The article was written for TheBlot
Danae Mines, an 11-year veteran of Engine Co. 60 in the South Bronx, is Ms. March in the 2015 FDNY Calendar of Heroes. She is the first female to have ever made it into the calendar, and, get this: She’s got all her clothes on! It’s the men who are scantily clad. Now there’s a switch, eh? It has always bugged me that in so many movies, women run around in their panties and bra (or less) while the men are fully clothed.
What an inspiring role model Mines is. She told CNN, “I think it’s great. I would love to inspire other women to come on the job.” There are only 41 women in the FDNY. That equals less than half of 1 percent. Mines said she wants to send the message to girls everywhere that you can do anything you set your mind to.
Mines told the New York Daily News that she has always wanted to be one of the firefighters featured in the annual calendar. “I was told that it was all guys,” said Mines. “They said if I made it in the calendar, I would look like a pinup girl.”
But, Mines said, “I wasn’t going to let anyone tell me I couldn’t do what I wanted to do. I was determined.” So, when she saw an open call for FDNY firefighters posted on the wall of her firehouse in the Bronx last year, she went for it.