Fire engine named after pioneer Northamptonshire female firefighter to mark International Women’s Day

Cynthia Phillips, affectionately known as ‘Cyd’ by colleagues, was one of the first women in the country to be a retained firefighter in the modern fire service when she signed up at her home village station of Irthlingborough in 1981.

She retired in 2002 after 20 dedicated years of service and continues to live locally in retirement.

To honour her trailblazing career, Cyd was invited to a ceremony at fire service headquarters, on March 5, where she unveiled her name on the cadet fire engine.

Cyd said: “I’m overwhelmed and absolutely honoured – it’s something very special. The fire service was a very big part of my life and I absolutely loved the job.

“I fell into the service by accident to be honest, there weren’t any women firefighters that I knew of in 1981.

“I’d like to credit Roger Kendall, who was the sub-officer of Irthlingborough Station, for inspiring me to join.”

The name was chosen by Northamptonshire Emergency Services Cadets who wanted to pay tribute to Cyd’s legacy.

Her career began when Cyd was working at Irthlingborough Post Office and Roger headed in after an incident in Wellingborough.

She was fascinated listening to him tell her about what had happened and asked if she could join the service.

Cyd said: “He replied, ‘why not?’ If he’d said, ‘it’s not a job for a woman’, I wouldn’t have thought twice about it because that’s what it was like in those days.

“But I went home, had a think about it and turned up to the station at one of their drill nights to have a look round and absolutely loved it, and it just went from there.”

In 1984, Cyd went on to become a wholetime firefighter in Corby, at a time when there were barely any women firefighters.

From there, she became the first British woman wholetime firefighter to attend and complete a course at the Fire Service College in 1989.

She continued to work at NFRS for many years as a sub-officer (now known as watch manager) and was awarded an MBE in the 2000 New Year’s Honours list for services to the British Fire Service.

Cyd did not just have an impact locally, as she was part of the first group of women who set up the Women in the Fire Service (WFS) organisation, and even served as chair.

She worked tirelessly to establish the network and bring women’s issues to the forefront of the service.

Chief Fire Officer Nikki Watson said: “To mark International Women’s Day, it’s so important we recognise the contributions of women like Cyd who opened doors for so many of us over her remarkable 20-year career.

“It was such a wonderful moment to be able to see her unveil her name on the cadet fire engine with our future generation of emergency services watching on.

“Cyd’s commitment to NFRS has laid the foundations for meaningful progress and I want to also honour all of our women firefighters and fire staff who have continued to drive the service forward.”