Captain Melanie Bate, Omaha Fire

Melanie Bates is a Captain on the Omaha Fire Department (OFD) in Nebraska. She joined the department as a firefighter/paramedic in 1995 and was promoted to Captain in 2002. She joined the fire service with six years previous experience as both a volunteer in rural Nebraska and a paramedic for a large service in Oklahoma. Her current position is a joint position working for the fire department in the Mayor’s Office, where she works on fire service projects to improve efficiencies and interdepartmental activities across the city and metropolitan area.