Texas fire department hires first female firefighter in its history

(Image credit: iStock)

last updated 11 May 2017

It took 105 years, but the Harlingen Fire Department finally has its first female firefighter.

Cirio Rodriguez, the station's assistant fire chief, said women have applied to work for the Harlingen Fire Department before, but did not score high enough on the exam or decided to become border patrol or police officers. "All of us here are so proud of Bree — she did this all on her own," he said. Bree Rios was working as an EMT before becoming a firefighter in April, after she passed the firefighter exam on her third try. "I'd like to tell other girls and young women to go after their dreams," she told People. "I'm proof that if you want something badly enough, it can happen."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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