A history-making Black female leader retired Friday after a 30-year career at the Arlington County Fire Department.
Tiffanye Wesley — the department’s first Black female lieutenant, captain, battalion chief and deputy chief — celebrated her last day at the agency surrounded by dozens of friends and fellow firefighters.
Well-wishers came from as far away as Philadelphia and New York City. They included the president of the International Association of Black Professional Firefighters; Wesley’s first fire captain, who she calls her “second daddy”; and Andrea Kaiser, who served alongside Wesley as ACFD’s only other Black female firefighter for about 15 years.
ACFD celebrated her career in a broadcast announcement to all units.
“Thank you, Chief Wesley, for shattering glass ceilings, for being an inspiration for many,” a speaker said. “They are here because they love you, and I love you. You are Black history.”
It was a bittersweet occasion for multiple reasons. While Wesley and her many supporters at times fought back tears while reflecting on the accomplishments of her trailblazing career, disappointment also flared as they discussed the reasons surrounding her retirement.
Wesley was demoted from deputy chief to battalion chief on Jan. 26 following what she characterized as an interpersonal dispute.
ACFD declined to comment on this, citing a policy against public statements on personnel matters.
Despite the demotion, and longstanding concern about some aspects of ACFD’s workplace culture, Wesley expressed joy at the people who came to support her and her ongoing legacy as a certified leadership trainer.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she told the crowd. “I appreciate each and every one of you — and again, this is not the last of Chief Wesley.”
A historic career
Wesley wasn’t originally planning on a big send-off. She sent an invite to about 10 people, and in her original plan, “I was just going to walk out the door and say, ‘deuces,’ and that was it.”
Word got around, though. By the time Wesley walked out the door around 12:30 p.m. on Friday, a crowd of around 40 people, many in firefighter uniforms, had gathered outside the Bozman Government Center in Courthouse to greet her with loud applause.
They then went into to Government Center to continue celebrations in the Arlington County Board room. Numerous speakers took the podium to discuss how Wesley touched their lives.
“I’m so proud of you — how you’ve endured, how you’ve been my support, because I never would’ve made it as far as I have if it wasn’t for you,” Kaiser told Wesley in an emotional speech.
Wesley began training to become a firefighter shortly after she got married and had her daughter at age 19.
“I had to get a career and pay for college on my own,” she told ARLnow. “She’s the reason why I started, and she’s the reason why, when it got hard, I stuck in there.”
She and Kaiser were in the same recruiting class and formed a lifelong bond — calling each other “sisters for life.”
“We went through everything together,” Kaiser, dressed in a camouflage jacket with the words “Black queen,” told ARLnow. “We would do everything together, and we supported each other. Even in my personal life she still calls, checks up, supporting me.”
Over the years, Wesley’s connections across public safety agencies deepened and strengthened. Both her husband and her ex-husband are fire captains, while her daughter has gone on to become a sergeant at the Metropolitan Police Department in D.C.
“Growing up, I took it for granted that my mother was a firefighter — that my family were firefighters,” said her daughter, Dalentina Costello.
“When you’re introduced to something from the start, you don’t realize the gravity of it,” she continued. “But you are a phenomenal woman, and the older I get, the more I understand some of the things that you share with me.”
‘It has made me who I am’
Wesley has had a complicated relationship with ACFD.
She filed an unsuccessful lawsuit against Arlington County back in 2008, alleging that she had been denied a promotion “on several occasions” because of her race in gender. A jury in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled in the county’s favor, court records show.
Wesley, who is currently planning another lawsuit, continues to have mixed feelings about the fire department.
“I don’t hold anything against Arlington County,” she said. “It’s been an awesome place to work. I just think they need to allow the layers to be peeled back so they can allow people to truly thrive.”
Kaiser, who left ACFD six years ago, said she has seen little improvement in minorities’ experiences since she and Wesley joined the department 30 years ago. She says she worries for firefighters who remain there.
“It scares me,” she said. “Because she’s such a role model, and she’s so strong. She has this position, and now they’re not going to have that. So it scares me for them.”
In the face of many challenges over the years, one source of strength has been the two women’s care for each other.
“We still support each other, no matter where we’re at,” Kaiser said. “We’re friends for life. … The day I met here [is] the day we became family.”
Today, Wesley is a certified speaker, teacher, trainer and coach with the John Maxwell Team, according to her LinkedIn. In recent years, she has traveled to mentor others and speak about leadership.
She recently earned a degree in organizational leadership and completed a fire service executive program. For the time being, however, she is planning to “take a pause.”
No matter where Wesley goes next, she is proud of her accomplishments at ACFD.
“It has made me who I am,” she said. “It definitely has strengthened me. It’s given me patience. It’s given me understanding. In so many ways, [it] definitely deepened my walk with God, just to understand who I was.”
