McAlester Woman Makes History As Fire Department's First Female Lieutenant

Some kids know what they want to be when they grow up, but for one person, fighting fire was never on her radar.

"Life kind of took a turn when I was 18 years old. I lost my mother. She had cancer and I was at home a lot taking care of her, and after she had passed away, cause me and her were very, very close, I kind of felt a little bit lost," Lt. Francheska Radosevich said. 

Lt. Radosevich has been on the McAlester Fire Department for nearly 11 years. She said her passion for fighting fire started when she saw her friends volunteering at a local fire department.

"I remember that they had gotten a call and when they did it was super exciting, there was all this adrenaline and I was like oh my gosh, I want to be a part of that,"

After joining the volunteer fire department Francheska knew she wanted to make it her career.

"I really started working on my training, went to my fire academy, got my EMT and then my paramedic license, and then I decided to go ahead and try out here at the McAlester Fire Department," she said. 

Training that would soon lead her to become the department's first woman fire lieutenant.

"I felt really, really nervous," she said looking back on applying for the role. 

Francheska was up against 39 men for the position. Peers like Captain Kevin Austin said her passion was obvious.

"She's always wanting to better herself, better her crew, better our shift and better our department," Capt. Austin said. 

Francheska hopes she will inspire other women to join the force.

"I'm hoping maybe some point in the future we can get another woman to join in. That would be really awesome."