CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Fire Department announced on Monday its first female bomb technician.
Nykeba Banks is now one of nine bomb technicians for the department. It's a position that requires weeks of intense training at a school in Alabama.
"It takes a lot of pride in what you do. You really have to have the mindset because obviously dealing with hazardous devices takes a certain type of mindset to be successful," said Interim Fire Chief Steve Breitfelder.
Not only is Banks the first female bomb technician for CFD, but she said she was one of only two in her training class, which included people from across the country.
"I think they only graduate about 400 a year and what we found out when we were down there is that more people climb Mt. Everest than graduate from the school," Banks said.
She said the training was an intense and grueling five weeks in-person in Alabama, plus a week of online training.
"Your first day, they put you in a bomb suit," she said. "Can you handle having the suit on? Are you gonna freak out? Some people freak out once they get that helmet on their head. They have you crawl through a tunnel and you have to lay down, you know roll to the right, roll to the left and then you have to get up. Some people cannot get up."
Banks survived that test on day one and all of the others that followed.
"Many times people, the first day, they're out. It could be anywhere, it could be the fourth week, the last week and you could be out," she said.
Now, knowing she's one of the few certified to do this job, she's proud.
"It feels amazing. It's a huge accomplishment," said Banks.
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