This week’s Everyday Hero is Nicole Brewer, a fire investigator with Portland Fire & Rescue.

Her job takes her to smoky, dark and often unhealthy places.

She not only loves her job, she had to overcome serious barriers to do it, and it’s vital for public safety.

For Portland Fire & Rescue, putting out fires isn’t the only part of the job.

“We do sometimes want to know a little bit more in depth what happened on a particular fire, so we may take some measurement data and possibly send it off to, like, the ATF lab,” Brewer says.

Firefighters focus on stopping a fire, but Brewer’s focus is on what started it. And she has investigated some major fires you may remember.

“I’ve worked cases like the Northwest 23rd natural gas explosion. I think that one probably stands out in a number of people’s minds as a big incident that we investigated,” she says. “Also, the Thunderbird fire, the big hotel fire that was on the Columbia. That was another big one that I was a lead investigator on.”

The job is challenging.

On top of that, Brewer has also had to navigate the unique challenges that come with being a female who’s doing the job.

“I think probably the most important thing that most of the men wanted to know, when we came into the fire service earlier in my career, at least, was that they wanted to know that we could do the job,” she says. “And you know, I know that I felt when I was coming up in the fire service that I kind of had the spotlight on me. And you could take that as, you know, people looking for you to fail, or you can take it as the spotlight’s on you, show him what you can do. And I think that that’s kind of the attitude that I took that if everybody’s gonna watch, I’m going to show him what I can do.”

And she was noticed. Last year, she was named Investigator of the Year by the International Association of Arson Investigators.

“It’s still surreal, actually. But it’s been an amazing experience and an incredibly fulfilling experience to, to feel that I’m not just proud of the things that I’ve accomplished but other people are proud of the things I’ve accomplished and that means the world to me,” Brewer says.

After accomplishing so much as a fire investigator, this 25-year veteran of the fire bureau is now looking for that next challenge.

“I’m ready to make that decision to go off and start doing something a little bit different and maybe a little less smoky and not so dark and, you know, maybe a little healthier,” she says.

But Brewer doesn’t plan on straying too far. She’s thinking about teaching, so she can share her experience and knowledge with the next generation of fire investigators.