All fired up

Deepa Bharath

Erin Brown is a trailblazer.

After all, the 26-year-old is the Newport Beach Fire Department’s

first-ever female firefighter.

The former WNBA player shot hoops for the Los Angeles Sparks and Utah

Stars, but says she gets a feeling of awe and accomplishment being a

firefighter that she never did on the basketball court.

“This is like a family,” said Brown, whose probationary period of a

year will end Nov. 3. On Friday, she will get her badge during a ceremony

at City Hall, along with other new hires and promoted officers.

Brown played basketball for 15 years through high school and college.

But when she turned professional in 1998, she realized she was destined

to be elsewhere.

“The world of pro sports is very cutthroat,” she said. “I was looking

for the kind of team-oriented camaraderie that you have when you play

sports in school and college, and that just wasn’t there.”

So she went on a quest -- a short one that ended in Santa Ana

College’s Fire Academy. Brown completed all the required fire education

courses and graduated from the academy in June 1999. She trained as a

reserve firefighter with the Orange County Fire Authority.

“I just pounded it out for two years,” she said. “I think I was very

focused. I really wanted to do this. I didn’t think that something would

get me so excited.”

But as she expected, there were challenges too. The physical part was

not a big problem for Brown, a natural athlete.

“The bigger challenge was dealing with people who think you can’t do

it because you’re a woman,” she said. “People have this perception when

they see you’re a woman -- a small woman from a small town. But it

dissipates over time, and you just need to prove yourself.”

Brown says a woman must work twice as hard as a man to get and stay

physically fit. She runs four miles in the morning before she gets to

work. She lifts weights in the afternoon and indulges in cross-training,

such as mountain biking, on days off.

Part of the common perception is also tainted by myth and

misinformation, Brown said.

“A woman once asked me how she could trust me to carry her husband out

of a burning building,” she said. “That’s out of the question because a

male firefighter couldn’t carry a man by himself out of the building on

top of 70 pounds in gear that he’s already carrying. The thing is, we

don’t work alone.”

Brown brings with her skills and talents that are vital to the Newport

Beach community, aside from being a tremendous resource for the

department’s basketball team, said her supervisor Capt. Tom Lloy.

“She’s a compassionate and caring person and deals very well with the

public,” he said. “She’s also a very competitive person -- always strives

to do a good job.”

Lloy said the department has had a few female applicants over the

years, but only one other than Brown made the cut but ended up going to

another department. Newport Beach puts its firefighters through a

rigorous testing process that includes firefighting skills, physical

endurance, written and oral exams.”Erin’s edge is her tremendous physical

capability and her intellect,” Lloy said.

The department looks for the same attributes from candidates -- male

or female, Capt. Dave Bowman said.

“Erin is not just intelligent, she is flexible and adapts to the

situation,” he said. “She is confident but not cocky. And she is probably

5-foot-7, but I’ve never seen her struggle with any part of her job.”

Brown said she is happy with the positive atmosphere in the city.

People give her a chance to prove herself before they judge her, she

said.

“Maybe I can’t carry a man by myself out of a burning building,” she

said. “But I’m going to die trying, just as any of my colleagues would.”

* Deepa Bharath covers public safety and courts. She may be reached at

(949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at o7 deepa.bharath@latimes.comf7 .

PROFILE

Erin Christine Brown

Age: 26

Place of residence: Irvine

Hometown: Solvang

High School: Santa Ynez High School, Solvang

College: UC Santa Barbara

Family: Married to Tannon Brown, a California Highway Patrol officer

in Los Angeles County