Orlando women firefighters get new uniforms, no longer have to wear men outfits

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The women from the Orlando Fire Department make up four percent of the firefighters, but they’ve found a way to make their mark.

Krys Banker said she has a passion for making people feel food in clothes she designs and alters. Banker told Channel 9's Deneige Broom that those things were hard to do for female firefighters.

"This is a guy's coat, and it will always be a guy's coat, no matter what you do to it,” Banker said.

That is when Orlando Fire Department’s Assistant Chief Dawn Sumter stepped in and asked Banker for creating a Class A uniform for the women in her department.

"You just don't feel feminine. You don't feel that pride as much when you're in that type of uniform. It's like you're wearing your father's clothes almost,” Sumter said.

Up until now, the only Class A uniform option for woman has been a men's clothing.

"No matter how many alterations we do to it, it's not gonna look right. Too long, too baggy and boxy,” Banker said.

Sumter won a national award for the uniform she designed.

"Although our job is a very masculine job and we have absolutely no problem doing that and wearing the bunker gear, you want to feel proud and have that pride come out and that's what this uniform does. It makes you feel feminine. It brings out who you really are,” Sumter said.

The Kissimmee and St. Cloud Fire Departments have reached out to Banker's shop to get their women into uniform's that set them apart.

“We've had women cry. We've had them laugh, and say, ‘Oh my God, I feel like a woman.’ It's been really rewarding,” Banker said.

Cox Media Group