First female firefighter in the county now a paramedic

Carroll County Times -

Before Wendy Bowersox saw Libby Luebberman's photo on the front page of this newspaper, she had never before thought about females becoming firefighters.

Many of Bowersox's male relatives were in the field, but it didn't cross her mind that she could also join.

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"I remember her picture being on the front page of the paper as a kid and thinking that was really cool," Bowersox said.

Luebberman said she joined the Sykesville fire company in 1971 and was the first female in Carroll County to finish the basic firefighting class.

While it helped open the doors for women in the field, it was also a personal challenge for this self-proclaimed tomboy.

"It was more to prove to yourself that you were capable of doing it," Luebberman said.

She remembers receiving a lot of funny stares from the general public.

"People weren't used to seeing females," Luebberman said. "Now it's an accepted fact."

At that time, fire companies were just changing their bylaws and allowing women to join. Some people, however, still thought that women didn't belong as firefighters, but instead should be in the auxiliary.

She remembers having to prove herself to the men, showing that she was capable of the physical labor, like ladder work, pulling the hose and interior firefighting. But Luebberman found it easy to pick up on the different aspects of the job since her family was involved with the fire company.

"I had no intention of doing this when I was growing up," Luebberman said.

But she became addicted to the position after joining, spending much of her time there when she wasn't at her full-time job as secretary at the Applied Physic Lab in Howard County. In addition to firefighter, she was the secretary of the Sykeville fire company's Board of Directors.

Joining as a volunteer firefighter ultimately led to her current career, which is a paramedic for the Westminster fire company.

In the 1980s, she decided to switch careers and took training to be a Cardiac Rescue Technician and she later became a paramedic. Luebberman is still Emergency Medical Services captain as a volunteer at the Sykesville fire company.

"A lot of career people started out as volunteers," Luebberman said.

Bowersox took a similar path to Luebberman, first joining the Pleasant Valley fire company in 1982 as a volunteer and then later becoming a paramedic for the Taneytown fire company.

The two took Carroll County's first paramedic class together and worked together at Westminster fire company. During that class, Bowersox would tell Luebberman that she was her hero.

"She still is, she's still really awesome," she said.

Luebberman was ahead of the curve when she became a female firefighter.

Not only was it unheard of in the county, but television shows didn't yet depict women in that field, Bowersox said.

"I think it took a lot of courage," she said.

Luebberman also serves at this time as the chairwoman for the EMS Operations Committee of the Carroll County Volunteer Emergency Services Association and sits on the quality assistance board. Her experiences make her well-respected and knowledgable in the field, Bowersox said.

Though it was a challenge to break into the field when she did, the whole experience has been rewarding and she wouldn't take anything back, she said.

"It allows you to see different aspects of life, the tragic aspects," Luebberman said. "You appreciate what you have."