She is the siren behind the siren - and with a reputation for being courageous and unafraid, Miami Beach firefighter Jennifer Cauble lives up to the hype as part of the Firefighter Assist and Search Team known as F.A.S.T.
“If any one of our firefighters gets disoriented in a fire, our rescue would go in to find them,” she told NBC 6’s Arlene Borenstein.
It’s not the first time she’s braved difficult situations for others as Cauble previously served in the U.S. Navy as a firefighter for five and a half years.
“This is a male dominant field,” she said. “Unfortunately, you have to work twice as hard to prove yourself. I didn’t speak at all. I just worked, worked and that’s what earns respect.”
She says being a female in the military wasn’t her biggest challenge though - being gay in the military was.
“At the time, it was ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ and I had to be very hidden about who I was,” she said.
After leaving the Navy, she found herself in a dark place.
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“I couldn’t get a job, it was very difficult time for me,” Cauble said. “I was near homelessness, they cut my lights off I kept getting eviction notices.”
She progressively pulled herself together by moving to Miami, where her veterans’ benefits helped pay for a professional massage school that she says changed her life. Courses not only included lessons in positive thinking, but they also led her to a chance meeting.
“We had a guy come in and teach CPR and he was a firefighter. I asked him…what’s the process here,” she said. “He told me the process and what schools to go to.
Fire academy became a new hope for Cauble despite hearing she wouldn’t get hired.
“I always told myself from massage school, positive affirmation. I told myself every day, I will - no - I am a Miami Beach firefighter,” she said, adding she got hired on her first try. “People come to the station saying ‘oh, do you remember when you helped me or helped my kid?’ That helps. You feel like you’re doing something good for the community,” she added.
Cauble says she hopes, in the future, to help women in the training department in order to encourage other female firefighters.
