VIDEO: Colleen Walz shattered the glass ceiling to become the first female lieutenant in the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire in 1995. Last week, Kari Burnham was honored in a ceremony as the second woman to hold the position.
Burnham said, "This is something I love to do. It's like a dream come true." But why did it take decades for another woman to rise in the ranks?
Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire chief Darryl Jones said, "It was an embarrassment not only that it took so long to promote a female to the rank of lieutenant to a company officer, but the number of females that we have on the job is way below the national average.”
He said there are five female firefighters, including one African American woman in the bureau. At one time, Jones worked with Walz, who is now the fire chief in St. John's Fire District in South Carolina.