New Lincoln Park firefighter is the first Arab-American woman in department's history
By Jessica Strachan
Mona Markabani remembers exactly when she realized she would become a firefighter: the moment she discovered women firefighters existed.
She was 7 years old, a self-described tomboy, sitting in the back row of a morning assembly at her Dearborn elementary school, when a group of firefighters filed in to talk to the students about fire safety.
It was nothing too special until, beneath all the gear, one of those firefighters turned out to be a woman.
“When she said she was a firefighter, too, I couldn’t believe it,” said the 24-year-old Markabani, who graduated from Schoolcraft College’s fire academy in the fall.
“All the books I read in school were firemen. I didn’t even know it was possible. It was literally a switch in my head saying: I’m doing that. I was always a tomboy and if the boys could do it, I could do it.”
Earlier this month, Markabani became the Lincoln Park’s 18th and final hire for the Fire Department to be fully staffed. Her starting salary is $38,234.
She was sworn in at the city’s Public Safety Commission meeting July 16. She is the second woman firefighter in the history of the department and the first Arab-American firefighter the city has had, according to Fire Chief Al Dyer, who led the hiring process with two senior officers.
He said Markabani, who studied to be a paramedic at Henry Ford Community College and has worked at HealthLink for just over a year, scored the highest out of several candidates in a standardized interview scoring system.
Markabani reports to Lt. Mike Prinz, one of the senior officers who brought her on board. He previously worked under the department’s first and only other woman firefighter, Angela Dayfield, who retired in 2012 as a fire inspector after a 25-year career.
Prinz said Dayfield mentored him in the department and he appreciated the dynamic and different perspective of a female firefighter. He said he’s glad to see another woman join the department and he believes Markabani will transition easily.
“She’s fun, bubbly, and her energy and laughter have already changed the dynamic of the shifts,” he said. “What I’m really excited about with her is that she’s very determined. She wants to prove herself and I think that’s great.”
Markabani said she is used to having to prove herself and to keep pushing through any discouragement.
She was born in Germany, where her parents, both born in Lebanon, had been living the last 10 years while her father made a living as a butcher. As a child, Markabani’s family returned her to Lebanon for a of couple years and ultimately settled stateside in Dearborn, where that school year — specifically during a morning assembly — she decided who she would become.
“I remember going home to my mom and telling her I was going to be a firefighter one day,” Markabani said. “She said: ‘What? That’s a man’s job.’”
Her family might have first dismissed it as a little kid’s dream she’d outgrow, Markabani said, or even assumed it was part of the “tomboy” appeal she so strongly identified with at that age, but Markabani said her “old-fashioned” family began taking a more open-minded approach soon enough.
In fact, Markabani said, her mother found herself working in a local auto factory, demonstrating that she was just as capable as her mostly male co-workers. Her oldest sister went on to become an officer in the Detroit Police Department, with a sense of self-confidence similar to what their mother displayed, Markabani added.
Now as she trains to fight her first fire in Lincoln Park, Markabani said she knows her family is happy for her. And despite firefighting still being a male-dominated profession, she’s OK with that, as long as she gets her fighting chance.
Markanabi warns, though, that she’s tougher than she might look.
“The worst is when someone assumes I can’t do the job just because I’m a woman,: she said. “I always tell them: ‘I’m up for the task; don’t let my winged eyeliner fool you.’
“Then, you should see their faces when I lift something,” she added with a laugh.
More than anything, Markabani said she hopes to stand out as a role model for girls and boys.
“I think what I’ll enjoy most is being able to make a difference and being part of something so big; being able to inspire others,” she said. “That female firefighter inspired me and I want people to look at me — whether female or male, and think, if she can do it, I’ll be able to do it, too.”
Source: www.thenewsherald.com