Copyright 2006 Albuquerque Tribune
Though few other women across the nation hold her position, Bett Clark doesn’t want to be called a female fire chief but a good one
By ERIK SIEMERS
Albuquerque Tribune (New Mexico)
Bett Clark is a member of a rare club.
She hopes it makes her an example to others. But she doesn’t necessarily want to be known for it.
Bett Clark — one of only 25 women who head fire departments in the country - just wants to be known as a good fire chief for Bernalillo County.
“I’m not as proud of being a female chief,” says Clark, 41, from her spacious third-floor office at the Bernalillo County Fire and Rescue headquarters on Second Street Northwest. “I’m a chief. I don’t put that qualifier in there.”
Clark last fall was sworn in as president of the International Association of Fire Chiefs’ Southwestern division. For one year, she’ll lead an organization of fire chiefs from New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.
Her turn in the position comes at a trying time.
The job includes being a conduit between local fire departments and national agencies and organizations that can provide support. Her counterparts in Texas and Louisiana, of course, were pummeled by hurricanes and wildfires.
She’ll work to draft solutions to problems that arose from those disasters. One issue will include working with large media organizations whose saturation of Louisiana during Hurricane Katrina clogged the satellite signals used by rescue crews for communication.
According to those who know her, Clark’s the kind of chief who can make a difference.
“She’s incredible. She’s dynamic. She’s been able to withstand the challenges of being a woman who’s breaking those glass ceilings,” said Lorrie Kalos, an assistant deputy fire chief in San Francisco and president of the Women Chief Fire Fighters Association.
Clark, who became chief in January 2001, was born into a firefighting family. Her father, Ray Clark, was chief of the volunteer Sandia Park Fire Department District 6. Her mother, Beth, was the dispatcher.
Her career started as a fire and rescue volunteer while a sophomore at Manzano High School. She worked her way up within the Bernalillo County Fire Department’s hierarchy: lieutenant, captain, fire marshal, interim deputy chief.
Her achievements since becoming the county’s first female chief include drafting the department’s first strategic plan and increasing staff and efficiency.
Volunteers have increased from 15 in 2001 to 45, she said. And she’s a year-and-a-half into a three-year plan to hire 76 paid firefighters.
Included in those growing numbers are women: four new paramedics, a deputy fire marshal, seven new firefighters and another four in the academy.
While the diversity is encouraging, women aren’t necessarily targets of her recruitment efforts, she said.
“I don’t hire and promote these people. They get hired and promoted,” she said. “I want firefighters. White, black, male, female - good firefighters.”
But she hopes that being a woman in a position largely associated with men makes her a visible example to others hoping to break into public safety.
“The nice thing is that because I’m female, that they can say, ‘Look, she’s done it. I can do it, too,’ ” she said.
For Kelly Clarke, her boss has been a role model.
Since February, Clarke has been a firefighter and emergency medical technician with Bernalillo County. Before that, she was fire chief for the village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque for five years.
“I’ve learned a lot from her for her leadership styles and the support she gives to her crews,” Clarke says.