One of Iowa’s first female fire chiefs, Marion’s Deb Krebill retiring in April

MARION — After being with the Marion Fire Department since the city was half it current size three decades ago, and now planning for future growth, Fire Chief Deb Krebill plans to retire in April.

Krebill, 59, started as a firefighter and paramedic for the department in 1991 and was just opening its second fire station. She worked her way up the ranks, from captain to district chief to deputy fire chief and then to fire chief in 2014.

She was just the second woman ever to join the city department, and eventually became the second woman to be a career fire chief in the state and was the first native Iowan to do so.

Krebill said in her career she has felt that she had to “prove something” with being a woman in a male-dominated field.

“I always had that chip on my shoulder because you know there’s guys that think you shouldn’t be on the job,” she said. “Here in Marion, I’ve always been treated as an equal by everyone and I’ve always been fascinated by that.”

She said that once she became a firefighter, that’s what she would be her whole career.

“I had no inkling of being a fire chief because I was female and that wouldn’t happen, but I loved learning so much that I’d go to every training, the National Fire Academy every year I could, and I was just craving that learning and wanted to do things so that love of learning got me here,” she said.

Krebill grew up on a farm near Donnellson in southeast Iowa and attended Iowa Wesleyan and Southeastern Community College before leaving school to work in security management in the Cedar Rapids area.

“It wasn’t my passion,” Krebill said.

Soon after, she saw an ad in the newspaper for paramedic school and it reminded her of “Emergency!” a television show from the 1970s about paramedics.

“I thought, ‘That’s Johnny and Roy! I want to do that.’” she said.

While attending a part-time training program, she met Maureen Boots, the first-ever woman hired at the Marion Fire Department in the late 1980s. One night at class, Boots asked Krebill if she ever thought about being a firefighter.

“I said I didn’t know anything about firefighting, and she said they train you on the job,” Krebill said. “Being on the farm, all I knew was physical work so I wasn’t worried about that part. I tested and here I am. … Once I was on the job, I found my passion, but if you told me 35 years ago that I would become a firefighter, I would’ve said, ‘yeah right.’”

Krebill has witnessed the city grow double its size from when she moved to Marion. Over the last few years, that had led exponential growth in the fire department, which includes its first new station and headquarters in over 30 years and a 30 percent increase in firefighters in the last seven years. In addition, the city is scoping out land for a fourth fire station as Marion continues to grow.

But for her as chief, more firefighters also means more people’s safety to worry about.

“Every night I go to bed and wonder what’s happening here. I hope everything’s OK. I hope my guys are OK and nothing happens,” she said. “I will still worry after retirement but right now it’s on my shoulders. That’s what makes the difference.”

Marion Police Chief Mike Kitsmiller said Krebill was the first person to welcome him on board when he started working in Marion.

“You can’t help but like and admire her,” Kitsmiller said. “She’s genuinely one of the nicest people I know, truly cares about others, but underneath that quick smile she’s tough as nails.”

Kitsmiller added that when the 2020 derecho hit Marion, it was Krebill who rallied the executive leadership team.

“The other department heads fell right in line and not a single person, all of whom are great leaders themselves, questioned her taking charge once the winds stopped blowing and the work began,” Kitsmiller said. “If you ask her about it today, she’ll smile, say it was a team effort and downplay her role in what took place. But I can say with confidence that she had not been there … the recovery effort would have taken much longer.”

Krebill said the biggest challenge in her career has been dealing with the ongoing pandemic on top of derecho recovery.

“We trained for tornadoes for 30 years and all of a sudden this storm hits and the whole county needs resources and nobody trained us for that,” Krebill said. “How we adapted to make sure the job got done, I was so very proud.”

Krebill said if it was up to her today, she wouldn’t be retiring right now. But a few years ago, she entered the Deferred Retirement Option Plan, a plan designed to keep firefighters from retiring “too early” and putting a strain on a city to hire and train new firefighters.

Under the plan, one can stay in the program for up to five years, but three years ago, Krebill signed the papers and set her retirement for April 30.

Currently, there is no word on who the next fire chief will be. In Marion, the city manager is responsible for hiring the city’s fire chief. Krebill earns $148,350 a year.

Krebill said she plans on doing some traveling and catching up with friends and family after retirement.

“I do want to travel but also catch up with the people I haven’t got to see over the years: friends and family all over the country,” she said. “I haven’t be able to because I’ve just been here.”

But don’t expect Krebill to disappear. In fact, residents may still see her on some fire calls in the future.

“I’m hoping to do some volunteer work in Marion,” Krebill said. “When I look back on my life, being able to be a part of the city of Marion is one of most treasured. It really is. I can’t believe I was that lucky. I love it here.”

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