A group of Black women firefighters from Central Arkansas has drawn widespread attention online after a photograph of 10 of them spread across social media. The women belong to B.O.L.D., a resource group created to support women of color in the fire service.
B.O.L.D., short for Building Our Legacy Diligently, was founded by Captain Quatecia Wilson of the Little Rock Fire Department. Wilson, who has spent 12 years with the department, is the first Black woman to hold the rank of captain there.
She said she created the group as a support system for women. It grew to focus on women of color, she explained, because they are a minority within a minority in the profession.
The group draws members from the Jacksonville and Little Rock fire departments. They serve in different departments, on different crews and different shifts, and come together through the network rather than through a shared station.
The photograph shows 10 members of B.O.L.D. at a photoshoot for the group. Wilson said the image is about two years old. It first drew attention when it was originally posted, and it resurfaced widely in September and October 2025, reaching millions of interactions across platforms.
Some of the social media posts that carried it described the women as an all-Black, all-female crew. Wilson said she was surprised to see the picture circulating again, and some of her friends who recognised her in it shared it themselves.
Wilson has spoken openly about the pressure that comes with breaking barriers. She said she has been the first to do many things in her department, and that this carries its own burdens. She has felt she must prove herself more than others to show she can do the job as well as anyone, male or female. Her view is that her work speaks for itself.
Her story is one of several recent firsts for Black women in the Little Rock department. In 2023, Vanessa Lowe was named its first Black female fire marshal, and Wilson was recognized the same year as its first Black female captain.
Separately, social media posts reported that four Black women worked a full shift together at the North Little Rock Fire Department in September 2025. They were named as Firefighter Aisha Green, Engineer Kimberly Holloway, Lieutenant Chandra Minor and Captain Scherita Buchanan. The department has not publicly confirmed the report.
Women make up only a small share of firefighters in the United States, and Black women are fewer still. Networks like B.O.L.D. give members mentorship, visibility and a place to share the experience of working in a male-dominated field. For girls who rarely see women in uniform, a photograph like this one can show what is possible.
