{"id":2107,"date":"2026-10-25T04:10:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T03:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lemuseedespompiers.re\/?p=2107"},"modified":"2026-10-25T04:14:06","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T03:14:06","slug":"ligne-de-vie-issue-1-fifty-years-of-women-firefighters-from-reunion-to-cape-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lemuseedespompiers.re\/index.php\/en\/2026\/10\/25\/ligne-de-vie-issue-1-fifty-years-of-women-firefighters-from-reunion-to-cape-town\/","title":{"rendered":"Ligne de vie, issue 1: fifty years of women firefighters, from R\u00e9union to Cape Town"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On 25 October 1976, a decree opened France\u2019s municipal fire brigades to women. Exactly fifty years later, our association is publishing the first issue of Ligne de vie<\/em>, a magazine exploring the history of fire and rescue services in R\u00e9union and the Indian Ocean. Its main feature focuses on women in fire and rescue.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Download issue 1<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ligne de vie<\/em>, issue 1, October 2026 \u2014 40 pages, PDF (5 MB), free to download.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Download the magazine<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inside the main feature<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Revisiting the decree.<\/strong> Decree No. 76-1007 was not solely concerned with women: it introduced broader reforms to the statutory framework governing municipal firefighters. Yet one provision changed the institution: fire brigades \u201cmay comprise both male and female personnel\u201d. The decree did not mark the beginning of women\u2019s involvement; it gave that involvement a legal framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four careers in R\u00e9union.<\/strong> Gilberte Pothin: teacher, first aider, volunteer firefighter and the island\u2019s first female fire officer. Marie-Nelle Payet: R\u00e9union\u2019s first female professional firefighter, who took command of the \u00c9tang-Sal\u00e9 fire station in 1991. Odile Lery: chief medical officer of R\u00e9union\u2019s departmental fire and rescue service (SDIS) from January 1991. La\u00ebtitia Heries: twenty-one years in fire service administration, now heading the office responsible for volunteer firefighters\u2019 careers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three profiles from Cape Town.<\/strong> Adel Supra-Vertue, Cindy Theron and Thobeka Senatse of the Cape Town Fire & Rescue Service describe different organisational structures and working conditions, alongside familiar concerns: earning recognition, endurance, technical competence and access to command roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fifty years on.<\/strong> Women account for 23% of civilian firefighters in France (DGSCGC, 2024 figures). Their representation is higher in the health and medical rescue service, but few women hold the most senior leadership positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An open question: the first woman to serve as chief medical officer of an SDIS?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A document published in early 1992 establishes that Odile Lery had been serving as chief medical officer of R\u00e9union\u2019s SDIS since January 1991. The association\u2019s research has found no earlier example of a woman holding this position in an SDIS among the national sources consulted; the next precisely dated case identified is from 2004. The possibility that she was the first in France remains to be confirmed. Any document that could support or disprove this hypothesis is welcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond the main feature<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The issue opens with a foreword by Inspector General Bertrand Vidot, director of R\u00e9union\u2019s SDIS. It also presents the museum project, the \u201cAu feu les pompiers !\u201d exhibition and the association\u2019s publications, including Histoire des sapeurs-pompiers de La R\u00e9union<\/em> and Tenir sa place<\/em>, which tells the story of Bernard Acar. It introduces the project \u201cRoad Accidents in R\u00e9union: Remembering to Save Lives\u201d, ahead of the sixtieth anniversary of the ravine des Poux accident on 28 March 1967.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The heritage section explores the 1950 Laffly fire engine, listed as a historic monument in 2025, the hand-operated fire pump, cyclones and the challenges of providing emergency services on an island. The final article tells the story behind Le Flambeau<\/em>, the song created by recruit class 01-2026 of R\u00e9union\u2019s SDIS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six online profiles, published every Sunday<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

From 1 November to 6 December 2026, a new profile from R\u00e9union will be published on our website every Sunday, covering emergency response, medical care, training, administration and command. The final profile will appear in the week of Saint Barbara\u2019s Day. Further accounts from the Indian Ocean and Southern Africa will then be added to the series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explore the Women in Fire and Rescue page<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Subscribe to our newsletter to receive each new profile<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Contribute to this history<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Did you serve in a fire brigade in R\u00e9union before 2000, or know a woman who did? Photographs with or without captions, official appointment records, newspaper articles, internal newsletters and personal memories can help establish dates and fill gaps in this history. Write to patrimoine@lemuseedespompiers.re<\/a>. Documents entrusted to us will be returned after digitisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acknowledgements<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ligne de vie<\/em> is published by the Friends of the R\u00e9union and Indian Ocean Firefighters\u2019 Museum. This first issue was designed and laid out by Maya de Villepoix, editor-in-chief. Our thanks to Gilberte Pothin, Marie-Nelle Payet, Odile Lery, La\u00ebtitia Heries, Adel Supra-Vertue, Cindy Theron and Thobeka Senatse for sharing their stories, to Nicolas Chevrier for his article, and to the communications team at R\u00e9union\u2019s SDIS for their photographs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On 25 October 1976, a decree opened France\u2019s municipal fire brigades to women. Exactly fifty years later, our association is publishing the first issue of Ligne de vie, a magazine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":""},"categories":[216,45,41,274],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","category-history-and-heritage","category-projects","category-women"],"ticketed":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lemuseedespompiers.re\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lemuseedespompiers.re\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lemuseedespompiers.re\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lemuseedespompiers.re\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lemuseedespompiers.re\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2107"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lemuseedespompiers.re\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2119,"href":"https:\/\/www.lemuseedespompiers.re\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2107\/revisions\/2119"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lemuseedespompiers.re\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lemuseedespompiers.re\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lemuseedespompiers.re\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lemuseedespompiers.re\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}