Fighting fire is extremely physically taxing.

“Fire doesn’t care if you’re man or woman – none of that matters,” says St. Paul firefighter Sarah Reasoner.

When it comes to the physical part of the test to become a firefighter, Reasoner said recently that women are about 50% less likely than men to pass.

“It broke my heart a little bit to see these women coming out and trying, and they were like ‘what can I do to get better’ because the desire is there to explore this career field,” she said.

Recruits have under seven minutes to complete a handful of physically demanding tasks, including dragging a 175-pound dummy and climbing five flights of stairs with a heavy hose bundle. And don’t forget the extra 60 to 80 pounds of gear while doing it.

“They’ll have to wear turnout jacket, helmet, tank, and a 20-pound weight vest,” said Megan Roesler Turner, a firefighter paramedic and training assistant.

Reasoner said recruits sometimes only have six weeks to prepare for the physical test, but she believes woman need about 10 months to be ready.

That’s how much time she trained for, and she broke the women’s record timing.

That’s why she and group of other female firefighters created TCF3, Twin Cities Female Firefighter Fitness, to help train women longer and show anyone interested in the job that it’s possible.

“It reminds us why we’re all here why we’re doing the job, that we’re doing because it can get really discouraging when the men you know can just fly through this,” said Anna Gaffaney, a fire recruit.

“We will never be able to overcome biology it is what it is and women are made how we are, and we love and celebrate that difference, but we want to try and lessen that gap,” said Reasoner.

The first TCF3 expo is Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the St. Paul Training Facility. CLICK HERE for more information on the fire department’s expo.