Tucson, Arizona (KGUN) — Tubac Fire Chief Cheryl Horvath is no stranger to breaking down barriers and taking the first steps. Horvath is Tubac’s first female fire chief, and she has worked in the fire industry for the past 30 years.

With her impending retirement, KGUN 9’s Denelle Confair sits down to reflect on her career. From responding to the Jan. 8 shooting in Tucson to helping young women keep breaking down walls, she’s retiring to help the next generation continue to fill the gaps and make the fire industry more inclusive. I hope that there will be room for

Horvath started his career in 1992 in an all-male class. She was one of her four women affiliated with the Illinois Fire School.

“In 1992, just before I graduated, I asked an academy instructor what I wanted my legacy to be,” Horvat said. “Of course, I wasn’t thinking about it at the time. I was still worried about tying knots and pulling hoses, but I wanted to make a difference.”

After moving to Tucson in 2007, she became a section manager for Northwest Fire. She then helped respond to the Jan. 8 shooting that left six people dead and 13 wounded.

“There were, as a matter of fact, new medical personnel who were on the scene, some of whom helped Gabby Giffords, so they were… upset,” Horvath said. .

Looking back on that day, she says it hit hard not only personally, but professionally.

“After the first scene, it was really important to make sure we were present at every funeral,” Horvath said.

After breaking down a major barrier as a female firefighter, Chief Horvath continued to climb the ladder and more in her career.

“For over 30 years I have always had to hold myself to a higher standard. has been judged differently,” Horvath said. “And I don’t carry it around like a bag of stones. It’s just become part of my DNA.”

Her first official fire chief job took her to the Mountain Vista Fire in 2016, eventually becoming Tubac’s first female fire chief in 2018.

“If there’s a chief committee and they’re looking for a secretary, I wouldn’t raise my hand to take minutes. That’s not going to happen,” Mr Horvath said.

Leading a local fire department didn’t come without challenges. She says she had to adapt to fewer resources while still serving the wider community of Santa Cruz County, the county that once had the highest COVID-positive rate in Arizona.

“We’ve had to lead our department through a pandemic, and tell firefighters not to underestimate what we’ve been through,” Horvath said. To be as resilient as I learned about the department.”

One of her proudest moments helping launch Camp Fury. Women’s camps aim to close the gap when it comes to women in predominantly male-dominated occupations.

“We thought you knew what. Let’s try a camp for girls and see what happens.” We ran a camp, which was an opportunity to get young women into the pipeline.”

To date, more than 600 girls in southern Arizona have participated in Camp Fury and are now being followed across the country.

With just weeks to retire, she hopes her departure will inspire the next generation.

“Whoever is the next fire chief will make mistakes, learn from them, grow from them, and do better next time,” Horvath said. will say that.”