DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - The Decatur Fire Department has named Tina German-Roberts a captain, making her the first woman ever to hold that title with the department.
"I think it's about time we have some females step up into leadership roles here, and I'm honored and humbled to be the first one," German-Roberts told WAND News.
"She has been exceptional her entire career," said Decatur Fire Chief Neil Elder. "Since she's been here, she is our go-to for medical training and for leading the way. She has done things to make our training better and more efficient, and be able to do a lot of stuff in-house. If it weren't for her, we couldn't do that."
German-Roberts has broken through glass ceilings since she began her career as a paramedic. In 1994, she was a part of the first-ever all-female partnership at Decatur Ambulance and was also the first female Lieutenant in DFD history.
"It's meant the world to me to be able to transition from being just a paramedic to also incorporating the fire side into it," she said.
German-Roberts had a passion for public service since she was little, watching her dad as a police officer.
"I got to hang out at the police station all the time. There were the fire trucks and the ambulances that ran out of there," German-Roberts said. "I know a lot of the guys my dad worked with would be like, 'You want to be a cop when you grow up?' and I would be like, 'No, I want to do that,' and I would point at the fire trucks and the ambulances."
German-Roberts hopes it will be easier for other women to secure leadership roles now that she has done so.
"[I] just never had many role models, so I'm hoping to be that role model for the little girls and the women that are thinking about it," German-Roberts said.
She has already started in her new role and will work out of Station 6 in South Shores.
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