With four degrees from Lamar University, Anne Huff ’83, ’85, ’93 believes in the power of education. As the first female chief of the Beaumont Fire Department, she strives to instill that respect for continued learning and training at the department she joined in 1986 and has led for almost a year.
“To me, the biggest thing for any organization is to have a work force that is as informed as possible, that’s doing the right thing for the right reasons. Education is the center of all it,” Huff said.
Huff ’s decision to apply for a job as a firefighter was something of a fluke. “I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do with my life,” she said. “That’s why I kept going back to school, I guess.” She had spent a year teaching mathematics at Bridge City High School, having completed bachelor’s degrees at Lamar in art, art education and secondary education. That summer, she started work on a master’s degree, and her mother asked her to stop by Beaumont City Hall between classes to pick up a job application for her brother-in-law.
A former Lamar softball player, Huff had an athletic build that prompted employees in the personnel office to ask if she was applying for the firefighting job. She had not planned to, but the ensuing conversation convinced her to pick up two applications. She got hired. Her brother-in-law did not. Instead, he went back to school and became an elementary school teacher.
Huff stuck with her new career choice and rose steadily through the ranks. Being the only woman in a department of more than 200 firefighters—a distinction she held then and now—has been difficult at times. Some of her co-workers either discriminated against or patronized her. Others, some of whom are now retired, earned her respect and appreciation by being more “humane.”
“They treated me like everybody else, which is all I ever asked for,” Huff said. “There were those few who were willing to stand up at that time, which was unpopular to do. The culture said get rid of her, run her off. They didn’t treat me that way.”
Before being named chief in March 2008, Huff served as chief training officer for 10 years. As she has achieved higher rank and greater seniority, she said, she has been treated with more respect by fellow firefighters. Appropriate behavior in the workplace is the greatest concern, but Huff also would like to see a change in mindset both within and outside the department about the place of women in occupations such as firefighting. “I think that for male-dominated professions, it’s going to take more of an influx of qualified women to change the mindset,” she said. “We need a number of qualified women to come in and show people that women can do this job. It’s not a job that any woman could do, but it’s not a job that any man could do either. When we have those women in the work force, I think slowly, over time, attitudes will change.”
Already, she is working to make positive changes within the department. Huff, who also holds a master of business administration degree from Lamar, said she favors participatory leadership rather than a dictatorial management style. For that reason, she has involved the entire department in current efforts to plan for next year’s budget and to rework many policies and procedures. An advisory group she established has begun developing safety training to be required for all firefighters, including rapid intervention training to improve skills necessary to rescue downed firefighters. “The guys have done an outstanding job customizing this training for our personnel,” she said. “We’re in the middle of doing that right now, and I’m really proud of that because it’s something that’s long overdue.” Additionally, chief officers are writing tactical standard operating guidelines detailing how to respond to each of the varied types of incidents the department faces. “They’ve never researched and developed anything like that, so it’s a really new thing for them,” she said. “But they’ve got their work groups at their stations and districts, so it’s a team effort.” After drafts are completed, all firefighters will have an opportunity to comment and add their suggestions before guidelines are finalized, Huff said.
Through all the changes happening now and those she would like to incorporate in the future, Huff ’s goal is to develop a well-trained, well-educated work force of firefighters who feel empowered to suggest good ideas and take responsibility for making them happen. “When you’re in an occupation that you have to work in a time compressed environment where there’s extreme danger, if you can’t think on your feet well, you’re asking to get somebody hurt or killed,” she said. “We have to teach people to think . . . I want our people to think so much that we’re having constructive debate and constructive criticism on every problem in a professional way.” In time, she hopes to work with the union to secure more city funds for additional education for firefighters and to include higher educational requirements in departmental job descriptions. Huff said her ability to do her job well is enhanced by all aspects of her educational background—from the management courses she took for her master’s degree to the things she learned about people in her art and education courses.
Beaumont City Manager Kyle Hayes described Huff as bright, hard working, conscientious and, by far, the best applicant for the chief ’s job. What impressed him and other members of the interview committee most was her plan for the future of the fire department. “Everything she laid out in that plan in that interview she’s made progress toward,” Hayes said, listing enhanced communications and training as examples. “She’s already made great strides in the past 10 months. I think over the next year or two is when you’re really going to see the difference in a well-trained department and better morale.”
Huff, the adoptive mother of a 6-year old daughter, said the fire service turned out to be the right job for her because of the combination of skills it requires. She liked the athleticism required, along with the fast pace and the danger. She also was attracted to the mental aspects of planning and executing a strategy to handle any type of emergency event from a fire to a hazardous materials incident to a technical rescue.
“I love my work. I love the fire service. I think this finally is where I’m supposed to be,” she said. “It’s what I was supposed to do when I grew up; I just didn’t realize it.”
