FEW PEOPLE have the chance to become pioneers in their field, and even fewer take that risk and blaze new paths. Lucy Nelson — wife, mother, and lieutenant at the Lebanon Fire Department — is one of those people. As the first female firefighter in Lebanon, Nelson had to break through many barriers to succeed. But she did succeed, and in over 15 years of service, she has done a lot of good in Lebanon. 

Her success took many years of hard work, and it did not come without rejections as well. Nelson first applied to be a firefighter at 19 years old. She had been in the National Guard, and felt like the fire service was a good fit as well. 

“I love taking care of people, and I also love to prove [to] people that I can do things that they think I can’t do, so when I was 19, it just seemed like the next step for me,” Nelson said. 

She wasn’t hired. Nelson moved on with her life, thinking that it was just a dream that had passed her by. She got married, had a daughter, got divorced, and then one day as she was working in dispatch, Nelson’s mother gave her a call. 

“She had heard the chief at the time speaking on the radio, and he was talking about how they really wanted to hire a female,” Nelson said. “She had known that was a dream of mine for years.”

Firefighters work 24-hour shifts, so Nelson’s mother volunteered to watch her 4-year-old daughter during those 24 hours. Nelson was finally able to achieve her dream. 

She was a little older and had different reasons for joining, but the fire to succeed was still there. 

“I thought it would be cool to be the first female, but I also, with a young daughter, wanted to show her that we could do whatever we wanted to do, and I was going to prove it to her,” Nelson said. “But my main motivation for keeping going and being a firefighter is helping people.” 

The challenges didn’t end once she was hired. Now, Nelson had to pass fire school, as well as many other grueling challenges. She had to get the other firefighters to trust her as well, Nelson said. In the life or death situations firefighters find themselves in, trust is incredibly important. 

“I was pretty much breaking the boys club,” Nelson said. “There had never been a girl, and they didn’t know if I was coming in to actually do a job — like, seriously take on this job — or just to take up a spot.” 

Fortunately, many of her co-workers stood behind her and encouraged her to keep going. She persevered through the many physical challenges, and she and her superiors adapted many techniques — not so they would be easier, Nelson said, but so they worked better for her. 

“As a female, what’s harder for us — it’s always going to be [us] not having as much upper body strength as a man does, and that’s just always going to be the thing, but what you have to do is figure out how you can do it,” Nelson said. “It was my business to work out every single day so I could get through fire school and I could’ve never done it without the people that were at my station at the time that truly believed in what I was going to do.” 

One of those physical challenges included running a mile in full gear — gear that can weigh between 45 to 75 pounds. Nelson proved that it’s the determination that really matters, not size or gender. 

“Anything is possible; I don’t care how small you are or how big you are,” Nelson said. 

While there have been other female firefighters since Nelson first began her career, Nelson is the only one still serving at the station. There aren’t many women who see it as a career option, Nelson said, and even fewer who think they can succeed. But mothers like her can do well.

“I’m home for two days, so I spend more time at home with my kids than I do at work,” Nelson said. “I’ve been there to pick them up; I’ve been able to do so much stuff for them because of my work schedule.” 

Nelson’s goal is to continue breaking barriers, promoting as high as she can before retirement so the next woman who follows her knows that they can do it. 

“I think that females do a great job,” Nelson said. “I would really love all women to — especially women that are athletic and have the heart and want to really help the community that they live in — to consider this for a career.” 

With someone like Lucy Nelson as an example, there is no reason to think such a thing is impossible. GN