The role of women in firefighting has been subject to significant changes over the years; many ancient civilizations had firefighting groups which accepted women, but by the advent of organized firefighting in the 18th century, gender roles had changed such that firefighting was considered an unsuitable profession for women. Despite this, many women continued to work informally in firefighting roles, and in parts of the world were able to break into organized fire departments, especially during times of war. With the advent of the second-wave feminism movement in the 1960s, many women began to push for anti-employment discrimination legislation which would permit them to work as firefighters, which was often met with considerable opposition from often change-resistant fire services steeped in tradition. Today, women work in both support and frontline firefighting roles in both career and volunteer fire departments worldwide, and in many countries have held high-ranking positions such as fire chief or chief fire officer. Despite this, female firefighters continue to face significant challenges and discrimination not faced by male firefighters, including employment discrimination, misogynist and sexual harassment, and facilities and equipment which are inaccessibly designed; as a result, women generally make up fewer than 20% of total firefighters even in the countries where they are the most well-represented, especially in career departments.

Many ancient civilizations had a form of organized firefighting. One of the earliest recorded fire services was in Ancient Rome. The Aboriginal Australians had been managing and responding to wildfires for thousands of years, with women being involved.

Firefighting became more organized from the 18th century onwards with the rise of insurance companies and then with the rise of government fire services in the 19th century. In 1818, Molly Williams was recorded as being the first female firefighter in the United States; as a slave in New York City, she joined a volunteer engine company. Young women in boarding houses in the United Kingdom were taught fire drills, including high ladder rescues. During World War II, women served in the wartime fire services of the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand both in support and frontline roles.

As a result of the second-wave feminism movement and subsequent anti-employment discrimination legislation, official obstacles to women were removed from the 1970s onwards. The first female career firefighter in the United Kingdom (Mary Joy Langdon) was recruited in 1976, while the first in New Zealand (Anne Barry) joined in 1981. In response to this change, many fire departments began requiring recruits to pass overly restrictive fitness tests, which became an unofficial barrier to women joining. This led to court cases in a number of countries.

Nevertheless, the percentage of women recruited by fire departments has been low. In the UK, women make up 5% of firefighters which is less than the percentage for police officers (29%), paramedics (38%) and military personnel (10%). A report by the London Fire Brigade found that discouraging factors included the portrayal of firefighting in the media, a lack of information available to young girls and unrealistic ideas about the role. Other issues include shift patterns that are not suitable for mothers with young children.

For much of the last century, firefighting was a male-dominated or exclusively male profession. As such, firefighters were commonly called "firemen", an informal title still used by some civilians today. The title "firefighter" has become the universally accepted terminology in NFPA training materials and is used by English speaking professionals and trained volunteers as both the basic rank and overall job title that is often paired with the addition of a firefighter's EMT certification level (e.g., "Firefighter-Paramedic Jane Doe").

Since women have only begun to be widely hired or accepted as firefighters in the last few decades, many fire services have had to make difficult adjustments. In many places, the fire service is steeped in tradition and formalized, paramilitary relationships. A 1998 article in Fire Engineering noted that firefighters tend to form tight-knit communities which value "strength, courage, and loyalty" but can be "resistant to change". Even if women are socially accepted members of the fire service, it is often justified on the basis of gendered assumptions that they will bring more balanced decision making and nurturing qualities to a team of firefighters, as opposed to simple equality of opportunity.

In 2017, a study of female firefighters' occupational stress in the U.S. found that 40% of the women had engaged in binge drinking in the previous month, and 16.5% screened positive for problem drinking. According to the study, "problem drinkers were more than 2.5 times as likely to have been diagnosed with a depressive disorder or to have symptoms of post-traumatic stress." Those with less than seven years of service were the most likely to report issues with drinking.