Mona Markabani unpacks her gear at the Lincoln Park Fire Department

LINCOLN PARK — Her bulky apparel is custom-fit to her petite frame. A sturdy black helmet; thick pants and boots that resemble a snowsuit five sizes too big; a heavy jacket with a six-pound pocket radio.

It’s a big load, but Mona Markabani can handle the weight — and a fire.

“I know I might have a pretty face, but don’t let that fool you,” Markabani said. 

Markabani is Lincoln Park’s newest firefighter. Since being sworn in on July 16, she has worked hard to show that she is a capable member of the team.

The 24-year-old who was born in Germany to Lebanese parents already achieved several firsts in the department. 

She is currently its youngest, second female and first Arab American firefighter. 

Though she has tattoos and wears a blue t-shirt and straight-leg pants like her male colleagues, Markabani said she is also a girly girl. When she’s off duty and spending free time with her husband, she said she wears shorts, makeup and “cute clothes.” 

She smiles as she speaks and her long eyelashes add to her soft demeanor. Then, at the sound of the emergency alert tones, her warmth gives way to seriousness. She rushes to the rescue vehicle and heads out on a call. 

After a seven-month application and waiting process, this finally became Markabani’s reality.

She graduated from Henry Ford Community College with a paramedic degree and spent nine weeks at the Schoolcraft College fire academy. 

Through a lengthy interview process and a spate of physical and written tests, Markabani’s scores brought her to the top of the applicant pool for the position in Lincoln Park.

In the years before she was hired, Markabani heard a slew of discouraging lines from friends, family and instructors: “Don’t do that; it’s a man’s job,” “Why don’t you do nursing instead?” “Are you sure about this?” 

But Markabani has been sure since she was 7 years old. During an assembly at her Dearborn elementary school, a group of firefighters gave the students a presentation on fire safety. Among them was the first female firefighter Markabani had ever seen, and she was inspired. 

Markabani knew she wanted to make firefighting her career — and she did. 

“I’ve stuck with it and worked so hard to get where I am,” she said. 

Despite some initial resistance, Markabani said her parents are respectful of her work. However, she is not the only family member with a career outside the confines of gender expectations; her sister Rana Eljaafari is a police officer in the Wayne State Police Department. 

“We’re not 100 percent Americanized, but we’re very open minded,” Markabani said.

But Arab culture, Markabani said, a woman pursuing a male-dominated career is rare and considered “taboo.” 

“Males are in charge,” Eljaafari agreed. “Women are the type that would sit at home, cook, clean, have children; and that’s pretty much your life.”

Both Eljaafari and Markabani say their mother, who worked in a car factory with mostly male co-workers, instilled can-do attitudes in them and taught them to dismiss gender and ethnicity as a constraint.

Markabani wants to encourage young people from all backgrounds to resolutely pursue their goals.

“Do what makes you happy,” she said. “If you want to be a firefighter, do it. If you want to be a police officer, do it. If you want to be an astronaut, do it. It doesn’t matter what the culture says.” 

Markabani does not feel that her fellow firefighters treat her differently because she is an Arab American woman, but she said the portrayal of Arab and Muslim women in the media influenced expectations about her. 

“I think that there was some initial hesitation about her being there,” said Lincoln Park Fire Chief Al Dyer. “But she came in with her personality and her hard work ethic and she’s fitting right in.”

Lt. Mike Prinz, who has been with the department for nearly 20 years, supervises Markabani. Together, they develop techniques that will help her conserve energy on scene and channel power from the strongest parts of her body.

Prinz is still in the process of determining where Markabani fits best on his team of firefighters, but said she is adjusting as well as he had hoped.

“She’ll do the job,” Prinz said. “I have no doubt about that. Or she’ll hurt herself trying to do it. Effort isn’t the question.” 

During each shift, Markabani trains for and looks forward to her first big fire. And she already has her sights set on her next goal: moving up in rank and eventually becoming a captain. 

Although she is new and, as a woman, is built differently than her male counterparts, she doesn’t focus on those factors. 

“There’s no excuses here, you just gotta do it,” Markabani said.