Megan McKinnie walks outside the Missoula smokejumper base carrying her four-month-old son Boone.
"This is what we refer to as the Forest Service ramp. So, this is where we park the smokejumper aircraft here. And then across the way is the tanker base," she explains.
Inside, she steps into the ready room where gear is piled high next to lockers. Boone takes it all in as he chews on his hands.
"He's like just discovering them. Like, look, I can put these in my mouth."
McKinnie used to suit up in a room like this when she was a smokejumper, parachuting out of planes to fight wildfires for the U.S. Forest Service. But that all changed 10 years ago, when she found out she was pregnant with Boone’s twin older brothers.
"Just kind of like had to shut the door on, you know, jumping out of airplanes and being gone at a moment's notice and just kind of be all in on being mom," she says.
McKinnie found a different fire job managing at the nearby air tanker base. Now, she coordinates the flights that drop bright red retardant onto wildfires, and juggles her twins’ soccer games and midnight feedings for Boone.
"As a smokejumper, I saw a lot of women that started families and ended up leaving the agency. And I just want to see a way to help women try to maintain their careers," McKinnie says.
What McKinnie saw is true across the agency. Data collected by the Forest Service shows that most women firefighters leave the field six or seven years in, right around the age when many begin having kids.
Women make up 13% of the firefighting workforce, and can feel pressure to cut back hours or stay home for their families.
McKinnie is part of the Forest Service’s new Women in Wildland Fire Advisory Council It was formed to encourage more women to stay in the profession.
Jamey Toland created the council. She fought fires until she had her son 14 years ago.
"I realized I wasn't going to be able to be out on a fire doing stuff and being like, 'hey, could somebody go pick up my kid, because I don't know when I'm going to be back.'"
She got a desk job in dispatch so she could raise her son. She rose through the ranks with the Forest Service over nearly 30 years and is now one of the few women in leadership roles in wildfire management.
"Through my career I always felt like I had to prove myself, like prove that I could be there and keep up and do the job. There still is a lot of that, like, the good old boy network," Toland says.
The advisory council formed almost a year ago, and includes 22 women across the country.
They’re looking at solutions like daycares at Forest Service facilities, changing the agency’s pregnancy and postpartum fitness requirements for firefighters, and building all-women training camps. The council doesn’t have a dedicated budget yet, so they’ll have to request funding to implement initiatives as needed.
Being part of the council is something all the other members have taken on in addition to their day jobs. Toland was amazed at the outpouring of interest she got when putting out the call to join last year.
For Sarah King, this group of women felt like a lifeline.
"This is amazing," King says. "I have wanted something like this to come to fruition for a long time, because I wanted to try and figure out a way to connect women better in fire, especially those women who are in those more remote areas and they might be by themselves. In my career I’ve predominantly worked with men and, you know, so it's like, so validating being with these women and just hearing their stories."
She’s early on in her career compared to Toland and McKinnie, and early on in her motherhood journey as well. Her daughter Kaydence was born nine months ago and sleeps next to King while she talks.
"It's still somewhat registering, like, my gosh, I have a daughter, you know. But it's so amazing. Really, I would say my favorite part is just being able to see her smiling little face every day."
She left firefighting during her pregnancy when breathing in smoke wasn’t safe for her or her baby.
Now, she does prescribed burns on the Custer Gallatin National Forest, intentionally burning underbrush to make wildfires less intense. King brings Kaydence to the office while she plans for those burns, and can lean on family to watch her when she’s out in the field. But she wants different options in the future.
"I really miss that aspect of my job. You know? And so I think just balancing life and a career and a kid and also just, like, desires. It really takes a toll on your mental health, you know, and I'm learning that the hard way," King says.
She hopes being part of the council will help her figure out what that future looks like. They’ll meet in person for the first time this winter.
