Josephine Reynolds
Josephine Reynolds | |
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 Josephine Reynolds in September 1982 |
Josephine Reynolds (born 28 March 1965) is a British writer and former firefighter. She has been described as one of the first full-time female firefighters in the UK.[1][2][3]
Life
[edit]Reynolds grew up in Narberth, Pembrokeshire.[4] When she was 12, her family home, where she lived with her mother, brother, and step-father, burned down.[5] In 1981, at age 16, she left school and moved to Norfolk to live with her father.[4]
In 1982 she was accepted on a new training scheme with the Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service aimed at school leavers.[4] After a year of training, she began working with the fire and rescue service in Norfolk in 1983, aged 18. She worked at the fire station in Thetford.[5] Three years later she qualified to drive a fire engine.[citation needed]
She married a fellow firefighter in December 1986.[5] The following year, they both left to travel.[1][4] Reynolds moved back to Norfolk in 1990, after the breakdown of her marriage.[5] She later moved to China.[5]
Reynolds published an autobiography, Fire Woman: The Extraordinary Story of Britain's First Female Firefighter, in 2017.[1] As of 2017, Reynolds was retired and living in Cambodia.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Josephine Reynolds (6 April 2017). Fire Woman: The Extraordinary Story of Britain's First Female Firefighter. Michael O'Mara. ISBN 978-1-78243-700-0.
- ^ "Britain's first female firefighter: 'There was no way I was going to be the weakest link'". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
- ^ Holloway, Sally (1992). Courage High!: A History of Firefighting in London. pp. 239, 242.
- ^ a b c d Arkless, John (22 October 2017). "The woman who became Britain's first female firefighter". BBC News. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f Archer, Elizabeth (30 March 2017). "My burning ambition to be the UK's first female firefighter". Daily Express. Retrieved 9 January 2025 – via PressReader.
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