Here's how diverse the fire departments are in Michigan's biggest cities

For generations, white men have dominated fire departments.

That has not changed, but fire departments are becoming increasingly conscientious of the importance of having diversity in their ranks.

Still, it isn't enough for departments just to hire diverse firefighters, said Manuel Fonseca, the president of the National Association of Hispanic Firefighters.

People must feel supported and included at the department, which is less likely to happen if there isn’t anyone there who looks like them, Fonseca said. That may lead people to move somewhere else, where they do fit in.

“I want support, I want to see more people like me in the department, I want people like me in authority,” he said

Representing the community: Diversity in fire departments is important. So why do so few match their community?

The Lansing State Journal compiled racial data from the fire departments in the 25 biggest cities in Michigan. The data matched what experts and fire chiefs from across the country had said: That fire departments are not nearly diverse enough.

Most fire departments don't match community

Of the 25 biggest cities in Michigan, Lansing comes closest to matching its community’s demographics.

Detroit, Southfield, Warren, Clinton Township and Westland rank the worst among Michigan's biggest cities when it comes to matching the racial demographics of their community.

Detroit, which has a 77% Black community, has 35% of its fire department made up of Black people. Clinton Township has 0 Black firefighters despite 18% of its community being Black.

Women remain scarce in fire departments across state

In the 25 largest cities in Michigan, the departments that are the most white are also generally the most male-heavy, according to data the State Journal compiled.

Most of the largest cities in the state do not have more than 10% of their staff made up of women.

Kalamazoo's Public Safety Department, which combines fire, police and emergency medical services, has the highest rate of women on staff with 17%.

The next highest is Ann Arbor, with 8.4% women.

Asian firefighters lacking in cities with high populations

Even the cities with the highest population of Asian people in the state, like Novi and Ann Arbor, barely have any Asian firefighters. Novi has one Asian firefighter, despite 25% of its population being made up of Asian people. Ann Arbor has zero, but 16% of its community is Asian.

Detroit has the most Asian firefighters, with 29, which is about 2.5% of its department. Detroit's community is 1.9% Asian.

Lansing (which combines Asians with Pacific Islanders in its race data) and Farmington Hills have the next highest number of Asian firefighters with three each.

Contact reporter Kara Berg at 517-377-1113 or kberg@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @karaberg95.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Racial, gender diversity in Michigan's biggest fire departments