Fighting fires wasn't always the life plan of New Bern's only female firefighter.
"When I was a child, I always dreamed of being in law enforcement ... but it just seemed so unobtainable so I never pursued it," said Elona Fowler, a firefighter at the City of New Bern Fire-Rescue. "And as I got older in the workforce I just naturally navigated towards childcare."
Fowler worked in child development for 16 years between living in San Diego and North Carolina before her interest in delving in EMS. "I originally wanted to work EMS. I went to the program and got certified as an EMT," Fowler said. "When I went around looking for a volunteer department to gain experience, I happened to run into one that served both EMS and firefighting.” Fowler took the opportunity of learning the new career and was certified as a career firefighter in addition to becoming certified as an EMT February 2015.