PHOTO: The Rochester Hills Fire Department recently named its first female fire chief officer. Ann Echols was recently promoted to the rank of assistant fire chief and fire marshal. She was officially sworn in to her new position during the March 3 Rochester City Council meeting. Echols, according to city officials, is the first female chief in the department’s history, and she was promoted to the position 19 years after becoming the department’s first full-time female firefighter. “When I started at the Rochester Hills Fire Department I didn’t set out to be the first full-time female firefighter or first female anything — I just wanted to do a job that I love,” Echols said. Fire Chief Todd Gary said that the swearing-in ceremony for Echols was a day of celebration for the entire department.
