Female city firefighter promoted to lieutenant

Pittsburgh firefighter Kari Burnham on Thursday became the first woman since 1995 to be promoted to lieutenant.

Ms. Burnham was promoted during the city’s public safety department swearing-in ceremonies for new EMTs and paramedics.

She is one of five women in the bureau, and her new position makes her the highest-ranking woman in the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire.

“I discovered the fire service when I was 19 and became hooked,” Ms. Burnham said in a Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire Facebook post. Being a firefighter was always her “dream job,” she said.

Ms. Burnham has been a firefighter for almost seven years, having previously worked at 17 Engine and Truck in Homewood. Before that, she spent two years at 15 Engine in Lincoln-Lemington, according to the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire. She holds an associate’s degree in fire science and a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, the department said.

She was also a state fire suppression instructor and assisted with teaching classes at the Pittsburgh Fire Training Academy and other academies outside the city.