Pasadena, Glendale Fire Departments to Open Women’s Fire Academy to All Ages

The Pasadena and Glendale Fire Departments will host the 2nd Annual Women’s Fire Academy on April 11 and 12, expanding the free program to all women 18 and older after last year’s debut limited participation to those ages 18 to 25. 

The two-day academy offers hands-on firefighting activities led by professional firefighters from both departments. It is the second consecutive joint effort between Pasadena and Glendale, two neighboring departments that first partnered on the program in April 2025, according to a City of Pasadena announcement.

Registration is required by March 20 at 

bit.ly/WomensAcademy26. The program is free. 

The inaugural joint academy drew 45 women to the Pasadena Fire Department Joint Training Center on April 26 and 27, 2025, according to the Glendale News-Press. Participants suited up in full gear and trained in hose handling, ladder raises, forcible entry, search and rescue techniques, and emergency medical procedures over the two days. 

The partnership grew out of a shared recognition that women remain underrepresented in both departments’ ranks. 

“I think what prompted it was we realized that women in both cities are underrepresented in the fire service,” Captain Jodi Slicker of the Pasadena Fire Department said in April 2025. 

Slicker, the second female captain in the Pasadena Fire Department’s history, said the collaboration with Glendale was designed to broaden the program’s reach. “Working closely with Glendale — and them being our neighboring city — we thought that if we combined forces, we could reach out to a greater real estate, so to speak, to capture women that are interested in the fire service,” Slicker said at the time. 

Women represent approximately 9% of firefighters nationwide, according to the National Fire Protection Association. As of early 2024, the Pasadena Fire Department had 10 female staff members out of 164 total, roughly 6%, according to the Pasadena Weekly. The gender disparity underscores a pipeline challenge that programs like the Women’s Fire Academy are designed to address.

Female firefighters serve as instructors at the academy, which Slicker said in 2025 plays a role in showing participants that firefighting is an attainable career. Slicker said at the time that even hiring a handful of participants would constitute a success. “If we can capture two, three, four recruits or participants and actually hire them, I think that’s a success,” Slicker said. “And just overall, just empowering them to even move on to other cities if they get hired. So that’s a success for us if we just uplift them and empower them.” 

This year’s broadened age requirement marks a shift from the 2025 edition, which capped eligibility at 25. The change opens the academy to career-changers and older women interested in the fire service. Pasadena has also run a separate Girls’ Fire Camp for teenagers ages 14 to 18 and an Explorer Program for ages 12 to 21, according to the Pasadena Weekly. 

The 2nd Annual Women’s Fire Academy takes place Saturday, April 11, and Sunday, April 12, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. both days. The program is free and open to women ages 18 and older. The venue and additional details will be provided after registration. 

Registration is required by March 20 at bit.ly/WomensAcademy26. 

For more information, contact the Pasadena Fire Department at (626) 744-4668 or visit cityofpasadena.net/fire.