Equality before the law

The latest Libertarian Enterprise includes an article from Lady Liberty on the topic of equality before the law:

If people really want equal opportunity, the standards for a job should be set and held immovable. Anyone who can pass those standards satisfactorily should then be eligible for hire regardless of their color, gender, religion, or anything else. But to lower the bar so as to hire people who are obviously less qualified results in workers who are quite literally unable to do what the realities of the job require. Sure, a female firefighter who can lift only two thirds of the weight that a qualified man can carry would doubtless be just as brave as that man and just as capable of rescuing a child. But what happens when the only people needing rescue are a couple of 180 pound adults?

It seems to me that there's absolutely zero comparison between political correctness in a fire department and the loss of life when less qualified personnel are hired. There happens to be (at the moment) exactly one woman in the entire fire department of the city where I live. She passed the same physical tests that the men who were hired did, and I have no qualms whatsoever about her ability to do the job. But how much longer will the city be "allowed" to hire only those people who are adequately capable? How soon might it be forced to lower its standards and thus its capabilities accordingly? I frankly don't want to see that happen anywhere because I think that saving lives and property is more important than some woman somewhere saving face.