Firefighters just operate machinery?

What are the requirements for becoming a fireman? Today I spoke with one that I happened to run into, and he explained that the physical requirements are quite tough. You have to be able to carry at least 80 pounds (air-flask and other equipment), and be able to operate all machinery, including ladders. He said they use wooden ladders which are quite heavy. Once you are hired as a fireman, there are physical tests every year which you have to pass, and they are not lax, he assured me.

He explained that there are 33,000 firemen in Los Angeles, and his guess was that about 3 percent are women. Typically they are athletes, he said.

On the topic of discrimination, he said that there used to be lots of it. Women were just not accepted at all. But those days are gone, and women are now hired on equal terms - and salary - according to the law. The claim that fires are nowadays are put out by middle-aged, obese men operating machinery that does most of the work for them is atrocious:

Have you ever been to a fire? An actual fire with actual firemen, most middle age and obese and letting (rightly so) the machines do most of the work for them? The myth of physical fitness = fire fighting = men is stale.

Oh yeah? Well tell that to the face of my new middle-aged firefighter friend, if you dare.