First Black female engineers with Greensboro Fire Department speak about experience

GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — Being a firefighter is one of the most important jobs in our community.

Two in Greensboro are seeing the position from a different perspective since being promoted.

“A lot of people say this is the best job to have on the fire department … driving the fire truck,” Cameron McLean said.

After going through a competitive process, McLean of Fire Station 18, and Jurica Isangedighi, of Fire Station 21, have earned the prestigious honor to serve as engineers.

They are the first Black women to ever be promoted to the position in the department’s 98-year history.

“I understand representation matters,” Isangedighi said.

“We just wanted to become engineers. We weren’t trying to be the first. We just wanted to accomplish our goals and ended up being the first,” McLean said.

Engineers McLean and Isangedighi have not only bonded over a love for what they do but also because of what else they were balancing while preparing for the road ahead.

Both women welcomed newborns while going through this process.

Engineer Isangedighi is also a mother to a toddler.

“My three-year-old is starting to be into fire trucks. He likes to come to the fire station and get on the truck, and gets excited when he sees them in passing, so that feels really good that he is acknowledging what I do and enjoying what I do so far,” Isangedighi said.

“[It] just gives me a new outlook on things for him to be able to grow up and see that this is what I’m doing with my life and that she is a firefighter, and that she is driving the fire truck,” McLean said.

Both women explained that the department overall is very supportive, and they never received any pushback from their peers about pursuing their goals.

In fact, the opposite is true.

They say they had a tremendous amount of support from people who were helping them study.

McLean says she is especially proud of Isangedighi for reaching this goal after an injury prevented her from being able to pursue the physical tests two years prior.

However, remaining diligent allowed the two of them to share the recognition together.

“There is no barriers except for the ones you set for yourself,” Isangedighi said.

“Don’t limit yourself. Don’t let your brain tell you you can’t do something because if I would have done that then I’d never be driving the fire truck right now,” McLean said.

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