Members of the Rockford Board of Fire & Police Commissioners have named a woman with 16 years experience as the next chief of the Rockford Fire Department.
Rockford native Rebecca Tyo, 44, is the second woman in the history of the Rockford Fire Department to serve as chief. She succeeds Michele Pankow, who after serving 32 years with the department and four years as the department’s first female chief, retired to become the first woman to serve as fire marshal for the state of Illinois.
“There hasn’t been a morning since I was hired in 2009 when I haven’t been incredibly proud to wear this uniform,” Tyo said. “When Chief Pankow announced her retirement, I spent a lot of time reflecting on my journey through the fire service. In that reflection, I felt a tremendous amount of appreciation for all the experiences and grateful to have leaders like Chief (Derek) Bergsten and Chief Pankow paving the way, teaching me and investing in me as a future leader of our department.”
Tyo is a captain with the Fire Department. She has held a range of roles including firefighter, firefighter-paramedic, lieutenant and training coordinator. A Christian Life High School graduate, Tyo is a former Division I basketball player for Western Illinois University.
She has a Bachelor of Science and a Masters of Science in kinesiology from Western Illinois. Tyo also has the Fire Officer designation and the Illinois Professional Emergency Manager accreditation.
Tyo was chosen by the three-member Board after an exhaustive national search process led by Industrial/Organizational Solutions.
It included a public question and answer session, a public meet and greet, public comments and background checks in addition to an intense scenario-based evaluation of the finalists conducted by active and retired fire chiefs from other departments.
Board of Commissioners Chairman Rudy Valdez said the process resulted in a group of five exceptional finalists, narrowed from a field of 14 qualified applicants. Valdez said Tyo excelled, especially during the evaluation process.
Commissioners voted unanimously to approve Tyo.
“Capt. Rebecca Tyo clearly demonstrated that she is the right leader to guide the department forward with vision, integrity and purpose,” Valdez said. “Chief Tyo is Rockford through and through.”
Other finalists included Rockford Division Chief Jeffrey Althoff, Rockford Logistics Chief Matthew Cordonnier, Rockford Capt. Tim Morris and Madison Assistant Chief Scott Bavery.
Jeff Kolkey writes about government, economic development and other issues for the Rockford Register Star. He can be reached via email at jkolkey@rrstar.com and on X @jeffkolkey.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Introducing the second woman in the history of Rockford Fire Department to be named chief
Reporting by Jeff Kolkey, Rockford Register Star / Rockford Register Star
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