El Paso’s first woman firefighter was Karla Paige Bedell-Wingfield. She graduated from the El Paso Fire Academy in April of 1993. Wingfield was the first woman in the 100 history of the El Paso Fire Department to do so. Wingfield later went on to become a nurse practitioner, practicing in El Paso. Stephanie Hornbuckle joined Wingfield as a firefighter on Dec. 10, 1993. Hornbuckle left the department in 2003, with the rank of Lieutenant. The third women to join the ranks was Karla Martinez 1994. She is still with the department today.
Thanks to Carlos Briano, spokesman for the El Paso Fire Department and Dane Aguilar at the El Paso Public Libary for their help with information for this post.
Joseph Longo
EPHS Curator
