Bundled up in Patagonia and wearing a tight winter cap, long-time Duluth firefighter Carla Gamradt ducked into the red-brick fire station, with her college-aged daughter, Ellie following close behind.

The scent of gasoline wafted throughout the frigid station garage. Gamradt quickly embarked deeper into the station in an attempt to ditch the mid-March Duluth chill.

Standing at a towering 5’11” with a background in athletics, Gamradt explained that she was initially drawn to firefighting due to the physical and unpredictable nature of the job. However, after 25 years of firefighting, Gamradt’s reasoning has shifted.

“The aspect of helping people is really what’s made it so much more rewarding.”

Gamradt attributes her love of Lakeside Fire Station 6 to the importance of community.

“In the Lakeside neighborhood, people will see me walking around and recognize me. I don’t want to leave it because it’s almost like we’re helping our neighbors,” Gamradt said. “People know me. People remember me.”

And for good reason. Station captain Erik Roadfeldt described his professional experience with Gamradt as one filled with support and compassion.

“When we have a difficult scene, she always dives right in. She’ll go above and beyond what most people would do as far as putting them at ease and making sure they have whatever they need,” Roadfeldt said. “People remember the service she has done for our city.”

While Gamradt has achieved a significant amount of praise for her work as a firefighter, the job still has its difficulties. Yet, they don’t necessarily come from hosing down fires or 24-hour shifts.

When asked about what the hardest aspect of firefighting was, it was Ellie, Gamradt’s daughter, who cautiously answered for her mother.

“Sexism.”

Gamradt glanced at her daughter, chuckled, then shrugged in agreement.

“That was probably the hardest part early on — noticing and realizing the bias,” Gamrabt said.

Gamradt recounts early on in her career women in the department fighting for the inclusion and expansion of the women’s locker rooms in the fire station. 

“Pam Wutz, the first woman firefighter hired at the station, had to fight for an actual locker room instead of using a different bathroom.” 

About ten years later, when Gamradt and additional female firefighters were hired, there was a push for a larger women’s locker room. 

“Believe it or not, men fought against that,” Gamradt said. “They measured the square footage of their locker room versus the square footage of our locker room. Square inch versus square inch.” 

Gamradt also explained that when the fire station was revamped 20 years ago, there was a women’s locker room with showers but no toilet. Women were required to use separate bathrooms whereas the men’s locker room had toilets. 

“That was the original design. So we had to fight to have a separate toilet in our locker room just like the men did.”

Luckily, under new leadership, the culture has improved in recent years but Gamradt stands firm on creating a workplace where sexism ceases to exist.

“I don’t want our newest women to have to go through the same things that I had to deal with.”

The newer the firefighter, the more difficult it is for them to speak up. Gamradt takes it upon herself to be the voice for those who may not have found theirs yet.

Ellie Gamradt once again gave her two cents on the conversation.

“She stands up for the people. She stands up for the women at the station. She stands up for everybody.”

Out of the 135 employees, there are seven women working at the Duluth Fire Department. Gamradt hopes for more to join in part because of the camaraderie that she has cultivated through her years of firefighting. While Gamradt has indeed experienced her fair share of sexism in the workplace, the bonds that she formed with co-workers over the years helped ease the burden.

“Pam Wutz, the first woman firefighter hired, has always had my back. She was the trailblazer,” Gamradt said with tears brimming in her blue eyes.

Despite Wutz’s retirement, the two still retain their friendship which prompts Gamradt to take newer women at the station under her wing.

“Pam handed the baton to me and I am running and now, I’ve got to hand it off.”

The fire station offers a scholarship aiming to increase diversity within the department. The scholarships will pay for all required fire training at Lake Superior College to become a Duluth firefighter. Through this scholarship, the culture of compassion Gamradt helped fight for can live on.

While this year’s application process has come to a close, you can still access all the information necessary for next year’s scholarship here.