SAN ANTONIO – The audience and San Antonio City Council members were on their feet, applauding San Antonio’s new fire chief Thursday morning before the council voted to confirm her.
“Hold on a minute. Let’s make it official. Then we can give her a standing ovation,” Mayor Ron Nirenberg laughed before he and the rest of the council unanimously approved Valerie Frausto’s appointment as chief of the San Antonio Fire Department in an 11-0 vote.
Frausto, the 24-year SAFD veteran, will assume the department’s top position on Friday after serving in every division of the department, except arson. She is the first woman to lead the SAFD’s 1,800 firefighters — just over 100 of whom are also women.
“It’s already an exceptional fire department, and I truly believe that I am going to make it the absolute best,” Frausto told the council before she was sworn in.
Frausto joined the department in Aug. 2000 and was one of only three women in her academy class. She has served as a firefighter, paramedic, fire marshal and member of the command staff. Most recently, she was appointed as the interim deputy fire chief of administrative services.
During her SAFD career, Frausto launched her Hero Like Her recruiting campaign. This campaign helps break the barrier that sometimes prevents young women from pursuing careers in typically male-dominated careers.
City Manager Erik Walsh said Frausto had “hands down” the best resumé of the more than 65 other applicants who applied for the job during the city’s nationwide search, but what set her apart was her confidence.
“I want somebody, and I think the mayor and the council want somebody, and I suspect the firefighters want somebody that is going to have the confidence and wherewithal to be able to continue to lead, build a team and execute,” Walsh told reporters.
Council members praised Frausto’s selection as chief, her experience and what she represented.
“This day will be one of many memories and one of the ones that I, in particular, treasure, because I know that there’s going to be a young girl out there who sees this and decides to pursue a career in firefighting and that one day she will be able to be just like Chief Frausto,” said a choked-up Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia (D4).
Only about 6% of the more than 22,000 fire chiefs in the United States are women, according to an estimate by the group Women In Fire.
Cy-Fair Fire Chief Amy Ramon, the 3rd vice-president of the Texas Fire Chiefs Association, told KSAT she believes “there’s three or four of us right now in Texas.”
However, she said the big deal to her was that Frausto was chosen from within the department, saying there’s often more “political movement” in municipalities.
“The fact that she was the most qualified and she’s from within San Antonio. So you’re not trying to educate someone on the San Antonio Fire Department and then educate also, like, ‘Hey, how to be a fire chief,’” Ramon said.
Ramon said it was also “extremely important” that council members had been vocal about describing Frausto as the most qualified candidate, given how things ended with SAFD’s last full-time chief.
Former SAFD Charles Hood was forced out in January after an investigation found the Hood had used the phrase “p**** always wins.” He had previously been reprimanded after an incident in which he was photographed eating sushi off a nude woman.
“That is the first thing that comes to your mind, right? ‘Well, the chief that just left had some issues. So, you know, did they bring in a female to like counter what he did?’” Ramon said. “So — and I think that they really tried to put that rumor to rest before it becomes a rumor...is that she’s qualified. And she happens to be a she, you know, kind of thing.”
Once Frausto is in the job, it will be less about her gender and more about the unique stresses of being a big city fire chief.
“My experience has been, and I feel like I have been extremely fortunate,” Ramon said, “is that a fire chief is a fire chief is fire chief.”
However, applying for the job wasn’t easy either.
Chris Steele, the former president of the fire union, was arrested on a stalking charge after he was accused of pretending to be an “independent investigator” going by the name “Frank” in an apparent attempt to scare Frausto away from applying for the chief’s job.
Frausto, though, said, “It never even crossed my mind.”
“I always have a positive attitude, and I just continue to move forward and do the right thing,” Frausto continued. “So that’s — it’s just a new chapter, a new beginning.”