In Galesburg, Ill., firefighter Haley Stevenson is not a symbol on a recruitment flyer. She is a working member of a union firehouse who earned her spot through the same physical standards, written testing and probationary expectations as everyone else.
Stevenson’s story, which she shared as part of the Women’s History Month coverage on the America’s Work Force Union Podcast, shows how a department can hold the line on readiness while expanding who sees themselves in the job. Stevenson is a member of the Galesburg Firefighters Association, International Association of Fire Fighters Local 555.
Galesburg’s Firefighters Association traces its roots to 1938, a long-running union presence in a mid-sized Illinois city positioned between Peoria and the Quad Cities. For decades, the department’s public image looked like most mid-sized cities: men in turnout gear, men at school presentations, men leading recruitment conversations.
That pattern shifted when Haley Stevenson joined the Galesburg Fire Department and became its first and only female firefighter to date. Her path into the job ran through the same hiring process that filters every applicant down to a short list and then through an academy culture built to test composure as much as physical capacity.
Stevenson’s conversation on the America’s Work Force Union Podcast comes during Women’s History Month, but it carries a message that extends beyond a calendar observance. It’s a description of how a union department can maintain its expectations while confronting the quieter barrier that keeps many women from applying in the first place: the belief that the job isn't meant for them.
Galesburg’s process begins like many municipal fire departments: an application, a single testing date and a sequence designed to measure stamina, strength and decision-making under fatigue. Stevenson described a physical test built around a timed “combat challenge” followed by a mile-and-a-half run and a ladder climb.
The combat portion, as she explained it, compresses core fireground tasks into a short window. Candidates carry hoses up multiple flights of stairs, hoist a weighted load by rope, then move into a sled drive using a sledgehammer. From there, they pull a charged hose line and finish with a dummy drag that demands leg strength and grip when the body is already taxed.
The structure matters because it reflects a central point in her story: the requirements do not change based on gender. Candidates either complete the course within the time limit or they do not. The run that follows is not an afterthought. It is a second gate that punishes anyone who burns too much energy early.
After the physical portion, there is a written exam and a ranking that narrows the field. Stevenson recalled that only a limited number of candidates made the eligibility list. Her written score placed her near the top, and an interview with the police and fire commission further shaped the rankings.
Stevenson’s hiring story also focused on timing and policy, not just performance. She pursued an Associate in Fire Science after early coursework pointed her toward a different career path. Like many applicants in the early 2020s, she faced pandemic-related disruptions that delayed degree completion and affected eligibility for preference points.
In Galesburg, preference points could be claimed for factors such as military service, certain degrees and EMT credentials. She described how missing those points at the moment they were needed pushed her ranking down the list.
That drop mattered because fire departments do not hire on a predictable schedule. Hiring depends on retirements, budget decisions and whether staffing levels are being restored. Stevenson’s experience illustrated a practical truth for applicants: even strong scores can be reshuffled by administrative rules and the timing of credentials.
Stevenson’s interest in the fire service began at home. She grew up in a union household with a father who served for decades with the Galesburg Fire Department and a mother who worked as a UPS driver. She described how the fire schedule shaped family life in a way that stood out to her as a child.
That detail is not sentimental filler for Stevenson. It points to why the fire service can be a work-life balance draw for many workers, including women weighing family planning, caregiving responsibilities and long-term stability. She explained that the schedule can offer concentrated time off, but it also demands readiness for nights, holidays and the physical wear of emergency response.
If the hiring process tests the body, the academy tests identity. Stevenson described a multi-week training period that includes basic operations certifications and additional hazardous materials instruction. She emphasized the strain of live-burn training in summer heat and the intensity of learning under constant evaluation.
For her, the pressure was amplified by attention outside the training grounds. Her swearing-in drew significant local interest, a reminder that “firsts” often come with headlines before the hard part begins. The public celebration, she explained, did not change the reality that academy completion was a condition of employment.
Her account captured a dynamic familiar to many workplaces, integrating first-time representation: visibility can be both an encouragement and a burden. The department may be ready for change, but the individual still fears being judged as a referendum on whether the change was a mistake.
Stevenson described entering a department where many members already knew her through her father, a factor that likely reduced the uncertainty that can greet a new hire. She also emphasized that the most pointed skepticism did not come from within the department itself. It came from peers outside the job who questioned whether she could meet the demands.
Inside the fire service, she described a station environment built on trust, competence and shared risk. A new firefighter’s willingness to learn and contribute can matter as much as raw strength, she said.
That does not erase the physical reality. Stevenson acknowledged that strength would be an ongoing challenge given her size and frame. What stood out was how she approached that reality as a training problem rather than a disqualifier.
A major test of any department’s readiness for inclusion is what happens when life events collide with a contract that was written for a narrower workforce. Stevenson described becoming pregnant while working as a firefighter and the uncertainty that followed, as the department had not previously navigated such a situation.
Rather than a conflict, she described a collaborative approach. She worked with union leadership and department management to define a light-duty path that treated pregnancy like an illness or injury for assignment purposes. She remained on the truck through mid-pregnancy, then transitioned to projects supporting operations.
Those assignments included building a computer system for pre-plans and conducting inspections that reduced crews' workload. She also described how the experience offered a clearer view into management decision-making and how field realities shape administrative choices.
After the birth, she used family and medical leave, coupled with support in the form of regular check-ins from coworkers. It reinforced that there was station-level camaraderie and a workplace willing to make room for a new parent without treating her as an exception to be managed out.
Stevenson now attends recruitment events when possible and described why her presence matters. Young women may hesitate to approach older male firefighters at a booth, especially if they have never seen someone like themselves in the role. A peer-adjacent point of contact can lower the barrier to asking basic job-related questions.
She also highlighted a structural recruitment problem in Illinois: the age requirement to test means many outreach events target students years before they are eligible to take the test. Departments may reach eighth graders and high school students, but the pipeline can leak before candidates reach the minimum application age.
Her story suggests a practical takeaway for departments and unions: recruitment is not only about marketing the mission. It is about designing a pathway that keeps a young person interested long enough to move from curiosity to eligibility.
Stevenson’s closing advice emphasized commitment, consistency and the willingness to put in the effort even when doubt arises from the outside or within.
For the broader labor movement, her experience offers a familiar lesson in a new uniform. Standards matter. So does access to information, mentorship and representation that help workers believe they can meet those standards. In Galesburg, a department founded in the 1930s is now writing a new chapter, not by lowering the bar but by widening the line of people willing to step up.
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