SACRAMENTO BEE - Women stepped up when Citrus Heights Firefighters went to War

When the men of the Citrus Heights Fire Department were called to military duty during World War II, the women stepped in to fill their boots.  The Ladies in White provided emergency services in Citrus Heights from 1951 to 1986.  Sunrise Mall is hosting an exhibit highlighting their and those of the earlier Ladies Auxiliary.

Recruited by Fire Chief Eugene Desimone, the women of the Citrus Heights Ladies Auxiliary were one of the earliest all-women fire crews in the nation. They were trained to drive fire engines, fight fires and handle other homefront emergencies.

Their work and that of their post-war successors, the Ladies in White, is showcased in an exhibit that opened Monday at Sunrise Mall and will run through April 25. "It´s an aspect of World War II that is largely unknown," said Teena Stern, chairwoman of the Citrus Heights History and Arts Commission, which organized the display of photos, uniforms and rescue equipment, including a 1934 fire engine and Ol´ Rescue, the 1953 Pontiac station wagon that served for years as the community´s emergency medical vehicle.

The Ladies Auxiliary was disbanded in 1947, but in 1951 the women were called back into service as the community´s volunteer rescue squad. They were known as the Ladies in White for the white coveralls they wore.

Marsha Bichel, 61, served with the group from 1971 to 1975. Her husband, Richard, spent 30 years as an engineer with the Fire Department and the couple are the proud owners of Ol´ Rescue. The vehicle was outfitted with a gurney, resuscitator and first-aid equipment.

Bichel said she saw the Ladies in White as an opportunity to be part of the Fire Department family. "I could tell that they didn´t just do first aid," Bichel said. "They had a lot of compassion."

Winifred Veasman, 83, served 18 years with the squad. Her EMT shirt is included in the exhibit. Along with her badge, it sports a diaper pin with several safety pins fastened to it. Each safety pin represents a baby she delivered. "Well, the babies delivered themselves, but I caught them," Veasman said.

The women received training from the Red Cross and local hospitals, and attended monthly drills to maintain their rescue worker certificates. They also learned how to use tools such as the Jaws of Life so they could assist firefighters in rescue efforts, Bichel said.

The Ladies in White covered what were then the largely rural communities of Citrus Heights, Orangevale, Antelope and Del Paso. When a call came into the Fire Department, the women closest to the scene were dispatched by radio.

One would pick up the rescue vehicle at the fire station at Greenback Lane and Mariposa Avenue, while the others drove their own cars to the site of the emergency. Veasman, who often accompanied victims to the hospital, remembers responding to as many as seven calls in a single day.

The increase in traffic that accompanied suburban development, as well as the advent of paramedics with advanced training, led the Ladies in White to disband in 1986. But those who served cherish the experience.

"It was something that gave all of us good self-esteem," Bichel said. "We knew we were doing something good and helping."