Sandra Lynch grew up on Staten Island amid neighbors who were police officers and firefighters.
“I was fascinated by fire trucks,” she said. “I always said to my dad, ‘I want to do that.’”
Her father, John Lynch, was a Marine with a strong sense of civic duty.
“He said, ‘Maybe someday,’” Sandra recalled. “Back then, women weren’t allowed to do that.”
They are now, and Sandra Lynch is at the forefront. An Aberdeen resident since 2002, she joined the volunteer fire department in 2014 and last month was voted to the lieutenant’s post at Aberdeen Township Hose & Chemical Company No. 1. She is the first female officer in the department’s 101-year history.
“I want women to know that this is something women can do,” Lynch, 49, said. “We need more women firefighters. We don’t have a lot in the state.”