Answering The Call
Alumna Valerie Frausto makes history as the San Antonio Fire Department’s first female chief
By Kiko Martinez
As a young girl in San Antonio, Valerie Frausto remembers always being intrigued by the members of her family who worked for the local fire and police department. She would hear people talking on radio scanners and wondered what it would be like to be one of the heroes who answered the calls.
“Without a doubt, I wanted to be a firefighter,” Frausto shared. “I knew I wanted to help people.”
After 24 years in the San Antonio Fire Department (SAFD), Frausto was appointed as the first woman to lead the department as its fire chief. She officially stepped into her role on Nov. 1, 2024, about 10 months after former Fire Chief Charles Hood’s retirement. Frausto was selected among a nationwide search.
“[Frausto] emerged as the ideal candidate due to her exceptional leadership of all aspects of the [SAFD] and her undying commitment to serving the community in which she was born and raised,” San Antonio City Manager Erik Walsh said in a statement last year.
As the first woman in the position, Frausto, a graduate of A&M-San Antonio, describes the promotion as an “honor” and a “huge responsibility” to lead a department of approximately 2,000 employees.
“This is more than just a job to me,” she said. “I really feel like it’s my calling. I’m very proud to put on this uniform. I do everything I possibly can to keep firefighters safe and to provide a service to the community. I love San Antonio.”
Spark in Her Eyes
With family ties to the SAFD, Frausto knew early on that she wanted to be a firefighter, but had doubts she could reach what, at the time, seemed like an unlikely goal.
“I didn’t think being a firefighter was a possibility for me because I was a small-framed girl,” she said. “It always seemed like it was one of those impossible dreams. I saw there weren’t many women in the fire service.”
Frausto thought that maybe she would go into the medical field instead. After graduating from Incarnate Word High School in 1991, she set her sights on becoming a medical technologist and working in a hospital laboratory. That idea, however, quickly changed when, at 19 years old, she was walking through a local mall and met an SAFD recruiter.
“The recruiter I met was a woman who was about my size, maybe even a little smaller,” Frausto said. “So, I thought, ‘If she could do it, it's definitely a possibility that I could do it, too.’ I knew I just had to set my mind to it.”
Fire in the Belly
After working at Santa Rosa Hospital and the Audie Murphy VA Hospital, Frausto officially started as an SAFD firefighter in 2000. Over the years, she steadily advanced through the ranks, including serving as fire engineer, lieutenant, captain, district chief and assistant chief.
But it’s her five years as a firefighter that she remembers as being particularly challenging—and just as rewarding.
“Multi-family fires at apartment complexes are so heartbreaking because they place people in a position where they have lost everything that they own,” Frausto said. “As a firefighter, we also handle other incidents like terrible car accidents and ammonia leaks where we have to evacuate a large area of people.”
Frausto said it’s important to have the strength to push ahead as incidents like this happen. Firefighters witness difficult moments, but the weight of those times should be managed so it doesn’t affect the next job.
“You have to kind of let go and try to put it behind you,” she said. “We all know that we’re doing everything we can for the good of the community. We’re helping people every day. Incidents put things into perspective. You begin to understand that it’s part of life. What I’m here for is to help people get through those difficult times.”
Looking to further advance her career, as Frausto gained experience at SAFD, she also enrolled at A&M-San Antonio to earn a bachelor’s degree in fire and emergency services.
“At the time, there was an assistant chief with [SAFD] who was finishing up the program, so I got some information from him and decided to go for it,” Frausto said. “I’m happy that I did because I learned a lot.”
At A&M-San Antonio, Frausto remembers taking budgetary classes and doing a lot of research projects. She said her courses gave her a strong foundation and fostered her ideas on issues such as innovation, professional development, mental health and community engagement. Because she was already working as a firefighter, she would often take her books to the fire station to study during downtime.
“I wanted to learn more about management, especially in public administration,” she said. “As I rose through the ranks, that was something that I was lacking. The City of San Antonio offered tuition reimbursement, so I knew that I had their support financially to complete the coursework.”
"I knew I wanted to make a difference." ~ Valerie Frausto
Frontline Hero
Frausto graduated summa cum laude from A&M-San Antonio in 2022. When starting at the University, Frausto never imagined that she would one day become fire chief. She did know that an education in fire and emergency services would benefit her in the long run.
“It’s very easy to get comfortable in your position at the fire department because you like who you work with and trust your team,” Frausto said. “It all depends on if someone is willing to break away from that comfort zone.”
When the fire chief position became open, Frausto had been assistant fire chief for several years. The timing to step up and apply for the new role was perfect.
“I knew that I wanted to make a difference,” she said. “I saw each promotion as an increase in responsibility and something that allowed me to improve the services that we provide the community. I wanted to see how we could be safer and more effective and focus on improving emergency response and public safety.”
In addition to improving emergency response, she’s also focused on increasing the number of women firefighters employed at the department, including through efforts like the “Hero Like Her” campaign. Launched in 2019, the campaign helped raise awareness about women firefighters and encouraged others to join the department.
“We continue to work to recruit more women and more minorities,” she said. “It’s very important to me to promote a culture that values our firefighters and ensures that they reflect our community. I encourage young women to apply for the fire department. It is a job where you can make a difference each and every day.”
Finding Balance
When she’s not leading the fire department, Frausto likes spending time outdoors with her wife, Krista. She loves bass fishing, hiking, camping and traveling to national parks, including Yosemite in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains and Glacier National Park in Montana’s Rocky Mountains.
“I like to stay active,” she said. “I try to take at least one or two trips every year. All the national parks are gorgeous in their own way. I love the wildlife and the serenity of being out there.”
In the near future, Frausto hopes to visit Banff National Park in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.
“We obviously have to work hard, but we also play hard,” she said. “That’s kind of my motto. So, I just make sure to enjoy life.”