MILWAUKEE — When it comes to emergencies, seconds matter and if there are any hurdles in communicating, it can mean life or death.
At Milwaukee Fire Station 26, near 26th and Scott, oftentimes firefighters aren’t saying, "How are you feeling?" but rather "¿cómo te sientes?"
“I would say I speak Spanish almost every shift,” Firefighter Shirley DeJesús-Ortiz said. “I don’t think there’s ever been a time where I haven’t had to use my skills.”
DeJesús-Ortiz became a firefighter three years ago. It was important for her to be the representation she didn’t see as a kid.
“I didn’t really see anybody that looked like me on the fire department,” DeJesús-Ortiz said. “I did see a lot of Hispanic men on the job but I didn’t really see a lot of Hispanic women. I wanted to be that change and let it be known that we can also do it too.”
She came to the United States when she was 12 years old from Puerto Rico. On the bottom of her fire jacket, in bold highlighter letters is DEJESUS. Pair that with the sugar skull on the side of the fire engine she’ll ride to calls and she can easily connect with a community largely made up of Spanish-speaking residents.
According to US Census data, Milwaukee added 13,299 Hispanic or Latino residents from 2010 to 2020. It’s the largest total increase of any demographic over that decade span. That increase has resulted in 20.1 percent of Milwaukee’s population identifying as Hispanic or Latino.
In an effort to have a department reflective of its community, the Milwaukee Fire Department is always trying to recruit a more diverse group of cadets. As of 2023, 11.4 percent of its sworn personnel identify as Hispanic or Latino. It’s a large increase from just a few years ago.
“It’s good for the community to know that we have people in our department that understand their background,” Lt. Carlos Velazquez-Sanchez said.
According to Lt. Velazquez-Sanchez, there has been a 60.8 percent increase in Hispanic firefighters since 2019.
“The community feels a little bit more at ease when they know that somebody that may understand their culture, or them better, is at the door,” Velazquez-Sanchez said. “So for that reason, we try to diversify the department as much as possible so we can have our firefighters in the areas where they’re going to make the best impact.”
Velazquez-Sanchez adds, the Fire and Police Commission dropped US Citizenship requirements last year. So people who are legally allowed to work in the United States can become firefighters in Milwaukee, regardless of their citizenship status. More information on how to become a firefighter can be found here.
The ability to communicate with a population that may not know English has been extremely rewarding for DeJesús-Ortiz.
“It just kind of brings me back home,” She said. “I can kind of drop my firefighter hat and kind of just be Shirley. I can just be myself and talk to the patient and try to figure out what that person means. I kind of just see my family in those types of situations. I just try my best to treat them like family.”
Bomberos like DeJesús-Ortiz sees the residents of Milwaukee as familia, whether they hablan español or not.
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