There are only three women fire chiefs in Massachusetts. Maynard has one of them
MAYNARD — Angela Lawless got about as early a start as possible when it comes to responding to fires.
"You couldn't do this now, but when I was 2 years old, and the alarms were going off, I would be waiting at the door and my dad scooped me up and away we went," Lawless said.
She grew up in rural Maine, where her father was a volunteer firefighter.
Nearly half a century later, and in a different state, Lawless, now 49, is leading a department. The Holliston resident was promoted to Maynard fire chief, starting the job on March 7.
She is believed to be just one of three women fire chiefs in Massachusetts — Jen Collins-Brown in Topsfield and Sandra Lowery in Seekonk are the others.
"To me, when I go to work, I don't think about gender, which sounds kind of weird," said Lawless. "A big part of it might have been that I was a little older and a little more mature when I started, so I never felt intimidation or thought, 'Ooh, there's just boys here.' To me, it was just going to work."
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Originally pursued a career in business
Although she loved firefighting, Lawless said she didn't see it as a possible career because she lived in such a small community and the fire department was all volunteer. Instead, she earned a degree in business administration from Southern Maine University.
She worked in the corporate world for a while but didn't like it. She had moved to Holliston and worked in the insurance industry before opening a day care center.
While at home, she would see fire engines go out on calls and said it rekindled her interest in firefighting. So in 2003, at 29, she joined the Holliston Fire Department as a call firefighter.
"I was the second female on in Holliston," said Lawless. "I was assigned to Engine 1 — that's where I got the bulk of my training."
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Became a full-time firefighter in 2012
Lawless, a mother of three, did not initially pursue a full-time career in firefighting, but when her children became more "self-sufficient," she applied and was hired at the Maynard Fire Department in 2012.
Lawless went on to earn associate and bachelor's degrees in fire services, then a master's in public administration. And, in what she calls one of her proudest moments, she completed a four-year executive fire officer program through the National Fire Academy.
In Maynard, she was promoted to captain in 2018, then chosen to replace Chief Anthony Stowers when he retired earlier this year.
As chief, Lawless has seen the transition of the department to a newer station and hopes to increase staffing — Maynard now has 20 full-time firefighters. She also wants to work on collaborating with other town departments.
"I want to change the focus of firefighting from being reactive to being proactive, and to identify the problems before they happen," she said. "I want to work on making the job easier for firefighters."
Lawless said she's happy about how far she has come.
"The experience has been very positive," she said. "I worked very hard to become captain — the first female captain — and now chief. There's a very strong network of fire chiefs, and I can always reach out to them when I have questions."
Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com. For up-to-date public safety news, follow him on Twitter @Norman_MillerMW or on Facebook at facebook.com/NormanMillerCrime.
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Maynard's Angela Lawless is third woman fire chief in the Mass.
