Jersey City Fire Department hires first female minority recruits in the department's history

By Rafal Rogoza / The Jersey Journal
on June 29, 2013 at 3:00 PM


The Jersey City Fire Department will be adding 21 new recruits to its ranks, two of whom are the first minority female firefighters in the department?s history.

Vanessa Gross, 29, of Williams Avenue and Yaisa Gomez, 35, of Sanford Place, both Hispanic, have been preparing for the job at the Morris County Fire Academy since June 3 and are expected to be sworn in sometime after graduation on August 9, said Jersey City Fire Director Armando Roman.

?Women have made such big strides beyond the status quo,? said Roman. ?Firefighting is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world and they proved they could do it too.?

The 21 additional recruits will increase the total number of firefighters to 563. Gomez and Gross will join three other female colleagues currently working at the department, including 1 fire captain, Roman said.

Their starting salary will be $37,000, said Roman, adding that the funds for the new hires were supplied by a $8.1 million federal Safer Grant awarded to the city two-years ago.

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