Autumn Ballard

I’d say my most meaningful professional achievement has been building out the health and wellness program at Auburn Fire. It wasn’t easy—it was a fight—but it mattered.

Early on in my career, I lost a friend in the firehouse to cardiac failure. That sticks with you. It put a spotlight on something we all kind of know but don’t always address—this job will take a toll on you if you’re not prepared for it.

There’s a lot of awareness in the fire service around the risks, now—cancer, heart disease, sleep disruption, mental health—but not a lot of structure around actually preparing for them. It’s almost like we accept the risks more than we actively work against them. That gap didn’t sit right with me.

On top of that, coming in as a female firefighter, I knew I had to meet the standard—and realistically, exceed it—to be seen as capable. That forced me to be intentional about how I trained, recovered, and showed up. But it also made me realize that this shouldn’t just be an individual effort—it should be a cultural one.

Mental health was a big piece, too. I’ve gone through my own challenges during my career here, and living it is very different than just hearing about it. That experience made it even more important to me to create something that actually supports our people—not just physically, but across the board.

At the end of the day, this job is about taking care of each other and taking care of the people we serve. That’s what drove me to build this program—leading by example, taking care of myself so I can show up for others, and helping make this a career we can actually sustain.

I love the people I work with. That’s the reason behind all of it.

The best career advice I’ve received came in the form of leading by example. Mentors like Battalion Chief Dena Ali (Raleigh, NC) and Lieutenant Kim O'Brien (Auburn, MA), who showed me that there is space for women to lead, grow, and succeed in the fire service. Their guidance taught me the importance of supporting others along the way, which is something I now carry forward when mentoring women who are interested in firefighting.

Just get started. Just do it.

Whether that's getting on a volunteer department or getting involved with a support team for your local career fire department, getting your EMT, or finding something you can get your foot in the door with and keep working at it. It's an unusual industry to break into, and it's a very passionate industry. If it's something you want to go for, then you're probably gonna be the type of personality that'll go all the way. So it really is just follow that beat and keep pushing.

There's a disparity between the awareness of all the things that can go wrong in this job and the preparedness for all the things that can go wrong. There's always the scare tactic of cancer or heart failure. We know our sleep gets disrupted, but there's not a lot of prep around it. Mental health has been a huge aspect. I've gone through some issues on my own in my career here. Being in it was very different than hearing about it from the outside. I'm also working on reproductive health issues through Women in Fire. They've had a big reproductive research push, but 'we need more research' (Dr. Sarah Jhanke)! I'm trying to contribute to that and make sure we have better resources for maternity leave and what women's health means on the line.

I have really strong ties with just doing the right thing. I strongly believe in basic human connection, decency, empathy, compassion, and treating one another with respect. The biggest thing in the fire service is taking care of one another and the people we serve. I love the people I work with–that's why I do what I do.