SAN ANTONIO — As new San Antonio fire chief, Valerie Frausto settles in to her role, it's been a busy week of meetings, and getting to know the fire department.
She's the first female fire chief in the department's history, a statistic she says hasn't sunk in.
"I don't really think of it that way," Chief Frausto said. "I just stand up for what I believe in. I am who I am, and I just have to be myself, no matter what that is. Never have been ashamed of anything. Very proud of my accomplishments. And I've worked hard to get where I'm at today. "
The new fire chief has dreamt of being a firefighter since she was a child, influenced by family members who were already in the field, though she explains she had hesitations pursuing that dream in the beginning.
"As a child, I would visit my uncle at the fire station and I just loved him for what he did," she said. "He was a role model for sure, and then I didn't think it was possible for women. I never saw a woman in the fire station, and so I didn't really pursue it at first. So then, I'm walking through the mall one day and I saw a female recruiter and she was in uniform and she was a little smaller than I was. And I was like, 'if it's possible, if she could do it, I could do it for sure.'"
In her class in the fire academy, she was one of three women in a class of 47. She admits being a woman in the fire department was not easy.
"It is challenging, challenging to be a woman in any fire department," Frausto said. "It is a physically demanding job and I always felt from day one like I had to prove myself and work even harder. It's a tough job for men as well. So [as] a woman, you know, we have additional challenges that maybe men don't have to deal with, but you learn to overcome those, and you learn to work as a team, and it's gotten me through and all the way to look where I'm at now."
In her 24-year career, Frausto has risen up the ranks. Starting as a firefighter, she eventually became a paramedic/fire engineer, a lieutenant, captain, battalion chief and deputy fire marshal, before becoming the new head of a fire department that is 94% men.
"I think people are ready for a change," she said. "I don't think there is anything wrong, like the department doesn't have issues. We provide exceptional service. I think it's just the fact that we need a different leadership, and with that leadership, change will come. A culture shift and just changes in communication, how we do things, the overall mission and vision and just setting that tone and expectations from the start."
Frausto arguably is a change for the department. It was only in January that former fire chief Charles Hood stepped down from his 17-year-old role, after an investigation found he made "vulgar and demeaning comments" that disrespected women, according to the city.
"I never tolerated any sort of, you know, harassment, discrimination," she said. "I was never a victim of that, and I think that has put me in the positions that I've held since then because, I mean, that's important. It's important to ensure that everybody knows that, that we have to work as a team. We have to have that mutual trust, and it's all about relationships."
Chief Frausto emphasized that harassment and discrimination will not be tolerated.
"I think setting the tone from the start is going to do just that," Frausto explained. "I think that's just, you know, with leadership and making sure that my leadership is extended all the way down through middle management, you know, to the firefighter level and just ensuring that everybody understands the expectations and setting those expectations."
Recruiting women into the San Antonio Fire Department, is a goal of hers. She hopes to get the statistic of women in the San Antonio Fire Department up to 10%. In 2017, Frausto helped launch 'Hero like Her,' a recruiting campaign to encourage young women to enter historically male-dominated careers.
"I think it's just a matter of getting the word out and doing that, you know, as young as possible, letting them get hands-on experience and not only seeing the women firefighters, but also, you know, handling the hose and trying on the gear," she explained. "It's been fun. It's been, you know, something that just became a lot more popular than we actually expected."
The fire chief knows there will be sleepless nights in her future, but she has one goal in mind as she carves her legacy in the department.
"I guess I want to leave the department in a better place," Chief Frausto said. "I want to make positive changes. I want this department to be the best in the nation."