When Phoenix Fire paramedic engineer Kim Packenbush learned her daughter wanted to follow her footsteps as a fire paramedic, Kim was thrilled and scared.
“I grew up with four brothers so I was pretty much a tomboy,” Kim said.
Kim worried her daughter might have a difficult time adjusting to the culture of a fire station.
“Kayleigh is like a little princess. She still is my princess,” Kim said, laughing. “She grew up a little different. She was with her sister and besides her dad she didn’t have a whole lot of male interaction. So coming here for her caused me to worry there would be a little shell shock.”
But when Kayleigh completed training in 2011, she proved she could more than hold her own.
“She has adapted without a problem,” Kim said.
Together Kim and Kayleigh are the only mother and daughter who work as emergency responders for the Phoenix Fire Department. They say they didn’t break any glass ceilings because others have gone before them. But they do hope to inspire other girls.
“I would tell any girl who wants to be in this position to go for it,” Kayleigh said.
Kim works at Fire Station 60 in north Phoenix. Kayleigh, whose husband is also a firefighter, works as a roving paramedic. Occasionally Kim and Kayleigh work together, riding in the same fire truck to emergencies.