AT ONLY 20 years old, Mackenzie Caldwell has made Winchester history as the first full-time female firefighter at the Winchester Fire Department. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While she\u2019s incredibly humble about the achievement, it\u2019s evident that it took a lot of long hours, hard work, and determination for her to be in this position. They\u2019ve had other female volunteers, just never any full-time ones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m proud of myself for getting that position, but it wasn\u2019t a race or anything to become the first female,\u201d she said. \u201cThat wasn\u2019t why I did it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Oregon, first responder jobs piqued Caldwell\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the comradery, the community, the adrenaline,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s something to give me a purpose.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Caldwell does something, she doesn\u2019t do it halfway. She went to Winchester Fire Department and asked what it would take for her to go full time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOnce I find something I\u2019m passionate about, I don\u2019t want to shorthand myself by not pursuing it and not putting in the effort,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I started going to the fire service, I didn\u2019t have a clue about any of it. I just showed up at the station and asked them to show me the ways.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, Caldwell is one of about 15 full-time firefighters in the department. When she\u2019s not working 24-hour shifts, strength training, or pursuing her fire science degree, she takes technical courses in Swiftwater Rescue and Burn-Building Training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI may not be as strong as some of the guys, but I focus as much as I can on expanding my knowledge,\u201d she said. \u201cI have basically dedicated everything I do toward firefighting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While she doesn\u2019t have the physical strength that some of her peers do, her petite size makes it easy for her to wiggle into places others wouldn\u2019t be able to. She said that search and rescue in confined spaces has kind of become her niche. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe 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,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019ll help me grow as a person and also grow my department.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Caldwell said she\u2019s learned a lot from the men she works with. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m 20, and I haven\u2019t gone out and experienced too much, so they\u2019ve helped me with life lessons,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m proud of becoming a part of a second family.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But since Winchester doesn\u2019t 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s 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,\u201d Caldwell said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whether it be firefighting, teaching, or anything else, Caldwell advises young women:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDon\u2019t be scared of what you don\u2019t know of, even if it\u2019s nerve-wracking to go and try a new thing. If it\u2019s something you want to do, there\u2019s nothing holding you back from starting somewhere and giving it a try.\u201d GN<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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\u2019s incredibly humble about the achievement, it\u2019s evident that it took a lot of long hours, hard work, and determination for her to be in this position. They\u2019ve had other female volunteers, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":12036,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n