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Moments after Beth Weldon got a new shield pinned on and a white helmet signifying her promotion to division chief of volunteer firefighters Monday night, radios sounded an electronic bloop because a call had just come in.

"Guess what? You're getting your start early," one officer said to her.

Weldon, previously a captain with Capital City Fire and Rescue, is one of only two women that are career firefighters in the department and its first female division chief. She shrugged off the distinction.

"I'm the first person with this position. I was the first female captain. A lot of firsts," she said casually. "Firefighters, they're pretty much, if you can do the job, they don't care. ... And I'm kind of a workaholic."

Before becoming a professional firefighter, Weldon was in another male-dominated industry running her own gillnetter. She got her start as a volunteer firefighter at the Douglas station in 1990 while looking for a way to give back to the community where she was born and raised.

"You're helping out your community. You're helping out your neighbors and friends," she said. "Most of us come back to the corny phrase, we just want to help others."

She was hired as a full-time firefighter in 1992.

Weldon's position is new for the department, too. She is in charge of a volunteer corps that struggles with recruitment and retention.

The roster is about 60 people now, though Division Chief Richard Etheridge, who leads the career firefighters, has said ideally it would be twice as deep. Weldon said varying levels of commitment among the volunteers should also be considered.

"It would be nice to have 40 or 50 very active members," Weldon said.

The time commitment of responding to emergencies plus hours of drilling each month keeps many away, Weldon said. She thinks changing attitudes over the years, particularly among potential firefighters trying to become better family men, has also thinned the ranks.

To turn things around, Weldon said she plans to recruit more heavily at the university and high schools. Full-fledged volunteer firefighters must be at least 18, though a cadet program may come in the future that 16-year-olds could participate in.

Additionally, the department received a federal grant that could lead to a scholarship or internship program that could fill slots in the summertime.