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'The pressure to not fail was real:' Black woman makes strides as firefighter

An African-American woman who made history at the FDNY for being the only black woman hired in a 15-year span says her journey to become a firefighter was difficult, but she succeeded.

News 12 Staff

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Feb 12, 2019, 1:16 AM

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Updated 1,910 days ago

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An African-American woman who made history at the FDNY for being the only black woman hired in a 15-year span says her journey to become a firefighter was difficult, but she succeeded.
"The pressure to not fail was real," says Regina Wilson.
Wilson says she was recruited by her department in the ‘90s, and that the department told her it wanted to attract African-American women.
She later passed the written and physical portion of the exam to become an FDNY firefighter.
Wilson began working at Engine 219 on Dean Street. She says as she began her new career, she experienced racism.
Wilson says one of the most emotional parts of her career was responding to the 9/11 attacks.
She received a Trail Blazer award and became the first female president of the Vulcan Society, an organization of black firefighters from January 2015 to January of this year.
 
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