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Ashland's first female fire captain takes promotion in stride Ashley Manning is the first woman to make captain at the Ashland Fire Department. Mail Tribune / Jamie Lusch Monday Dec 19, 2016 at 5:13 PM Dec 19, 2016 at 5:13 PM By Julie Akins for the Mail Tribune “I want girls to look at me and say, 'Oh, I can do that!' ” says Ashland’s first female fire captain, Ashley Manning.  “Ashley Manning made Ashland Fire & Rescue history by becoming the first female to ever work as a fire captain in Ashland. Granted it was only for two hours, but considering that the department was founded almost 130 years ago, it was a noteworthy two hours,” said Division Chief and Fire Marshal Marguerite Hickman in a press release about Manning’s promotion.  Breaking the glass ceiling was not anything Manning set out to do. “I just come to work and do my job and I don’t think about the male/female thing,” she said. It was only after being pressed that she suggested her gender and rank could be something of interest. “There aren’t that many women firefighters. I had the opportunity and I took it.”  Manning has been a firefighter for the past eight years. She passed her engineering test and that qualified her to take the captain's test, which she passed in November, making her eligible to be the first woman to fill in as an acting captain, a role she is filling this week, as well. “Basically, it’s whenever we have two full-time captains on our shift, a person moves up if one is off. If they’re not here, they’ll fill this spot and I’ll move up.”  “I’m just doing my job. I don’t think I’m doing anything that my male counterparts aren’t doing,” says Manning.  Asked why she thinks a fuss is being made about her promotion, as evidenced by a recent announcement at an Ashland City Council meeting where Councilor Stefani Seffinger congratulated her, Manning says, “I appreciate the recognition, I’ve worked hard and I am proud of what I’ve accomplished. I didn’t want to make a big deal out of. I took the test and here I am.”  Manning says she sees that in some ways she is breaking new ground. “I do get it. As a mom I had no one to even ask how it’s going to be being a pregnant firefighter and coming back to work being a mom. But it's nothing more than every mom faces.” Manning has a 7-month-old daughter at home.  “I think being a minority of any kind, gender or whatever, comes with some challenges," she says. "There’s not that many females (firefighting), especially in the Rogue Valley. I’ve never had any bad experiences, I’ve always had great support with everyone I work with, even being a minority.”  The city of Ashland has two female firefighters out of 30 line personnel. “It’s a great career," Manning says. "You work with great people, you do new things every day.”  Manning’s ambition is to continue moving up through the Ashland Fire Department. “I’m hoping to be a full-time captain. That’s the end goal for now. But you never know what the future holds.” — Email Ashland freelance writer Julie Akins at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/@julieakins.