Twenty-three-year-old Jeanette Woldseth badly wanted to be a professional firefighter. Daughter and granddaughter of fire fighters, she volunteered with the Bellevue Fire Department while managing a drive-in theater. Two years of persistence finally paid off, and she graduated from the department’s training course in February 1977, becoming the first full-time female career fire fighter in a major Washington fire department. She rose through the ranks, was promoted to captain in 1985, and retired in 2002.

In this image, taken at the beginning of her career, Jeanette Woldseth works at the scene of a fire.

Caption information source: “Jeanette May Be Firefighter Tomorrow”, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, February 24, 1977, page A3.
Caption information source: “State’s first career firefighter dies of cancer”, City of Bellevue WA, February 21, 2018. https//: bellevuewa.gov/city-news/states-first-career-female-firefighter-dies-cancer. Retrieved May 23, 2026.