FDNY history was made at Queens College as the head of Battalion 46 in Elmhurst became the first-ever female deputy chief and the highest-ranking woman in fire operations.
Battalion Chief Michele Fitzsimmons, a 24-year veteran of the FDNY, received a standing ovation inside Colden Auditorium on Friday morning after being promoted to Deputy Chief.
“I’ve been fortunate to work in a lot of great places,” Fitzsimmons said. “I’ve been supported by the Department. I’ve been supported by my friends in the Department, people who I’ve studied with. That made a real difference in my career, and it’s an exciting moment for me because I feel like it’s an opportunity for young girls to see what’s possible. That’s kind of the biggest thing for me when it comes down to it.”
Fitzsimmons was promoted along with 69 fellow members of fire operations. She was one of four promoted to the rank of Deputy Chief, 16 Captains were promoted to Battalion Chief, 18 Lieutenants were promoted to Captain, and 32 firefighters were promoted to Lieutenant during the ceremony.
“I really love my job as a Battalion Chief, but I feel it’s an important thing to happen in the department for a woman to be in the rank of Deputy Chief,” Fitzsimmons said. “I think the number of women on the job is just going to continue to grow. It’s the ability of people to see women on the rigs and doing the job in their community that makes it seem obtainable.”
During his welcoming remark, FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker spoke of meeting Fitzsimmons on his first day on the job.
“She was clad in bunker gear when I visiting [and she] came over to say hello during that firehouse visit,” Tucker said. “We have met several times, and I’m thrilled that she is the first woman to be promoted to the rank of Deputy Chief of fire operations with a family pedigree of firefighting in her blood,” Tucker said. Her great-grandfather, Charles Roth, joined the FDNY in 1909 and retired in 1958. Her grandfather, Michael Fitzsimmons, joined the FDNY in 1932 and retired as a Battalion Chief in 1968.
“You might think her choice to become a firefighter was an obvious one, but her grandfather, a battalion chief himself, bristled at the suggestion of doing the job,” Tucker said. “She did it anyway, and when she invited him to attend Family Day at the Fire Academy nearly 25 years ago, he came telling her perhaps it wasn’t such a bad idea. She won him over, and she won all of us over as a tough, compassionate, and knowledgeable leader.”
Her sister, Maura, followed in her footsteps and joined the FDNY in 2006. Deputy Chief Fitzsimmons began her FDNY career in May 2001. Six probies from her class were killed on Sept. 11th, when she was assigned to Engine 289 in Corona.
“I feel really fortunate and felt it was important to study because I was given an opportunity they never had,” Fitzsimmons said. “I’ll be thinking about the six guys from my class who didn’t get the chance to have the full career that I did and the sacrifice that they made.”
She added that she would also be thinking of her family.
“One of my nieces sent me this project, homework that she had from when she was a kid that she found the other day,” Fitzsimmons said. “And it was about ‘who is your hero/’ And it said, ‘My hero is my aunt Michele. She’s a firefighter.’”
Commissioner Tucker had his own family in mind during the promotion day ceremony.
“Chief Fitzsimmons is paving the way for women like my two daughters as an example of all that is possible,” Tucker said. “Chief, you are making history today, shattering the glass ceiling for women everywhere. You are showing women and girls everywhere what leadership looks like, what possibility looks like. The impact of your promotion today will reverberate for decades.”
