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Woman Earns Title of Fort Worth Firefighter of Year

Posted on: Friday, 2 June 2006, 15:00 CDT

By Deanna Boyd, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas

Jun. 2--FORT WORTH -- Even as a child, Laura Jenkins could hold her own among the boys.

Family genes and a childhood love of swimming had left the athletic girl brawnier than most -- a fact that her father, Norm Ager, took great pride in.

"He would love to get me to arm-wrestle guys in the neighborhood," Jenkins said. "He was so proud I was a big, strong girl."

So when Jenkins became a Fort Worth firefighter in 1984, her parents couldn't have been happier.

"I was really for it. I thought it was a great career," Ager said. "There's always a little danger involved, but she always had this thing that she wanted to be a hero, and she got her wish."

Jenkins, 49, was recently named the Fort Worth Firefighter of the Year. She was also given the Distinguished Service Award, an honor given to a Fire Department member with at least 10 years of service.

It is the first time such honors have been bestowed upon a female firefighter.

Jenkins had been working as an emergency medical technician on an ambulance and attending school to become a paramedic when some Fort Worth firemen she'd met encouraged her to try out for the department.

"It was just on a whim," Jenkins said. "It wasn't like a lifelong dream. Back then you didn't hear of women being firefighters."

Growing up with three brothers and a father who had encouraged his children to exercise, Jenkins said that physically she had a head start going into the firefighter profession.

"When you grow up with brothers, you do more boy stuff," Jenkins said. "I would say between my brother and my dad, they all kind of groomed me."

To further prepare, Jenkins kicked up the intensity of her workouts: swimming, running, bike riding and weight lifting, sometimes up to four hours a day.

"It was never easy," she said. "It was very hard physically and mentally, but everybody was very positive and supportive of me."

When she graduated from the academy and officially joined the department, the number of female firefighters could be counted on one hand. It was no secret that some firemen believed women didn't belong in the profession.

"Women were a new thing in the fire station," Jenkins said "You had to prove yourself, that's for sure. You had to show you could go longer and harder than another guy that had already been accepted. You didn't ever want anyone to see you falter."

Capt. Derrick Thomas was Jenkins' supervisor for three years as a lieutenant at Station 17. He said he considered Jenkins foremost an exemplary firefighter.

"Working with Laura was never awkward. She was pretty much one of the guys," Thomas said. "You never had to consider her womanhood when it came to the job or just sitting around at the dinner table. She was real easy-going and understanding."

And while she wasn't afraid to show her feminine side -- sometimes embroidering fellow firefighters' hats and shirts during downtime -- Jenkins wasn't to be taken lightly.

"Whenever we'd have a rookie come to the station, they would meet her for the first time and they'd say, 'Yes ma'am' or 'No ma'am.' They'd try to be polite," Thomas said. "She'd always tell them right from the start, 'Don't call me ma'am.' She was tough on the rookies. She's more tough on the rookies than any of the guys at the station."

Today, Jenkins works at Station 18 -- the first woman assigned there. She has been married to a fellow firefighter, engineer Robert Jenkins, for nearly five years.

"My only goal I've ever had for my career is that I hope I can retire on the firetruck instead of a desk job," Jenkins said.

In the speech delivered last month to announce her award by the Friends for Fort Worth Firefighters, Jenkins was described as a "legend" who has paved the way for future firefighters by showing that gender is not the issue, but rather heart and soul.

"First to the door with the nozzle. First on the roof with an ax. She will outwork you if you let her," the writer summarized. "It can be humbling as a story I overheard a young rookie firefighter tell at a well-involved structure, 'I think somebody's mom just took my nozzle!'"

Ager said that while he knew his daughter would succeed, he never dreamed she'd one day be honored as Firefighter of the Year.

"How can you have that kind of expectation? I knew she'd be good. She's gung-ho," Ager said. "It's a man's job. It's quite physical, but she handles it."

Jenkins said the best part of winning the awards was simply "the look on my dad's face when I told him I won."

"He's a big part of why I'm here," Jenkins said. "He's the one that always told me I could do anything."

IN THE KNOW

Honored firefighters

Company of the Year: Engine 18-C, engineer Shane Skarke and firefighters Joe Crawford and Allan Duvall

EMS Award: Engine 27, engineer Don Metcalf and firefighters Jake Barber, Brett Lucas and Chris Moore

Rescue of the Year: Capt. Tony Casarez and firefighter Ricky Jones

Specialty Operations of the Year: engineers Kenny Cole and Mike Walters and firefighters Kenny Dean, Scott Robinson and Jerry Webb

Support Services Employee: Capt. Greg Yates

Red Helmet: Wayne Kerley

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Deanna Boyd, 817-390-7655 dboyd@star-telegram.com

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Copyright (c) 2006, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, Texas)

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