HEROES WORLD JUNE 2022

42 NO WOMEN ALLOWED We start in Meghann’s “safe space”, the historical fire station at Prenzlauer Berg. There are a few twin bedrooms next to the common area and the dining hall on the second floor. Meghann walks to her locker and opens the door. She proudly presents the inside of the shelf unit: a motivational wall of photographs showing Meghann’s friends and family. On the opposite side of the room, a single bed with a bare mattress. This is where the firefighter rests between operations. But there’s usually little time for rest until the next alarm sounds. She shares her room with a colleague. Today, four women work in this former men’s domain. Her early concerns have evaporated into thin air since she started the job. The fire station is a listed building and cannot be modified, so you won’t find a fire pole here. Its red doors have long since become too narrow for modern fire engines. Whenever the company comes back from a mission, Meghann and her colleagues get out and fold the wing mirrors in. The driver painstakingly reverses into the redbrick building with just a few inches separating the vehicle from the wall. Meghann and her teammates guide him to the end of the hall. “Everyone helps you out, so you’re never alone,” she explains. Text & Photos Inge Fuchs The fire station at Prenzlauer Berg was built on Oderberger Straße in 1883

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