GOSHEN COUNTY –Throughout history, women’s equality has been seen within our female community members who have unlikely roles. Some of these noble women have taken career paths where their male counterparts once dominated the field. 

Megan Ice - Yoder Volunteer Firefighter

Megan Ice is a volunteer firefighter for Yoder Volunteer Fire Department. This is her second year as a volunteer firefighter. 

“There isn’t a specific job because you’re a volunteer, you’re expected to know everything,” Ice explained when it comes to her responsibilities. 

She went on to list the variety of tests which must be passed and the knowledge of fires you must know. This includes physical tests, information tests passed and certain qualifications. 

Ice shared how her interest in this job had started with her husband being recruited for the volunteer fire department about six years ago. She had also taken an interest in the idea of joining, but she held off as she had young kids at home. She also explained how she has had a passion for fire. She likes to learn about them, to fight them, but she knows their danger as well. When her kids got older, she took the opportunity to pursue a passion of hers. 

Ice also noted how when working in the fire service, the world is opened up to new places and experiences. She also likes the push it gives a person to see how far they can physically go. These were things she was very interested in.  

“As a firefighter, you love fire, but your job is to destroy it. You have to respect it and admire it. But your job is to ultimately destroy it. I think that most people you say that to are like ‘What a weirdo’. But yeah, it’s fun, fighting fire is fun,” Ice said. 

Ice said she likes pretty much everything about her job. She really enjoys it. The only part of her job she finds difficult is making time for everything. She finds it hard to spend so much time away from her family. She also has another job she has to take time off of to go fight these fires. 

One thing she did note was how her job, besides firefighting, does a really good job of being understanding for her circumstances whenever possible. Ice practically has three jobs, taking care of her family, volunteer firefighting, and her main career. She does a great job of making boundaries between the three and making time for all of them. 

When it comes to working in a male-dominated field, Ice shared how the guys she works with are mostly welcoming and thoughtful toward their female counterparts and their needs. She does think there is some bias in the field. She thinks the firefighting field might be the worst for it. She shared how only four or five percent of women are firefighters. She thinks it is partially reasonable, but she especially believes women have traits which are very valuable to the field as well. 

“It is a very physical job. Being strong is important in this very physical job. However, firefighters also need to be empathetic and dynamic, and I think women bring that to the industry,” Ice shared. “I think it’s harder for women to take on roles of, I don’t want to say power, that’s the word that’s coming to mind. To move up in the ranks, I think it’s harder.”

Ice stated her department has six women. She values the other women she works with. She thinks it is important they give each other support and help each other move ranks. She likes how her female coworkers know how she works and what she might need help with. 

She also shared how her male counterparts sometimes don’t quite understand this. She finds since some men don’t quite realize they do this, they can take learning opportunities from their female counterparts and make them feel as though they are unable to do the same things. She said they don’t always do those things. But when they do, it can make things more difficult. 

“Some guys are really good. I don’t want to just make a blanket statement. That’s just the way men are. I don’t want them to do that for me either. But for the most part, the guys are really supportive. I think it’s more of just when there are problems it’s usually a bias they’re not aware of that they’re making. They don’t understand that they’re even doing it. But we all do that, we all have biases we are unaware of,” Ice shared. 

She does not have a hard time informing her male counterparts of this bias. She is open to telling them when she does or does not need help. She has learned that if she does not speak up, she will not learn the new important things she’d like to. 

When asked about trials she’s experienced in her job, she said she wishes she was taller. She also said she thinks a lot of things in the fire service is geared toward men. Like the clothes and the equipment. She said it is hard to find clothes that fit her. When she first started out, she said she was swimming in the clothes she was given. Since then, she has gotten clothes that fit her appropriately. 

Her final piece of encouragement for the younger generation of women is to not be afraid to fail. She encourages them to put themselves out there. She said being afraid to fail is limiting yourself. Not being afraid is the only way to get anywhere. She encourages them to try and then continue to try. 

“Fail, get back up, go at it and do it again,” Ice said. “One of the things they talk about in fire service is you’re better than 50% of everybody else because you just showed up. And sometimes the biggest and most important thing you can do is to just show up.”

Ice believes showing up is relative to everything. 

Endra Andrews – Lingle Chief of Police

Chief Endra Andrews has been an officer for the town of Lingle for nearly 16 years. She was appointed chief her second year working for the police department.  

“I try to manage the chaos in this town as best as I can. I focus a lot on the community and trying to be there for our children, for women, and try to give people who may not necessarily be heard a voice. Which makes me SRO (student resource officer), the dog catcher, the traffic cop, it makes me everything,” Andrew said as she described her position.

When asked what made her choose to become an officer, Andrews shared how she doesn’t believe it was really a choice. She believes the events in her life led her to this career. Andrews shared her life story. She has had an extreme spectrum of experiences. She met people from so many walks of life. She has experienced so many things, things in which tore her life apart and turned it upside down. Events where she had to pick herself up and piece her life back together all on her own. 

“I was clean, I was going someplace, life was good. We got married, I had our son, I started college and this time everything was going to be perfect,” Andrews recounted. 

She went on to share how it in fact, was not perfect. She believes these hardships gave her the ability to do what she does now.

Andrews shared how much she loves to be a big part of the community. To help those who need it. She loves how her job gives a platform for change and assistance to those who need it most. 

Some thing she finds difficult about the job is when she is unable to help someone in the way she wishes she could. There are laws which make it difficult, and she has experienced the difficulty of similar laws herself. Another thing she finds hard is how because she works in a small town, every call is about someone she knows. It is dreadful to get a bad call for someone you know so personally. 

When asked about her experience of working in a male-dominated field, she shared how it isn’t as bad for her as it could be for others. She shared how she doesn’t have to worry about being paid different wages, or competition within her position. She has noticed a portion of people do not listen to her or respect her in the way they do her male counterparts. 

“I have found there is a certain segment of the population that doesn’t listen to me, or if deputies come to back me up, some people will quit talking to me and immediately start speaking to the guys. It’s like little things,” Andrews shared. 

She did note how she works for a pretty awesome town and has good coworkers, so she is fortunate to only experience passive-aggressive remarks or micro-aggressions here and there instead of the more intense discrimination other women in male-dominated jobs experience.

The final thing Andrews shared was her advice for the younger generations of women. If she could tell every young lady one thing, it would be to stay independent. Get a job, open a savings account, make sure your name is on it. Do not rely on anyone else to support you forever. We never know who will wake up the next day and you do not want to set yourself to fail or lose everything, take care of yourself and set yourself up for success. 

Goshen County has quite a few women working unlikely jobs within the community. Ice and Andrews are just a couple of the many hard-working women who help keep Goshen County running smoothly and safely.