Merced middle schooler dreams of becoming city’s first Black fire chief
Merced City Firefighters made a special visit to Hoover Middle School recently when they heard the career aspirations of eighth grader Lailah Brooks.
Brooks’ goal is to become the first Black chief for the Merced City Fire Department.
Firefighters surprised Brooks by arriving at school, speaking to her class and then inviting her on a quick ride on the fire engine with the sirens on around the block.
“I was excited for her, but I’m not always great at keeping secrets, so I had to keep the secret” said Hoover principal Julie Rivard. “I let her dad know so he could be here. It was so fun watching her face when they came in, because she was trying to process what was going on.”
Brooks, 13, has seen first-hand how firefighters can save people. She has watched as firefighters helped close family members as her father and two older siblings suffered medical emergencies in recent years.
She watched as firefighters helped her father after a heart attack and her sister after suffering a seizure. Firefighters were part of the first responders at the house when her brother suffered gunshot wounds.
Watching the firefighters in action has only reinforced Brooks’ dream of not just becoming a firefighter, but also becoming the first female fire chief.
“It was scary, but it showed me that I could do that for other people,” Brooks said. “I want to be that light that saves someone else’s family members. I’m just thankful for those firefighters that helped us Without them there could have been many different scenarios.”
During Black History Month, Brooks was featured on a video by the Merced City School District where she shared her aspiration of becoming the first Black fire chief for the Merced City Fire Department.
When the Merced City Fire Department heard of Brooks’ goal of becoming a future fire chief they decided to make a special visit on March 14.
The Merced firefighters presented Brooks with a challenge coin, some fire department shirts and offered their support on her journey. That journey would include finishing school, completing a fire academy and completing emergency medical training.
“Just seeing a young person that has aspirations of shooting for the moon of becoming the fire chief,” said Meced Fire Capt. Morgan Madruga, who helped set up the visit with the school district. “She could have easily said, ‘Hey, I’d like to be a firefighter one day. She didn’t, she said, ‘I want to be the first female fire chief.’ That was cool to me.”
The highlight for Brooks was riding in the fire truck.
“It felt like I was on the team, and got to feel what being in the truck is going to feel like,” Brooks said. “I learned something new too, that there’s one fire truck to put out fires and another truck to rescue people.”
If Brooks follows through on her career goal she’ll become a rare female firefighter. According to Merced City Fire Interim Chief Casey Wilson the department, which was established in 1873, has never had a female firefighter.
“It’s not without trying,” Madruga said. “We’ve had females start our process and some of them just didn’t show up to the rest of it. I’d love for Lailah to be our first female member of our fire team.”
The fire service has struggled to recruit and retain women. In 2020 only 5% of career firefighters nationwide were female, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) report. Only 8.5% were African American, according to the same report.
If Brooks’ performance in school so far is any indication, she’ll be a great addition. She’s maintained a 3.8 GPA while taking advanced classes and participating in many extra curricular activities including leadership, AVID, sports and theater.
“She’s kind of an amazing young lady and what a great aspiration to have,” Rivard said. “It will be great for me to watch her grow and see if she does become fire chief, or if those aspirations change. For me, seeing her aspire to something like that means she has the drive to do whatever she wants.”
This story was originally published April 2, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
