By Jamie Hale
PORTLAND, Ore. 鈥� Listen to Erica Nelson recount a few of her thrill-seeking adventures, and at a certain point you can only shake your head.
How else can you respond to somebody who tells you about her two-month bike tour around the Baltic Sea? Or her 14,000-mile motorcycle trip along the Pan-American Highway? Or the weeklong dogsledding excursion that she casually tacked onto the end of a backcountry ski trip in Northern Sweden?
When Nelson, 50, isn鈥檛 traveling the world she鈥檚 engaged in another kind of adventure: working as a captain for Portland Fire & Rescue 鈥� the only woman who currently serves at that rank. But at the end of the year, she鈥檒l be retiring from her job at Station 27, leaving behind a successful, hard-won career in what has traditionally been, and still is, a male-dominated job.
鈥淭his career has suited me so well through the years. It鈥檚 almost like this job and I found each other,鈥� Nelson said. 鈥淥ne of the beautiful things is the lifestyle it has allowed me to live.鈥�
But, as she tells it, the lifestyle and the job were never that separate to begin with.
One of a few
At Portland Fire & Rescue, Nelson is one of a few.
Of the approximately 690 people who make up the Portland Fire & Rescue ranks, only 54, or about 8%, are female, according to department spokesperson Rick Graves. Those numbers are currently fluid, Graves added, as the department is in the midst of a 鈥渟ignificant wave of retirements.鈥�
Nelson said she鈥檚 heartened to see a number of 鈥渞eally strong, dynamic, smart women鈥� climbing the ladder, with several at the rank of lieutenant and battalion chief. While women have thrived at Portland Fire & Rescue, including who retired in 2023, there remain challenges to working in the male-dominated space.
A found that female firefighters face a number of disparities, including harassment, ill-fitting safety equipment and inadequate training. The study, done by researchers with Kansas State University and the Center for Fire, Rescue, and EMS Health Research, linked those issues with recruitment and retention issues among female firefighters.
鈥淭his factor is a major public health issue as females are part of the responders that protect communities all across the U.S.,鈥� the authors wrote.
Nelson declined to speak on the specifics of her struggles in Portland but was clear on the primary barrier she has faced.
鈥淚 always go up against doubt,鈥� she said. 鈥淚n this job where you can sometimes be doubted because of your gender and size, it is paramount to have this self-knowledge about my own capabilities and confidence.鈥�
Strength through adventure
Through all her adventures 鈥� the construction work in Antarctica, the ice climbing in Colorado, the three rafting trips through the Grand Canyon 鈥� Nelson has asked herself the same questions: 鈥淎m I really capable of this? Can I really do this?鈥�
She said she鈥檚 driven by curiosity, about what her body and mind can do, as well as about the places and people she meets along the way, but at the end of the day it鈥檚 the sheer physical challenge that draws her in.
鈥淲hat I do out in the adventure world is I鈥檓 often pushing my own physical limits,鈥� Nelson said. 鈥淚 also bring that back to work, and knowing how capable both the body and the mind are to do the work.鈥�
In both her life as a global adventurer and her work as a firefighter, Nelson has faced intense, physically demanding tasks that require impeccable preparation to stay safe. The challenges she faces while, say, mountain biking the Great Divide, have come in handy while fighting fires on the edge of Forest Park.
鈥淚t鈥檚 confidence. Just self-assurance,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 confidence that I know I have what it takes, that I know I鈥檓 capable of it.鈥�
But being a firefighter has proven to be much more than physically taxing. Nelson said it鈥檚 often the emotional challenges, an often-unspoken side of the job, that hit the hardest. Being on the front lines often means encountering people at their most vulnerable, and especially as a person who values personal interactions so highly, Nelson said the work has often been a stressor.
鈥淢ost people experience one tragic trauma in their life, and it鈥檚 something we do many times a month, many times a year,鈥� Nelson said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 truly a gift to be able to witness life in all its fullness, the full spectrum of it, but there鈥檚 heartbreak that comes with that.鈥�
For her, the thrill-seeking trips are also mental health breaks, she said, opportunities to get out and take a deep breath (or some really deep breaths). And while she once took a meditation retreat to Bhutan, her follow-up motorcycle trip through Nepal was more her speed.
Financial planning for retirement in public safety
Upon retiring at the end of December, Nelson will waste no time in transitioning to her full-time life of adventure.
In January, she鈥檒l be surfing in Costa Rica. February will be her annual ice-climbing trip to Colorado. March is set aside for skiing and April for mountain biking, then May through July will be a bikepacking trip in the Balkans.
Nelson said she has a spreadsheet with roughly 200 trips she鈥檇 like to do, including sea kayaking, long-distance canoeing, wing surfing and telemark skiing. At only 50 years old, she feels like she has plenty of time to tackle the list.
In addition to everything else, she said her travels often prove that women can live this kind of adventurous lifestyle, another arena that鈥檚 often dominated by men. As a firefighter, she said she鈥檚 always delighted in interacting with girls, paving a potential pathway that may not have otherwise existed in their minds, and on her adventures, she has similar interactions.
鈥淪eeing young girls and young women, their eyes just light up when they see me, because suddenly they鈥檙e imagining themselves,鈥� Nelson said. 鈥淲e have to see more people doing more things: women on motorcycles, women traveling alone, women in non-traditional roles. We need it.鈥�
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