More women entering FDNY academy

History is being made today as nine women are scheduled to enter the FDNY fire academym along with 311 men.

This is the most women to enter a firefighting class since the landmark 1982 class that had 40 females, according to the United Women Firefighters. Currently, there are only 34 female firefighters in a city-wide force of almost 10,500. The last graduating class, in May,had five women - the most women in a graduating class since 1982, said the UWF.

"With the FDNY's continuing commitment to diversity, we can realistically expect to see the number of women firefighters double, triple or more, thus radically changing what the FDNY of today looks like," Sarinya Srisakul, president of the UWF, said in a statement.

A FDNY hopeful Ryan Colletti, 31, of Jackson Heights, greeted the news with mixed emotion. Colletti has been excelling in qualifying tests for the Department since 2007 and is number 4,166 on the waiting list to enter the academy.

"I hope they continue to change, but more rapidly," Colletti said.

The Department is indeed committed to diversifying its ranks, said FDNY spokesman Frank Dwyer. "The last class was the most diverse in the history of the Department" and the current and upcoming classes will "continue to follow suit," he said.