In her 27 years with Largo Fire Rescue, fire inspector Patti Bacun set many precedents, clearing a path for other women joining fire departments.
By SHANNON TAN
Published April 1, 2004
LARGO - Patti Bacun waltzed into work Wednesday wearing a white shirt that had been dyed pink, bunny earrings and funky white sunglasses.
She was retiring after 27 years with Largo Fire Rescue. Today is her last day.
Bacun, 52, always has been one to break the mold.
She paved the way for women in fire departments by becoming Florida's first female fire inspector in 1980. She fought to get membership in the city's fire and police pension plan.
In 1993, Bacun became the second woman to be named Fire Inspector of the Year by the Florida Fire Marshals Association.
"In general, it hasn't been difficult," she said. "It's been a really good job."
Bacun joined the department in 1977, a year after moving to Florida from her native Wisconsin.
She had a degree in art education and had been working as a counselor. But the job didn't pay well. Largo Fire Rescue hired her as a public safety technician under a now-defunct federal jobs program.
She filled in when a fire inspector suffered a stroke and later died. But her supervisor told her he would not hire a woman, Bacun recalled. She eventually was hired by a new fire chief.
They had to take a regular men's uniform shirt and tailor it to fit her 5 foot 11/2 inch frame.
"They just weren't used to having women in the fire service," Bacun said. "Times have changed."
Bacun baffled the virtually all-male department by coming to work with dolphin belt buckles, dangling earrings and multiple rings on her fingers. Officials responded by beefing up the department's dress code.
"There's nothing that frustrated me more than fish earrings with the uniform," said Division Chief Mark Jones, with a chuckle.
Bacun, who was certified as a firefighter in 1990, worked with the Pinellas County Housing Authority to strengthen its policy on providing smoke detectors after a Largo boy died in a fire in a Section 8 housing home that didn't have a smoke detector.
Bacun also developed the department's juvenile counseling program, working with kids and parents to educate them on the dangers of setting fires.
The yellow warning tape hanging above her desk reads, "Caution Inspector Buried Below."
Bacun plans to keep busy by traveling with her husband, Lowell Nickerson, a Clearwater firefighter who will retire in a few months. They just bought a 50-foot boat that needs a ton of work. And she'll keep running her business selling jewelry made from beads.
When Bacun went to take the trash out Tuesday night, she found 50 pink flamingos in her yard, courtesy of her husband.
The sign read: "Patti retired and got flocked!"
Fire and city officials presented Bacun with several plaques and a signed fire helmet Wednesday. They also chipped in for a combo printer, scanner and fax machine.
"We're very sad to see Patti go," said Chief E. Caroll Williams. "But she's certainly earned her retirement."
