STARKVILLE — Anna Beth Robertson didn’t set out to become a firefighter. She was studying for her psychology degree at Mississippi State University and happened to work out at the same gym as some of Starkville’s firefighters.
What she did have, however, was a drive to excel that led her from that chance encounter all the way to a position as Starkville Fire Department’s first female fire sergeant.
“I was doing my little workout when our current training officer Brian Arnett came up to me and said, ‘Whenever you really want to work out you can come work out with us,’” she told The Dispatch on Wednesday. “He didn’t know me. I didn’t know him. But I guess I took it as a challenge because I started working out with them. They gave me some training gear, and after that I was hooked.”
Arnett remembers the encounter.
“One of the other guys just mentioned something about her being strong, so I invited her,” Arnett said. “Coming into a male-dominated world, fairly or unfairly, she feels like she has to consistently prove herself. But it does give her an incredible drive to say, ‘Not only can I do what you do, I can do it better than you.’ It’s just part of her personality, and it’s made her great.”
Robertson had family members working in the medical field and was already interested in becoming an emergency medical technician. She met with SFD Chief Charles Yarbrough to go over the requirements to become a firefighter and soon finished not only her degree but also every other qualification to join the department.
“When she started with us she had a full load of classes at Mississippi State University and took an extra EMT class along with all the fire training she had to do,” Yarbrough said. “She maintained that for an entire semester and passed her EMT test on the first try. She’s one of our best up here. Male or female, she’s earned her spot, and she’s a great firefighter.”
Today Robertson has been with the department for four years and doesn’t shy away from her position as a role model for anyone trying to make it in a field that doesn’t traditionally look to people like them for recruits.
“Maybe women are a little intimidated since they don’t know what to expect,” Robertson said. “But if you show up, have the passion for the job, and are capable of taking care of your community … it doesn’t matter whether you’re male or female. You just have to be able to serve.”
Starkville aldermen finalized her promotion to sergeant Nov. 19. Mayor Lynn Spruill, herself the first woman to qualify as a carrier pilot with the Navy, took a moment to “stop and highlight” Robertson’s accomplishment, saying she was “very excited for her and very proud.”
Yarbrough told The Dispatch Wednesday that Robertson’s promotion was the culmination of a long selection process that included interviews, a 100-question test and a scored 1 1/2-mile run.
Her final tally was the second-highest out of all applicants at the time, just behind Sgt. Hunter Kozlow, so when the department found itself in need of another sergeant three months after that, Robertson was at the top of the list.
Yarbrough didn’t seem surprised to find Robertson at the front of the pack. He said her work ethic and drive have been among her strongest traits since even before she signed on with the department.
“Whatever she’s involved in, she wants to be the best,” he said. “She doesn’t care if someone’s male or female, she wants to beat them. … In the next 10-15 years, I could see her being a fire chief, either here or somewhere else.”
Though Robertson is currently the department’s only female firefighter and is the only in Starkville’s history to reach the rank of sergeant, the department has had other women serve. Yarbrough says there were two back in the 1990s, and during his decade-long tenure as chief he’s hired six others.
For Robertson, the rank of sergeant is far from the end of the road. Beyond climbing the department’s career ladder, she says it’s just in her nature to look for the next challenge.
“Something that I always want to do is better myself,” she said. “I’m going to continue taking more classes, learning more, training harder to be ready. I’ll always be shooting for that next higher role, getting good at what I’m doing and then going to the next one.”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 35 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
