Swampscott Fire Department Lt. Sheila Scranton retired earlier this month after more than 29 years of service. Photo Courtesy of For the Love of Swampscott
By Gayla Cawley
SWAMPSCOTT — The Swampscott Fire Department’s first female firefighter has called it a career.
Lt. Sheila Scranton, 60, has retired, and saw her last shift end on Sept. 8 at 11:59 p.m., after more than 29 years of service with the department.
Scranton, a Swampscott resident, said she needed to earn the respect of her fellow firefighters when she started.
“It was an all male job,” she said. “Being the first woman, you just have to prove yourself.”
Since Scranton started, she said there have been two other female firefighters with the Swampscott department, Barbara Walsh and Jennifer Bleiker, but both left, including one who also retired a little more than a year ago. She’s the first to enter and the last to leave for now, she added.
Scranton has been debating retirement for the past year, before finally deciding it was time. She said she was lucky to land in Swampscott, as the department is family-oriented. She said she saw her co-workers as a second family, but in retirement, she’ll get to be home on holidays and spend more time with her grandson.
Fire Chief Kevin Breen said having Scranton serve as the first female firefighter had a dramatic effect on the department.
“Not only did she come into an exclusively male workplace, she came into a building designed to be an all male workplace,” Breen said. “It took some time to pull off, but ultimately a female dorm area and bathroom were carved out of a building built in the 1960s that never anticipated female firefighters. Much of the work to make these changes was done by the firefighters themselves.”
Breen said having a woman in what would have been an all “boys club” brought many changes, but Scranton’s sense of humor and patient temperament quickly allowed the other firefighters to accept her as one of the team.
To become a firefighter, Scranton said she had to pass a physical strength test and a psychological evaluation. The strength test was her toughest ordeal, but she was helped by her husband, who made up a practice field. The part of the test that gave her the most anxiety was carrying a 125-pound dummy up the stairs and then climbing down a ladder with it.
The biggest fire she responded to was in December 2014, when she was acting captain, Scranton said. The Humphrey Street home of her fellow firefighter, Anthony Pierro, was lost in the blaze.
Her career highlight was becoming a lieutenant, she said.
To celebrate her retirement, Scranton left over the weekend for a Portsmouth, N.H., vacation with her family.
Deputy Fire Chief Jim Potts said Scranton will be missed.
“Sheila was a great employee,” he said. “She was a great person to have around. She was a great personality.”
Scranton said she loved her career and is proud of what she did. As a first responder, she has one last piece of advice.
“I would say just don’t take life for granted,” she said. “I’ve come upon very sad instances. Live life to the fullest.”
Gayla Cawley can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @GaylaCawley.
