Albany

Erin Engstrom will be sworn in as an Albany firefighter Friday, the first woman in 18 years to join the department and only the seventh woman to join in its 149-year history.

She is the first woman in Albany to pass a rigorous, timed physical test put in place in 2000 to screen candidates for the job.

At 115 pounds and 5-feet-3-inches tall, Engstrom is worried burlier firefighters will look at her and wonder if she can pull her weight. They needn't worry. Faced with climbing stairs for three minutes while carrying 75 pounds during the test, Engstrom trained by carrying 85 pounds and climbing for 10 or 12 minutes. Knowing the overhead challenges would be harder for her because, as a woman, she had less upper body strength, she and workout partner Gaven Richard hauled a 70-pound duffel bag back and forth over a baseball backstop fence during training. She could feel eyes on her, the only woman among men, going for something a woman is rarely seen doing. It made her work that much harder.

"If I failed the first time, I would go back on the wait list for another year, two years. I'm old. I didn't want to waste my family's time and money," she said.

At 37, Engstrom will be the second oldest among the 18 new firefighters sworn in today. An occupational therapist, she's also a mom of three. Firefighting was a long-held dream sparked when her son nearly choked to death when he was 7 months old. Firefighters came along with the ambulance and a woman firefighter held Engstrom's son in her arms and gave him oxygen. The image never left Engstrom's mind. For years, she touted the job's appeal — a way to help people when they need it most, and a way to serve the community. Engstrom said she didn't pursue it herself because she already had a career and because she wondered, as a woman, if she could do it. But in August 2014, something clicked inside Engstrom. She was done recommending the job to other people without going for it herself. She said her family was shocked at first, but supportive. And Engstrom, now with a goal in mind, wouldn't let up until she reached it.

"There's not too much quit in her," said Gaven Richard, who trained by Engstrom's side and also will be sworn in as a new firefighter today. "She has a lot of energy, she's focused and she goes full on, 100 percent. She doesn't give up."

Richard said endurance, and the mental capacity to work through pain, is key to the firefighter test — something he knew Engstrom already had from running marathons.

In addition to running, including a marathon when she broke her foot part of the way through, but finished anyway — Engstrom also returned to tennis in her 30s after not playing since college and won a state championship. But passing the Candidate Physical Abilities Test (CPAT) would mean packing muscle on her lean, runner's frame.

At EMT class, another requirement for would-be firefighters, she sat next to a friendly guy she refers to as "The Muscle Man." He taught her how to lift. She started by squatting 75 pounds, now she can do 20 repetitions of 125 pounds. At the beginning, she couldn't do a single pull up. Now she does 10 every morning. She consulted with a nutritionist and started eating more protein. The first morning she ate five eggs, she wanted to throw up. Now, she looks forward to the eggs. She phased in protein shakes, a protein bar, steak and fish and phased out ice cream and chips.

In January 2015, four months after she started training, Engstrom passed the CPAT at a national training center in Florida. Candidates must do eight events, which include punching through a ceiling, a simulated forced entry with a 10-pound sledgehammer and dragging a 165-pound dummy 70 feet. In Florida, a firefighter said something to her she kept in mind throughout the rest of her training.

"A man came up to me and said, 'I'd rather go into a fire with you than those muscle-bound guys. You've got heart, you have determination and that can't be taught.'"

Engstrom hopes to be the first of many women to pass the test. It can be done, she said, it's all about technique. She remembers the day the news broke that two women made history by graduating the Army Ranger course. It was just as she was completing a tough work out. When it comes to firefighting, she said, the same rules should apply as they do on the field of battle: "If a woman can't carry a man off a battlefield, she shouldn't be there, but if she passed the test she should be there."

lhornbeck@timesunion.com • 518-454-5352 • @leighhornbeck