DATE: Thursday, April 24, 1997              TAG: 9704220156
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS         PAGE: 03   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY CINDY CLAYTON, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   80 lines

BATTALION CHIEF FINDS FIREFIGHTING FULFILLING

ALL MARCIA HAWKINS wanted 15 years ago was to get out of a job she hated.

Her wish came true when she took a chance, quit her paralegal position and applied to the Norfolk Fire Department.

``I was overwhelmed with the workload,'' Hawkins said of the paralegal job. ``You'd spend hours and hours working on a particular case, and it would leave your desk and you'd never know if all the work you did came to anything.''

But she can't say the same thing about her current post.

As one of the Norfolk Fire Department's newest battalion chiefs and the first woman in the department to hold the title, Hawkins is able to watch her efforts help others all the time.

Based at Station 14 on Norview Avenue, Hawkins heads up Battalion Three. Her job as chief is to coordinate firefighters and equipment at fire scenes. She also conducts building inspections, training and countless other tasks.

The decision to go out on a limb and apply for a job as a firefighter, she said, was one of the best decisions she ever made.

``I haven't looked back since,'' she said.

Hawkins, 45, said she applied for a job with Norfolk because it was the only department hiring at the time.

Women in the fire service were scarce during the early 1980s, but Hawkins said she was determined to join the few women firefighters already in Norfolk and try a career she found fascinating.

Her interest in firefighting began when she was 6. A friend's mother started a kitchen fire and called the fire department.

``One of the firefighters sat down and talked to me and I just thought that was the best thing since peanut butter,'' she said.

But that was during the 1950s when ``little girls couldn't be firemen,'' she said. As a result, while she was growing up, she never really considered the fire service. And by the time she began seriously considering applying - 24 years later - it was nearly too late.

Two months shy of her 31st birthday, she almost missed the age limit.

Being a rookie in the fire department was tough, Hawkins said; being a woman and a rookie was an even greater challenge.

``It was a constant reproving of your skills. The first women hired here helped pave the way,'' she said.

Rookies are often tested to their limits to see how they will react physically and emotionally in life-threatening situations, she said.

``You never know if you're going to come home the next day and, because of that, they want to see how much pressure you can take.''

In other words, firefighting is not for wimps.

But Hawkins withstood the pressure and earned the respect of her colleagues. And in the process, she gained a lot of good friends. ``The fire service is like a family . . . it's very tight-knit,'' she said.

Between her schedule at the fire station and a part-time job at a title insurance company, Hawkins stays busy. She and her husband, Dick Sieber, a retired Norfolk firefighter, live in Chesapeake with their cat and dog. In their limited spare time, they head for their cabin in West Virginia.

Hawkins said she said she would like to see more women apply to the fire department.

``There are going to be more women and there are going to be more qualified women. Before, some of them didn't even pursue it . . . they didn't even know it was there.''

After all, she said, she wouldn't trade the job for anything.

But for all her enthusiasm and drive to help others, Hawkins said she wouldn't mind an occasional bit of peace and quiet on the job.

Some of the scenes that firefighters witness are especially traumatic, she said. Some folks may not realize that fires with fatalities live with some firefighters for the rest of their lives.

``It's a very hard job - physically, mentally and emotionally,'' she said. ``I'll be 80 years old, sitting on the porch rocking and I'll still remember.''

One of the misconceptions folks may have, she said, is that firefighters get excited over big fires - but that just isn't the case.

``The great big fires aren't nearly the heart-thumpers that the smaller house fires are. It's the house fires that raise your anxiety level so much . ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by IAN MARTIN

Marcia Hawkins is Norfolk's newest fire battalion chief. Her job is

to coordinate firefighters and equipment at fire scenes. She also

conducts building inspections, training and countless other tasks.

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