Women's History Month: An interview with Maeve McDonough

March 24, 2025

St. Louis native Maeve McDonough grew up in a service-oriented family. Her dad, uncle, and many of her cousins are police officers, and a few of her aunts are nurses. Helping others comes naturally to her.

Even growing up in a family of law enforcement officers, Maeve always had firefighting in the back of her mind.

“My dad made all his jokes, but he loves it now,” she laughs. She would go on to earn her college degree in criminal justice, but she soon started having doubts about her future and decided to enroll in EMT school after college.

“Once I graduated college and started EMT school, it was the first time I actually really enjoyed learning something… I was like ‘Ok, I think I’m really gonna like this,’” Maeve states.

Maeve graduated from recruit school in the fall of 2024. It didn’t take long for things to start clicking for her at the City of Beaufort/Town of Port Royal Fire Department.

“I think it was actually my very first shift, we went to Publix and there were these two little girls with their dad shopping,” she begins. “They came up to me and were just staring at me, and I was like ‘hi!’ And they were really shy… they were just so shy and sweet. I was with three other guys, and they didn’t go up to the guys, but they came up to me, so I was like, ‘Aw, that’s adorable.’ It was very special. And that happening on the first day, I was like, ‘I love this already.’”

As a woman in a male-dominated field, Maeve understands that things are different for women, but not impossible, and hopes that she and other women in the fire service inspire the next generation.

“There’s not many of us, and by celebrating us and getting the word out that there are women succeeding in this career, that could inspire younger girls to grow up and want to do what we’re doing,” Maeve says. “Anybody can do it, you just have to put time in… If you want it enough, I think anybody’s capable of doing it.”