Stephanie Mills said she set out in her career to work hard in order to become a good firefighter — and not worry about being a woman in a historically male-dominated field.
Now, she becomes the first woman to lead the department after the Belleville City Council approved her appointment, 15-1, last week.
“There's no denying that this is special,” Mills said in an interview with St. Louis Public Radio. “And that it's a good signal to young women that this is achievable, and that this is a career, should they choose it.”
Mills started with the Belleville department in 2000 after a teaching career. In 2020, she earned a promotion to battalion chief. Now, she’ll lead the department with goals of building on its long history and helping the firefighters serve their community.
The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Will Bauer: Does it feel a little different now that you’re a couple of days in?
Stephanie Mills: Oh, absolutely. I feel just a larger sense of responsibility and excited at the same time. It's a great opportunity.
Bauer: When did you know you wanted to be a firefighter?
Mills: I was not one of these legacy guys that it came down through their family — their grandfather, their father. And I wasn't one of these people that knew as a kid either. It wasn't even on my radar. I had some acquaintances when I moved to the St. Louis area that were firefighters, and I was super intrigued by it. That was my mid- to late 20s when I started thinking about it. Then, I started testing in the area, probably around 30 years old.
Bauer: You started your career as a teacher, and you transitioned to a firefighter. What made you want to pursue firefighting?
Mills: Oh, gosh. It's just the best career. It's just the people that you get to work with. It's not just a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. kind of job. And then you go home and you go back to your family and your friends. You live with these people. You're here 24 hours, and it's just a whole different ballgame. And I love it.
Bauer: What was the first emotion that went through your mind after the City Council approved you?
Mills: I would have to say just pure excitement. Getting to work with these guys for so long and just having so much respect for these people, it's just an honor to get to lead them.
Bauer: What does being the first woman to hold the post in the city’s history mean to you?
Mills: I've worked really hard in my whole career just to be known as a good firefighter — and not qualify it with the female part. But there's no denying that this is special, and that it's a good signal to young women that this is achievable, and that this is a career, should they choose it.
Bauer: Is that what you would say to a younger woman who’s thinking about firefighting?
Mills: Yeah, It’s certainly not for everybody. It's a different sort of career for sure. This is an option, and it takes a lot of perseverance. It's a great career. It's very rewarding.
Bauer: You’ve been with the department for more than 20 years. What do you hope the department can accomplish?
Mills: My job as a chief is just to continue to provide the men and women of this department with the training and tools that they need to be able to serve the community of Belleville in the best way possible. This department has been here for a long, long time. And just to build on the tradition and the foundation that has been set for us.
Bauer: There’s been some tension in the city with the fire department. The last chief lasted less than a year and did not have the support of all the firefighters because he was an outside hire. The one City Council member who voted against your appointment did so because she said she’s had a bad experience with the Fire Department. How do you go about mending some of those things?
Mills: Well, it's no secret that we've had some turnover in the chief's office. My hope is to provide some stability. Because, with stability, that leadership right there is going to mend some things. It's not a broken relationship by any stretch. But, yeah, I think there's some tension there. I think if we just continue to do our job and serve the city that the things will mend themselves.
Bauer: What should we know about you that we may not?
Mills: I'm a pretty open book. What you see is what you get, so I don't know that there's anything spectacular that people don't know about me. I just say what I mean, and I mean what I say.
