AT ONLY 20 years old, Mackenzie Caldwell has made Winchester history as the first full-time female firefighter at the Winchester Fire Department.
While she’s incredibly humble about the achievement, it’s evident that it took a lot of long hours, hard work, and determination for her to be in this position. They’ve had other female volunteers, just never any full-time ones.
“I’m proud of myself for getting that position, but it wasn’t a race or anything to become the first female,” she said. “That wasn’t why I did it.”
Growing up in Oregon, first responder jobs piqued Caldwell’s interest. After moving to central Tennessee with her family, she began considering teaching and firefighting. She became a volunteer firefighter while pursuing a degree in education. But when it came down to it, firefighting had her heart.
“It’s the comradery, the community, the adrenaline,” she said. “And it’s something to give me a purpose.”
When Caldwell does something, she doesn’t do it halfway. She went to Winchester Fire Department and asked what it would take for her to go full time.
“Once I find something I’m passionate about, I don’t want to shorthand myself by not pursuing it and not putting in the effort,” she said. “When I started going to the fire service, I didn’t have a clue about any of it. I just showed up at the station and asked them to show me the ways.”
Now, Caldwell is one of about 15 full-time firefighters in the department. When she’s not working 24-hour shifts, strength training, or pursuing her fire science degree, she takes technical courses in Swiftwater Rescue and Burn-Building Training.
“I may not be as strong as some of the guys, but I focus as much as I can on expanding my knowledge,” she said. “I have basically dedicated everything I do toward firefighting.”
While she doesn’t have the physical strength that some of her peers do, her petite size makes it easy for her to wiggle into places others wouldn’t be able to. She said that search and rescue in confined spaces has kind of become her niche.
“The fire services in the Winchester Fire Department have opened up a lot of opportunities for us to step outside of just being a front-line firefighter,” she said. “They’ll help me grow as a person and also grow my department.”
Caldwell said she’s learned a lot from the men she works with.
“I’m 20, and I haven’t gone out and experienced too much, so they’ve helped me with life lessons,” she said. “I’m proud of becoming a part of a second family.”
But since Winchester doesn’t have any other female firefighters, she has found inspiration from other women at conferences, training, and other departments. Recently, she and Makayla Long of the neighboring Tullahoma Fire Department were two of only five women at a 30-person training.
“There’s not a ton of us, at least in the small towns that I work in, but there are obviously other women out there who are doing some great things in fire service, and just seeing them is inspiring,” Caldwell said.
Whether it be firefighting, teaching, or anything else, Caldwell advises young women:
“Don’t be scared of what you don’t know of, even if it’s nerve-wracking to go and try a new thing. If it’s something you want to do, there’s nothing holding you back from starting somewhere and giving it a try.” GN