Toni Tolbert Dixon Recommended as New Decatur Fire Chief
Decatur Metro | January 5, 2009As noted in this week’s commission agenda (and supplementary materials), Toni Tolbert Dixon is being recommend for the open position of Decatur Fire Chief beginning July 1st, 2009.
Her most recent resume can be found on pages 16-21 of the supplementary materials and Peggy Merriss’ letter of recommendation can be found on page 15.
Decatur’s first female fire chief! Very cool!
I’m thinking this could be a Georgia first too. This National Report Card of Women in Firefighting (pdf) states that there are only 31 female fire chiefs in the country as of 2008. Also, “Among the 350,000 paid firefighters in the nation today, the 2000 Census reports that women number slightly more than 11,000 or 3.7%. This figure places firefighting in the lowest 11 percent of all occupations in terms of women employees.”
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Not a first in Georgia. The current East Point fire chief, whom I assume Chief Dixon worked for, is a woman.
BTW, the current East Point Police Chief held the same position in Decatur.
Also, Cobb County Fire had Rebecca Denlinger for almost 10 years and she retired last year.
Good to know…thanks guys! I’m not really up-to-date on my fire chief stats, but thought it notable.
The Decatur Minute gives us a photo update from the commission meeting that was very well attended by Dixon’s entire family!