Earlier this year, Paula Zimmerman shattered a glass ceiling in a male-dominated field and she did it wearing her helmet and turnout gear.

The 1960 Oxford High School graduate became the first female chief for the Texoma Volunteer Fire Department in Marshall County, Oklahoma.

“It’s pretty cool,” said the 74-year-old, whose maiden name is Mann. “I’m pretty proud of it.”

Being in charge of a bunch of guys, plus one other woman, hasn’t been an issue or challenge for Zimmerman.

“They support me 100 percent,” she said. “We all work as a team. Everybody supports me. We have no problems.”

According to the International Association of Women in Fire and Emergency Services, women have served as chiefs of volunteer departments since the 1930s and while numbers are “difficult to obtain, there are certainly more than 150 female volunteer fire chiefs active in the U.S. at any given time.”

The first woman to head a career fire department was Chief Rosemary Bliss in Tiburon, California. She retired in 2002 after nine years at the helm.

The Texoma Fire District encompasses 26 square miles and has a population of approximately 2,200 people, a mix of natives, retirees and weekenders.

Instead of being funded by property taxes, as is the case here in Oxford and Addison, the Texoma Fire District is financed by between 1,100 and 1,200 paid memberships. The minimum is $35 annually for properties 5 acres or less.

“We’re the cheapest,” Zimmerman said. “With some of the other fire departments, they pay $50 (annually).”

“We just chose not to increase (the fee). We may have to later on, but right now, we’re happy where we’re at,” she added.

Texoma’s fire department consists of three stations, 11 vehicles and 13 firefighters, including the chief.

“We’re strictly a volunteer fire department,” Zimmerman said. “We’re on call all the time. We don’t have enough guys for rotation like some of the paid fire departments do. Everybody here is on call 24-7.”

Last year, the department handled 136 emergency medical calls, 25 fires and eight car crashes.

Prior to Zimmerman taking over in January, her husband of nearly 31 years, Jere, had served as Texoma’s fire chief since 2005. When he decided to retire, the district’s board of directors asked her to succeed him.

Given her seniority, knowledge, experience, and the fact she had served as first assistant fire chief for about 10 years, Zimmerman “really wasn’t surprised” by the request.

“I was more than happy to do it,” she said.

Zimmerman and her husband originally moved to Marshall County to enjoy their retirement. Once there, they realized the best way to get to know people and become acquainted with the community was through the fire department.

Jere joined in 1999 and Paula assisted the department as a “water girl,” making sure thirsty firefighters stayed hydrated at scenes. She became a firefighter in 2003.

“I love fighting fires,” she said. “I like to get out there and get on the hose and make a difference.”

Zimmerman said the job can be “hectic at times,” but it’s always “fun” and “interesting” work. She loves helping people and enjoys being on the receiving end of the public’s gratitude, be it a simple thank you, a few kind words or a great big hug.

“To be a part of something like this is amazing,” she said.

But it’s not all peaches and cream.

She recalled the time she and her husband were battling a grass fire together and things got out of hand. A sudden 60-mile-per-hour gust of wind, combined with some very dry grass, caused the fire to spread rapidly and intensify.

“It came so fast, we had to get out of there,” Zimmerman said. “I looked down and I was standing in fire. The fire was underneath the brush truck.”

She threw the hose in the back of the truck and took off on foot. Her husband drove the brush truck out, but the window was down and some fire got inside the cab, burning one side of his face. “That’s probably the most terrifying situation we’ve both been in,” Zimmerman said.

After having been raised in a small town and spending her life working behind a desk, Zimmerman never dreamed she would one day become a fire chief because when she was growing up, “it’s just not something young girls did.”

That’s why to all the girls and young women reading this article, Zimmerman offered this bit of advice – “Don’t ever hesitate to try something new.”

“I would hope that they would think, ‘Hey, if she can do it, I can do it,’” Zimmerman said. “It doesn’t hurt to try. I started out as a water girl and here I am.”