A long row of black-and-white headshots line the back of Station 1 of the Madison Fire Department. Mounted upon the brick red wall, surrounding the images, is a rustic wooden ladder —  an ode to the firefighting equipment of the past.

The photographs are dated back to the mid-1800s, and the current fire chief’s face looms from the right-most side. 

But despite the unifying nostalgia of the muted black-and-white, one headshot stands out from the rest.

It’s Debra Amesqua, Madison’s first female fire chief and one of seven female fire chiefs appointed nationwide in 1996, says the Wisconsin Historical Society. 

Her impact is still felt throughout the station, says Lisa Becher, division chief for the Madison Fire Department who was hired by Amesqua 21 years ago. 

A female chief isn’t as much of a rarity as it once was, although it is just as impressive. In just the last several years, Becher says, countless other female chiefs in Madison traded in their lives of service for well-deserved ones of relaxation through retirement. 

But despite greater representation now than in previous decades, female firefighters still only make up approximately 9% of all working firefighters, according to Women in Fire, a group that represents female leadership and participation in firefighting. 

The stories of these female firefighters are typically overlooked and undervalued in a job that already is redundant and often thankless. But Wisconsin boasts countless female pioneers in the forms of fire chiefs, paramedics, deputy chiefs and more — all of whom have paved the way for a new generation of women to take this road.

Many never believed this would be their path. Although Becher is the daughter of a long-time volunteer firefighter, her father and the rest of her family never saw firefighting as a realistic option for women. 

“Nobody, from the moment I was born and having my dad run out of the house all day and time, nobody ever said, ‘Hey Lisa, you can be a firefighter,’ Becher says. “I get it was a different time, and females certainly weren’t entering the service at the time. But to plant that seed early on in kids’ lives, that it doesn’t matter what race you are, female, male, anything, the fire service is definitely a viable option for you. Firefighting is for anybody who really puts their heart into it.” 

For Kalin Montevideo, the newly appointed chief in Sturgeon Bay, a city in Door County, heart is what has carried her furthest in the fire industry. She says it’s like no other profession because of how close she’s become to her colleagues in the station.

“I know I 150% made the right decision when I went into the fire service because I love the work,” Montevideo says. “I love the day-to-day stuff. I love the family that it has brought me, meaning my fire family, this group of people that I work with.”  

Some firefighters are lucky to find their passion for the career early on. For others the path is slightly more nontraditional.

Becher feels grateful that her paths led her to this profession.

“I was almost 30 before I found the Madison Fire Department,” Becher says. “But to wake up every morning to an alarm clock and you’re like, ‘Yes, I get to go to work! I love my job. That’s part of the beauty of life.’” 

For these women and many others, the journey of working in the fire service wasn’t always filled with these overwhelmingly joyous moments. Being a woman in a typically male-dominated industry can have its obstacles, especially when they’re also parents being a parent as well. 

Between constant 24-hour shifts, late-night calls and abnormal working hours, many female firefighters miss opportunities other parents have with their children. 

When Tanya Reynen first became fire chief in Watertown, a Jefferson County suburb east of Madison, her youngest daughter struggled with her mom’s changing schedule. 

“She got really upset with me because I hadn’t been home picking her up from school like I had been for her first three years at school,” Reynen says. “And she goes, ‘you have such a big job, and it’s bigger than dad’s job, and it’s not fair.’” 

Reynen says the key to balancing life as a parent and working as fire chief is to make a conscious effort to be present when she is home. She says without the support of family and her community, her job wouldn’t be possible. 

“It takes a village,” Reynen says. “Having my husband, who is there for them when they get home from school is really important. My parents and the neighbors are all fantastic for helping balance all of that. Building your community is really important.”

As the first female hire in Sturgeon Bay 25 years ago, Montevideo’s station eventually had to quickly learn how to accommodate her pregnancy. 

“Although the male firefighters had had many children throughout the years, physically their bodies could still do it while their wives and significant others were pregnant,” Montevideo says. “We had some language in our contract that allowed me to do light duty, for a lack of better terms during that time. But it was kind of that evolution of, we need to make a change.” 

Modifications to maternity and paternity policies are not the only changes made over the last several years. While starting her career as the only female firefighter on her shift in Eau Claire, Becher says being a woman presented challenges when it came to things like sleeping and bathroom arrangements. 

“I felt like the fire service wanted to bring us in, but the accommodations weren’t quite there yet,” Becher says. “And then, personally, at least for a while, as a female, I felt like people were always watching me, and I had to prove myself. I don’t feel that way anymore.” 

Just in the last several decades, Becher, Montevideo and Reynen have witnessed firsthand not only the changes to provide a more inclusive environment for women, but also a changing attitude among women that this industry can and should accommodate them. will be for them, if they choose it to be. 

At her swearing-in ceremony last April, Reynen fondly recalls being surrounded by friends, family and neighbors, getting to share an iconic moment for herself and her community with the people she so lovingly calls her village.

But one predominant moment, in which she was photographed among a crowd of young girls who she’s trained as EMTs, stands out, frozen in time in a frame behind Reynen’s desk. 

“I hope that every girl in that picture who was at that swearing in ceremony with me will be full time in the fire station in the near future,” Reynen says. “It’s been really cool to see that transition between being one female in a room of many men, to us now having our own clan, our own group of girls.” 

For Becher, the changing attitude can be seen in the younger female firefighters she’s uplifted in recent years, the same way that Amesqua did for her 21 years ago. 

Back at Madison’s Station 1, Becher runs into Gabby Grandin, a firefighter and EMT for the Madison Fire Department who began a career shift into the fire service just a few years ago. Grandin says Becher — who was her lead instructor for an accelerated course for the Madison Fire Department Recruit Academy course at Madison Technical College — was a constant source of inspiration.

“I found out, maybe halfway through those six weeks, towards the end, that Chief Becher had actually postponed her promotion,” Grandin says. “You’re postponing a really big moment in your career for the sake of leading and guiding other people — other people who are as new as they possibly can be coming into the department. That was really significant.” 

But Becher remains humble, redirecting the credit to the women who paved the way for her.

“I just want to recognize all the females that have come before me,” Becher says. “You know, I’m certainly not the first female chief. And I won’t be the last.”

 
Cover photo: The City of Madison Fire Department seal is showcased on the side of all trucks, cars and ambulances throughout all 14 stations. Photo by Sophia Ross.Tile Photo: Firefighter jacket hung up on truck. Photo by Sophia Ross.