Some consider fighting fires to be a man’s job, but as long ago as the bucket brigades of the 19th century, women have bravely played an important—if sometimes invisible—role in firefighting. A collection below features 23 stunning black and white photographs of female firefighters from between the 1920s and 1940s, via BuzzFeed.
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| 1916, The UK Women’s Fire Brigade takes a salute. (Photo by Hulton Archive / Getty Images) |
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| 1916, Preparing for a fire drill. (Photo by Topical Press Agency / Getty Images) |
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| 1916, Conducting a drill with hoses and extinguishers. (Getty) |
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| 1916, Members of the Woman’s Fire Brigade with their chief officer. (Photo by Topical Press Agency / Getty Images) |
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| 1916, Putting a fire escape into position. (Photo by Topical Press Agency / Getty Images) |
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| 1922, Training with hosepipes. (Photo by Hulton Archive / Getty Images) |
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| 1925, Women of Achille Serre Ltd’s Private Fire Brigade head off to compete in the London Fire Brigades’ Tournament. (Photo by Hulton Archive / Getty Images) |
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| 1926, A member of the Achille Serre Ladies Fire Brigade in London. (Photo by Fox Photos / Getty Images) |
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| 1928, Two firefighters during a drill. (Photo by Topical Press Agency / Getty Images) |
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| 1928, Demonstrating the use of a portable fire extinguisher. (Photo by Brooke/Topical Press Agency / Getty Images) |
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| 1928, A rescue drill in progress. (Photo by Hulton Archive / Getty Images) |
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| 1930, Staff of the Girls Fire Brigade in Berkshire. (Photo by Fox Photos / Getty Images) |
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| 1938, a female firefighter models a new uniform. (Photo by Central Press / Getty Images) |
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| 1939, Group of Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) women “keeping fit” with a game of leap-frog. (Photo by Fox Photos / Getty Images) |
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| 1939, An AFS member during morning inspection at a Manchester fire station. (Photo by Hulton Archive / Getty Images) |
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| 1940, AFS women work at the London fire regional control room. (Getty Images/Keystone) |
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| 1941, New recruits in the control room at London’s Auxiliary Fire Service. (Photo by Fred Morley/Fox Photos / Getty Images) |
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| 1941, chorus girls respond to the call for volunteer “fire watchers” are trained by the Newcastle Fire Brigade. |
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| 1941, Women train at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard during WWII. (Photo by Hulton Archive / Getty Images) |
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| 1941, Training at the UK’s Royal Northern Hospital in Holloway practice for blitz fires. (Photo by Keystone / Getty Images) |
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| 1942, Training at the Imperial War Museum Fire Fighting School. (Photo by Fox Photos / Getty Images) |
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| 1942, Female firefighters during a skills demonstration. (Photo by Keystone / Getty Images) |
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| 1942, Volunteer fire guards stow away a hose into a portable trailer. (Photo by Hulton Archive / Getty Images) |
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