History has been made in Quitman as the Quitman Volunteer Fire Department recently voted Verlynn Robinson in as the Assistant Fire Chief. She is the first and only woman in the county to hold the position of assistant chief.
She is proud to be able to fill the position and is thankful for the confidence that her fellow firefighters have in her.
“Grantham was the chief, but he became the assistant chief in January. He has since then moved to Alabama, so he resigned as assistant because he’s not here. That opened up a spot,” explained Verlynn. “I felt very humbled when they nominated and voted for me as assistant chief. To think that all these men that are in here voted for me, a female, and they have confidence in me that I can step up when Tobey isn’t here or isn’t able to make a call.”
Quitman Fire Chief Tobey Bartee is proud of the decision and thoroughly believes that she deserves and has earned it.
“She needed that, the department needed that, and the community needed that because it’s important to recognize people who are doing the work,” declared Tobey. “Just because you’re a man doesn’t mean you’re qualified. We both have a heart and desire to do this. There’s more to leadership than dictatorship. A lot of this wouldn’t have happened years ago for me or Verlynn, but this decision just shows the energy we have and how we are progressing. I love how our department is constantly progressing. We have diversity in age, race, and gender.”
Tobey and Verlynn had already made history within the department itself when they first joined since Tobey was the first black person to become a member there and Verlynn was the first female to become a member. They have acted as partners since they first joined and have always worked well together.
“We started off as EMRs, but to be an EMR in the county, you have to be connected to a fire department because we are under their insurance,” explained Verlynn. “We had no idea how involved we would be with the fire department when we first joined, but we learned that we enjoyed the firefighting part, too. With EMR, we get as much medical information as possible before the ambulance gets there so that they’re already ready to go on the ambulance and don’t have to wait once the ambulance gets there. We’ve always gone on EMR calls together. It makes my husband feel better knowing that Tobey is usually with me and that I’m not by myself since it isn’t always safe for females to respond to calls alone. Most of the time on fire calls, I’ll drive the truck and work the pumper. I operate that to set up the pressure and which hose they’re using and all so that they’re getting the right amount of water. I watch how much water I have so I can see if I need another department to give me some more water. The guys are all good to me and make sure that I’m safe when I climb up on the truck.”
Along with maintaining strong communication and letting each other know when they will be out of town in case there is a call, they have also always had a history of encouraging each other to help build confidence. Verlynn is able to drive the larger fire trucks without any hesitation and credits her confidence behind the wheel to Tobey’s steady encouragement.
“He gave me confidence,” Verlynn proclaimed. “You only have a little room on each side when backing the truck into the bay, and the first time I tried, I told Tobey to come do it because I couldn’t do it. He told me that I could do it and just helped me back it in by telling me what to do. That gave me the confidence I needed, and now I can just back it in there. He encouraged me and gave me that confidence.”
The strong partnership they have and dedication they have to the department will allow them to lead the department in a positive direction as they respond to different emergency calls each day.
The Quitman Volunteer Fire Department will continue to progress and embrace diversity just like it did when it elected the first female assistant fire chief in the county.
