BROOKFIELD — The latest state statistics from 2020 shows less than 10 percent of firefighters in our state are female.
One of those women just broke a huge ceiling: Lyn Mikolajczak, Brookfield's first female fire lieutenant.
At our darkest hour, your life or a loved one's may one day be in Mikolajczak's hands, which is why the physical standard to be a Brookfield firefighter remains so high.
Whether you're a man or a woman, the bar is the same.
She says when she joined the department in 2009, she was the only female firefighter for 7 years.
Now, she's making history in the city. Next Wednesday, February 10, she'll be sworn in as Brookfield's first female fire lieutenant. She says getting to this point meant doing the work, like anyone else.
"You have to show up and you have to pull the hose and swing the tools and throw the ladders and that's how the job gets done, because more hands equals less work," Mikolajczak says.
Being able to do an Ironman and multiple marathons helped her meet that bar, and inspire the men she's worked beside for the past 15 years.
With a degree as a registered nurse, the 39-year-old has it all. She'll be charged with supervising one of the city's three firehouses, and will be in charge of large scenes.
"The main thing is that everyone goes home safe in the morning to their families," she says.
She says none of this would have happened if the men she works 24-hour shifts with, on the toughest calls you could imagine, didn't believe in her.
A gesture she hopes to pay forward to the next generation of firefighters.
"If you believe you can do it, that is more than half the battle," Mikolajczak adds.
Big shoes she will soon fill, while breaking the ceiling.
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