{"id":545,"date":"2018-11-19T01:48:43","date_gmt":"2018-11-19T01:48:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=545"},"modified":"2023-03-27T15:51:08","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T15:51:08","slug":"at-fire-station-1-annie-hoxie-starts-her-engine-and-follows-a-family-tradition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2018\/11\/19\/at-fire-station-1-annie-hoxie-starts-her-engine-and-follows-a-family-tradition\/","title":{"rendered":"At Fire Station 1, Annie Hoxie starts her engine and follows a family tradition"},"content":{"rendered":"
When Annie Hoxie tried to start one of the Durham Fire Department\u2019s old reserve trucks to drive her crew to Harris Teeter while Engine No. 1 needed repairs, the truck beeped angrily.<\/span><\/p>\n From the back seat, veteran firefighter Richard Chavis offered her a clue and urged her to troubleshoot. \u201cWhy won\u2019t it go, Hoxie?\u201d he asked like a parent quizzing a teen with a learner\u2019s permit. \u201cHoxie, slow down. How do the air brakes work?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Hoxie hesitated, which prompted a brief lesson from Chavis on compressed air and storage tanks. After she adjusted a dial in front of her, she got the the truck to roll out of Fire Station 1 in downtown Durham, bound for Harris Teeter to buy dinner for the rest of the shift. <\/span><\/p>\n Success.<\/span><\/p>\n Hoxie, 28, has been a firefighter for two and a half years and wants to move up: relief driver, driver, captain and then battalion chief.<\/span><\/p>\n That was the highest rank her father, Craig Hoxie, achieved before retiring from the Durham Fire Department. She doesn\u2019t want to go any higher than he did \u2014 that would mean an office job, which is not her thing. But she\u2019s found she enjoys the family business, so to speak.<\/span><\/p>\n Times have changed. There weren\u2019t any women firefighters when her father started his career. And today, they make up less than 5 percent of Durham firefighters, and there are no women at the rank of battalion chief or above.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cPeople aren\u2019t sure what to call me. They\u2019re like, \u2018firelady?\u2019\u201d Hoxie said. \u201c\u2019Firefighter\u2019 is fine. I don\u2019t even get offended by \u2018fireman.\u2019 Some women do, though.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n