After working an office job for a couple of years, Shae Brooks knew she wanted to do something different.
“I saw an advertisement for the Hutchinson Fire Department in the paper, so I started looking at firefighting,” the Hutchinson native said.
Brooks joined the Fire Science program at Hutchinson Community College, where she also completed her emergency medical training.
“After I got my degree, I ended up working in the St. Joe emergency room for eight years as a medical technician,” she said. She also began teaching medical proficiency skills for HCC’s Fire Science program, which she’s done now for 13 years.
She never joined the Hutchinson Fire Department but began firefighting as a volunteer with Reno County Fire District 3. After three years there, she became an airport rescue firefighter in Wichita and also joined the South Hutchinson Fire Department part-time.
Brooks, 40, was named the chief of the South Hutchinson Fire Department on Nov. 5.
While the first female chief for the agency, Shae said it wasn’t something she gave much thought to. There’s currently another woman on the department, but she’s also becoming a police officer, Shae said.
(Read more: News – The Hutchinson News)