Ablaze: The Story of America's First Female Smokejumper

Deanne Shulman’s love of the outdoors led her to work on Forest Service wildland and hotshot crews fighting fires. She wanted to become a smokejumper, a firefighter who parachutes from aircraft to reach wildfires quickly. Although she passed an initial test, height and weight requirements kept her from continuing. Deanne filed a formal complaint under the Equal Employment Opportunity Act, later passed the tests, and became the first female smokejumper in the United States. Her effort also changed the requirements for other women.