Megan McKinnie

Megan McKinnie [was a] smokejumper, parachuting out of planes to fight wildfires for the U.S. Forest Service until she found out she was pregnant with twins. Today, McKinnie coordinates the flights at a nearby tanker base that drop retardant onto wildfires, while juggling her family. “I saw a lot of women that started families and ended up leaving the agency,” McKinnie says. Data collected by the Forest Service shows that most women firefighters leave the field six or seven years in, when many begin having kids. …McKinnie is part of the Forest Service’s new Women in Wildland Fire Advisory Council, formed to encourage more women to stay in the profession. Jamey Toland created the council almost a year ago, that 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.