Chief Tiffany Green

Blazing Trails with Fire Chief Tiffany Green: Insights from a Pioneering African American Woman in the Fire Service

In this episode of 'Blazing Trails and Breaking Norms' by the African American Firefighters Museum, host Karen Slider interviews Tiffany Green, the first black woman to lead the Prince George's County Fire Department in Maryland. Chief Green shares her journey from volunteering to becoming a paid firefighter, the challenges she faced as a woman and mother in a male-dominated field, and the importance of visible role models and targeted recruitment for women in the fire service. She also discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on firefighter staffing and offers advice for young women considering a career in the fire service. The episode closes with an invitation to visit the African American Firefighters Museum in Los Angeles.

00:00 Introduction to the Podcast
00:44 Meet Fire Chief Tiffany Green
02:00 Balancing Motherhood and Firefighting
05:44 Journey to Becoming a Firefighter
06:51 Volunteer vs. Paid Firefighting
11:44 Challenges and Triumphs
14:39 Reflections and Future Aspirations
16:32 Closing Remarks and Museum Information

Creators & Guests

Host

Karen Slider

Karen Slider, retired firefighter/paramedic host- was the 2nd Black Female firefighter with the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Guest

Chief Tiffany Green

Fire Chief for Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department

Producer

D'Lisa Davies

D'Lisa Davies retired Captain was the first black female firefighter with Los Angeles Fire Department

Producer

Michael Slider

Designer

Sydney Breakfield

What is "Blazing Trails and Breaking Norms: African American Women's Legacy in the Fire Service.?

Tune in to our podcast, where African-American women firefighters/paramedics share their own words, recounting their awe-inspiring journey, challenges, and impact on the fire service. Through their firsthand accounts, you'll gain a deeper appreciation for their resilience, uncover the layers of history they've shaped, and recognize their transformative role in this vital profession."

Karen: 00:00

Welcome to the podcast, Blazing Trails and Breaking Norms, African American Women's Legacy in the Fire Service, presented by the African American Firefighting Museum in Los Angeles, California. I'm your host, Karen Slider, a retired Los Angeles City Fire Department firefighter paramedic. Join us for candid interviews with outstanding black women shaping the fire service legacy. Please note that the opinions of our guests are their own and do not reflect those of the African American Firefighter Museum. Today, we have the privilege of interviewing Tiffany Green, the fire chief of the Prince George's County Fire Department in Maryland.

Karen: 00:54

She is the 1st Black woman to lead the department. We look forward to hearing her insights on managing the fire department and exploring the significance of the fire service as a respected profession. Tiffany, are you there?

Chief Green: 01:13

Yes. I am. How are you guys doing?

Karen: 01:15

We're doing great. We're so excited to hear about your journey. Can you give us a little background about yourself?

Chief Green: 01:22

Absolutely. So I'll be as brief as I can. I'm sure you guys can find everything online. But again, my name is Tiffany Green. I'm from Prince George's County, Maryland.

Chief Green: 01:30

I am the 13th fire chief of one of the largest combination departments in the world. I've been serving in this role a little over 4 years with about 27, 28 years of experience in the fire service, coming into Prince George's County Fire Department in March of 1999. I am a wife and a mother. I have a 24 year old daughter and 2 grandsons, Cairo and Cree, 1 and 2 respectively, and mayor Ballafson. So that's just a little bit about me and I'm sure you guys will learn

Karen: 01:57

a little bit more doing the reporting. Okay. Did you have any kids? No.

Chief Green: 02:01

When I got hired to the department, I did not. My daughter again is 24 years old.

Karen: 02:05

Okay. So when you came on, was it hard if you were pregnant to get time off and how did that work for you? Because it was kind

Chief Green: 02:12

of difficult for us. We were like 1 of

Karen: 02:14

the first women to get pregnant.

Chief Green: 02:16

So for me, I wasn't one of the the first, but the challenges for me as it relates to my pregnancy is at pregnant when I was in a probationary status in the department, Meaning, I was assigned to a station, but I was in my rookie book as we would call it. And the challenges there in that scenario was just in me not wanting to come out of the seal too soon because of the pressures of finishing the rookie book and getting all those things done. So I didn't have a lot of mentors to say, take your time off, come out of the field, take the maternity leave, those type of things. You'll have enough opportunity to get what you need on the back end once you have had your child come back to work. Those things didn't exist there.

Chief Green: 02:55

Those bridges were not there for us back then. So I stayed out in the field to almost 6 or 7 months, went to my pregnancy a long time. And that's not something I would advocate for anyone to do. For me, it worked out, but I wouldn't say it was the easiest thing or necessarily the right thing if I could choose to do it differently now knowing what I know. But I did that, and my crew supported me in those efforts.

Chief Green: 03:17

The only other challenges I did incur, of course, with being on shift work, that's always challenging. Finding support systems to take care of a child and to seal those maternal things as mothers we want to do and finding that balance. At some point in my career, when my daughter was about 1 or 2, I was in a paramedic class, which is a 2 year program, pretty difficult. And I remember struggling to just make sure I had childcare and those things necessary to get to class in the evenings and make sure that I met the job requirements there. There wasn't a lot of balance that existed at the time in our department for our female firefighters.

Chief Green: 03:53

So those are just some of my experiences there.

Karen: 03:55

You answered a lot of questions

Chief Green: 03:57

that that I have outlined just with your opening. What was life for you to become a

Karen: 04:03

woman and become pregnant on the job? We had

Chief Green: 04:07

support systems that were outside of the department. We wouldn't have been allowed to work. As soon as they found out we were pregnant, we were sent to light duty. There were

Karen: 04:16

no light duty positions for you. So you had

Chief Green: 04:19

a crew that backed you up.

Karen: 04:20

Can you tell me how they did that?

Chief Green: 04:21

Yes. So let me clarify. There were light duty positions available. I just didn't take them. So we had a policy and procedure for pregnant women in the department to be able to go on light duty.

Chief Green: 04:31

I felt the pressure of staying in my station because I wanted to finish my book in a timely manner. And that was the culture at the time in the fire service. So there were positions. We just some of us just didn't take them because we felt like leaving the station too soon would put us further behind and getting through our rookie books and our as our conditional offers and appointment. But the crew that I had in place, they supported me making sure that if we ran out fire suppression calls that I was not in an environment that would be conducive to carrying a baby.

Chief Green: 05:03

They made sure that I was properly hydrated and that I wasn't lifting heavy things. Like, they just really supported me on that end as it got as I started to show and I started to have challenges. There also needed swaps for me when I felt sick and ill, and they just really picked up the the load there. So I really appreciate that crew at the time and their willingness to work with me. But hindsight being what it is, I would encourage all females to take the the, positions that are afforded to you on light duty to ensure the health and wealth of yourself and the baby.

Karen: 05:33

Wow. That's wonderful. I'm glad you had them and I'm glad they supported you and it didn't delay you in any way from becoming the chief that you are. Thank you. Did you always want to be a firefighter?

Chief Green: 05:47

No, actually not at all. I grew up right around the corner from the fire station and never went. Didn't know anyone in the fire service at all. Graduated high school, went to college, went to George Washington University. And part of my electives there, I took an EMT course as part of my biology major.

Chief Green: 06:04

And the EMT course required you to do a ride along at one of the local fire stations. And I did that ride along, and that's where I was introduced to the fire service and EMS and, volunteering. As a result of that ride along, I finished that ride along and then I decided I liked it enough that I decided that I would volunteer in that particular fire department. And I did, and so I volunteered for a few years while I finished my degree. Finished my college degree, went up to work in the federal government.

Chief Green: 06:30

And then at some point, I just decided that I enjoyed what I was doing more on the volunteer side, that I did my good government job. I changed careers and I entered the fire service in March of 1999.

Karen: 06:42

Wow. You know what they say, if you love what you do, it's not work. Absolutely. And it sounds like you love it.

Chief Green: 06:49

Absolutely.

Karen: 06:51

What kind of what's involved with volunteers? Do they get any kind of compensation, uniform allowance, anything like that?

Chief Green: 06:57

Yes. So in Prince George's County, we have a pretty large volunteer, contingency here. We're one of the largest volunteer combination departments in the world. We have over 2,000 volunteers here in our in our department and we have 45 stations that are mixed career and volunteers. So the state of Maryland does a really good job of supporting our volunteers.

Chief Green: 07:15

Not only are there tax stipends, things that they can use on that end, there are tuition reimbursements, of course, free uniform and training that comes with that, as well as other various incentives that we offer. Our LOSAP program, which is length of service award program, which is almost like a retirement. After you've served so many years as a volunteer, you get a monthly stipend up to $1500 a month. Like, we really do a lot to try to support our long standing volunteers here in our community in Prince George County. So those are just some of the things that we offer here.

Karen: 07:44

Man, makes me wanna volunteer. Okay. What did it mean to you when you became a paid firefighter?

Chief Green: 07:56

So again, I was introduced to the fire service on the volunteer side. So I was well oriented to Prince George's County and our system, becoming a paid firefighter. Again, it's just I wanted to fulfill this as a lifelong career. So it was important to me again to get hired and get through the hiring process like everyone else, but also to start my career kind of fresh. Even though I had a volunteer experience, I took all the training all over again with the exception of EMT, of course, and learning the I wouldn't say the career way, but just the way they they do business on the career side, which is a little different from the volunteer side, and making sure that I looked at it as a career and the professional aspect of it.

Chief Green: 08:31

It wasn't something that I can show up when I wanted to and pick and choose. This was now say I was now saying this was a part of my fabric and being this is who I was. I was now going into this as a profession. So it meant a lot to be able to do that.

Karen: 08:43

Do you think there were any hindrances to you becoming, a firefighter because you're a black woman?

Chief Green: 08:50

I don't say there were any hindrances. I didn't have any problems through the application process. It was, relatively easy to get through that. They were looking for women at the time. They were actually recruiting women, not necessarily black women, but they were recruiting women in itself.

Chief Green: 09:04

We have since changed our model a little bit where we just selected recruiting for different groups. But back in 1999, they were just recruiting women and they didn't have a plan to do it. They were just advertising as as best that they could. So I don't think there was any hindrance to me getting hired other than the fact that I need nothing about it. So this wasn't something that was advertised or African Americans in this particular community, we weren't sought out.

Chief Green: 09:31

So it wasn't something that growing up I would have seen. So therefore, I think that's the only hindrance is if I had known about this sooner that I may have considered that before I had gone and I've done another path.

Karen: 09:44

Yeah, the same for me as a youth. There were no blacks on the fire department and there definitely were no women on the fire department. That wasn't one of my goals either. I just happened to fall into it and I heard it on the radio. I'm glad that you volunteered because you had a rapport with the fire department even before you joined.

Karen: 10:02

Do you suggest that most people volunteer before they become firefighters? I don't.

Chief Green: 10:08

What I tell them is you can join our department either way. You can do with no experience at all.

Karen: 10:12

We'll train you and we welcome that.

Chief Green: 10:14

But I also encourage our volunteers that really love this to do it on a different level, on a professional level. So I see both ways having come through the system as a volunteer. So I see both ways having come through the system as a volunteer. I think that it did give me a sense of orientation to the fire service. Like, I understood it.

Chief Green: 10:25

I had already been running calls. I was EMT certified, so I've had some of those things that helped me. But when I got to the academy, they treated us all the same. And we all worked boots on the ground and recruits and learning from and to to coming to our academy, wanting to learn from the start. And then using your experience of being in our department to help others and give them kind of a better sense of belonging because they've already been a part of the organization.

Karen: 10:55

Do you actively recruit women now?

Chief Green: 10:57

We do. That's the we do some targeted recruitment. And again, I think we are the biggest component for ourselves. We we support, women in all aspects of public safety, but I specifically, of course, seek out women in the fire service and trying to encourage them to do this. And I think the biggest recruitment effort that we have is that we're being seen.

Chief Green: 11:15

We're visible. We're out there. My current recruiter is a female. I make sure that when we go to recruitment events, when we go to high schools, when we go to elementary schools, that there are women of color, that they can see, and that we are visibly showing them that it can be done. And when we look at our numbers, I think that's reflective of that.

Chief Green: 11:34

We do a good job of that, and we're willing to see, seek out opportunities to be better in that aspect.

Karen: 11:41

Could you tell me just a couple more questions? One, what is the most challenging thing you had to face as a firefighter or becoming who you are as a chief?

Chief Green: 11:52

That's that's a 2 pronged question. Becoming a chief and a firefighter, 2 different things for me. I would say as a firefighter, the biggest challenge would be the physical challenge. As a woman on smaller side, I'm 5 2, 5 3 when I wanna be. That is that's always gonna be the out front first challenge, being a female in the fire service.

Chief Green: 12:11

We absolutely can do the job, but have to learn to do it a little differently. And I think that's something that has to be taught. It has to be encouraged. It's not something that's gonna come naturally. So for me, the challenge was figuring out how to do the job and be as good, but just do it differently and using the things that are assets to me.

Chief Green: 12:28

And that is something I learned in the training academy because there was a female assigned to the training academy at that time. My hardest challenge as a female fire chief, again, is the fact that, again, I'm still the minority. I am often the only one in the room in the fire service industry, as well as in the public safety industry. So being visible and being present everywhere is a challenge because they need my voice on all the platforms, but can't be everywhere. And we really struggle to try to be so that things are simple things, simple concepts like properly sitting gear for women and those type of things are being heard and talked about.

Chief Green: 13:03

So those are some of the challenges.

Karen: 13:06

Okay. If you had to change anything right now, if you could change one thing in your department, what would it be?

Chief Green: 13:12

Staffing. That's our biggest challenge. Again, and this is something that every fire department is struggling with. We saw during COVID, what we saw in mass exodus, firefighters and paramedics just no longer wanting to do this job. I think some of it is just the impact of the COVID pandemic and being on the front lines the entire town.

Chief Green: 13:29

What I tell people all the time is what I experienced as a chief, and I became the chief right as COVID hit within 30 days, I was dealing with it. What I experienced in my exit interviews and talking to my firefighters and paramedics is that they signed up to go in Bergen building and to risk their lives. What they didn't sign up for is to take potentially take those elements back to their family. And that's what we saw with COVID. It was an unknown enemy.

Chief Green: 13:51

We didn't know how we were spreading it. Wasn't we weren't sure. We were bringing it back home to our families. And I think that emotional toll just really wore us out as an industry. And we saw a lot of people choosing different careers.

Chief Green: 14:03

So keeping up with that has been a challenge, and every firefighter or every fire chief I talk to, their focus is really recruiting and retention and trying to build back up the fire service with staffing so that we're properly able to staff our apparatus and stations so that we can serve our community. I can't serve them without people. And although I'm one of the largest combinations departments in department in the world, volunteerism across the nation is no longer the same. Finding people who want to volunteer in their community in this capacity has changed and their motivation has changed. So being able to adapt to that is probably one of the biggest things.

Karen: 14:39

Would you do it all over again?

Chief Green: 14:41

Absolutely. I think this is one of the best careers in the world. I'll tell people all the time, I think you said it in the very beginning, even for me as a fire chief, serving our community, serving with the people that were serving in the fire service, it's like none other. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I enjoy it.

Chief Green: 14:55

Even coming into the 20 something year of doing it, I still wake up every single day and enjoy going to work. And that's the model for what I want to embody in our department. I want people to wanna be here and to enjoy it.

Karen: 15:08

I think anybody that sees this podcast and hears our, hears your voice and the inspiration that you are giving, I think they'll be more than happy to join. You need to be out there more, you need to be on television, you need to make your face sing because you are an inspiration and you will draw people in just with your voice. Thank you. Thank you. So in closing, is there anything you'd like to say?

Chief Green: 15:33

I think, I think your podcast is going to pretty much sum it all up, but again, I think one of the things that I'm always asked is what I would say to any black woman or female, young adult that's interested in this career. And I would tell them, 1, I'm here. I am a living example that you can do this. I think that's important for them to see that there are women that are doing it every single day. We need them and we want them in the fire service.

Chief Green: 15:59

So that's what I would share.

Karen: 16:01

Absolutely. If nothing else, but for the human and the compassionate side, because we bring something that men don't and that's a calm as soon as we walk in the room. Absolutely. Thank you Chief Green. I look forward to meeting you in person one day and I hope you enjoy this podcast when it's all put together and finished.

Karen: 16:24

Thanks, everyone. We hope you enjoy today's podcast featuring the inspiring chief, Tiffany Green and gain deeper insight and appreciation for her achievements as a black woman in leadership. Remember to visit the African American Firefighter Museum at 1401 Central Avenue in Los Angeles. Situated at the corner of 14th and Central, just across the street from the Coca Cola bottling plant, The museum warmly welcomes visitors every Sunday from 1 to 4 pm. For more information, you can reach us at 213-744-1730.

Karen: 17:22

Thank you for tuning in and being a part of our journey celebrating African American women in the fire service. Stay tuned for more remarkable stories and experiences.