First Massapequa Female Fire Captain: 'You Have To Give Back'

MASSAPEQUA, NY—Jess Bryan-Collins served as a medic with the army reserves, and was raising children while working full time as a court sergeant. But the Massapequa resident still felt she had more to give, and had been thinking of volunteering at her local firehouse for a while.

Ultimately, it was her daughter Jestina Collin's push that sealed the deal.

Jestina told her mother that she would help with her brother's activities if her mom agreed to start volunteering with her. Nine years later, Jess Bryan-Collins is now the first ever Black and first ever female fire captain in the Massapequa Fire Department. The mother-daughter pair are the only volunteers of color in the department, and although Bryan-Collins wasn't looking for attention or notoriety, she told Patch, she thinks her new rank might help attract more diverse local volunteers.

"There are some women, but the vast majority are men," she told Patch. "But I always felt very welcome. I never felt treated any differently."

The mother-daughter pair are the only volunteers of color in the department, and although Bryan-Collins wasn't looking for attention or notoriety, she said, she thinks her new rank might help attract more diverse local volunteers.

"I think me being elected will help others see that not only can you join, but you can also rise up in the ranks. I do think it will encourage more females to join."

Bryan-Collins said she had always wanted to be in the medical field, and that the rewards of being first on the scene to help with emergency situations are gratifying.

"The bottom line is you give back: When someone is in cardiac arrest, when that baby is choking and they are no longer choking, that's a better reward than anything monetary you can get," she reflects.

Working through a busy pandemic year while juggling long hours at work and a family doesn't phase the new captain.

"Anyone with humanity should be giving back somehow," she said.

"You have to have your heart into it. And now I have a new family, a second family who has my back, no matter what."