty procedures, helped improve the FDNY's pre-incident planning policy and volunteered for numerous task forces and other groups.

She also collaborated with several national firefighting organizations, and worked in the White House during the Clinton Administration.

Daniel Onieal, Superintendent of the U.S. National Fire Academy, worked with Captain Berkman at the White House and at Ground Zero and said they've been friends since she joined the FDNY and he was a ladder company Lieutenant in the Jersey City Fire Department.

"There are only a few professionals I've met with more tenacity, courage, vision, class and compassion than she," Mr. Onieal said after being informed of her retirement. "In my view, the world is a much better place for my children and grandchildren because she made it better."