Firefighter blazes trail: Lou Galloway
Originally published for International Women’s Day 2025. As we celebrate International Women’s Day 2026, we’re revisiting some of the inspiring women whose stories continue to shape the City of Moreton Bay.
As Moreton Bay marks International Women’s Day 2026, stories like Lou's remain just as powerful as when we first shared them.
Last year, we featured Lou as part of our International Women’s Day coverage, highlighting her drive, determination and commitment to success.
Twelve months on, her story still reflects the resilience, leadership and strength of the women on our front line, protecting the community while paving the way for the next generation. Here is her story.
Early Career
When Lou Galloway was at school, a career in the fire service was not promoted as an option for women.
She stumbled upon the idea while working in office administration and searching for a career path that would be challenging – physically and mentally.
“I could have done a trade or been a police officer, joined the Army … firefighting just popped into my sights and there was nothing else (I wanted to do) after that,” Lou recalls.
“At the time I’d just missed a recruitment drive and had to wait a few more years before I could apply but just went from there.”
She finally joined when she was 24 years old and has worked up the ranks during the past 23 years, completing further study to become a Senior Firefighter and stepping up as Acting Station Officer at various times.
Most of her career has been as a firefighter, but she has also had stints in the training department, working with the auxiliary firefighter development unit.
As we celebrate International Women's Day today, we're shining a light on women on the front line.
“I was in and out of being operational while having children. You become non-operational when you become pregnant and potentially breastfeeding as well,” the mother of four explains.
At those times, she did rostering and building inspection work with the service. Throughout her career, she has been stationed at areas including Roma Street, Chermside, Sandgate, Petrie, Caboolture and Kippa-Ring. Lou loves firefighting, the variety and challenges it offers every day.
“What I love about the job is the fact that it’s challenging, interesting, different every day, physical … plus I enjoy the shift work, rather than 9am-5pm or 8am-4pm,” she says.
“I think the challenge (has held my interest). I went from office work, and having barely touched a tool in my life, to knowing my way around road crash rescue equipment and firefighting equipment and tools in general.
“The organisation is supportive of all of that (learning), your fellow firefighters are supportive … your crew is there to help you out. It is very much a team environment. That’s another thing that I love about it.
“Everyone’s got each other’s backs and you solve problems as a group. Having a diverse team helps you to solve problems better as well.
“It is a family … very supportive. If something’s going wrong in your life, you can definitely fall back on your firefighter family to help you through.”
What she does
Reactive firefighter duties range from responding to fire alarms at shopping centres, road crash rescue, urban search and rescue, vertical rescue, confined space rescue, structural fires, bush fires, hazardous materials incidents (spills), and ambulance assistance to animal rescues.
Proactive duties include training, equipment checking, community engagement and education.
“I enjoy helping people. It is a good feeling when you go to a situation that’s not very good and then you resolve that incident through team work,” Lou says.
“Also, the camaraderie at the station and just station life in general. You don’t go to work and sit around miserable, waiting for your shift to end.
“I still love the job. Is still get a buzz driving along under lights and siren … hearing the bells go. Even after all this time, it’s still exciting to go to a call of some kind.”
We ask Lou if a woman in her life has inspired her.
“Obviously, my mum. My mother is a strong woman. Her best friends, who I grew up alongside, are also strong women. I think that’s something that’s always stuck with me,” she says.
“Also, the women in this job are strong women and we’re likeminded women. The ones that I have come across, we’ve all got similar interests, we’ve got similar personalities.
“I would encourage any woman to consider this as a career. There’s still such a low percentage of women in this job and, after 20-odd years I’ve been in it, I wonder why women don’t consider it.
“It’s not that they’re not capable. It’s not that they can’t get physically fit enough … I just don’t know what the barrier is. Anything that I can do to get it out there that it’s a job for women, I will.
“It’s good that they’re (now) getting into the schools. I like doing fire education with the Year 1s and having the girls see this is a job for women as well.”
CAREER PATHWAY
To find out more about firefighting, visit fire.qld.gov.au
More from our International Women’s Day 2026 series
You can read more stories celebrating women across the City of Moreton Bay here.
Meet Moreton Bay’s Business Woman of the Year: Candice Kiss
Leading with purpose: Tash Wheeler
Service to lifesaving: Lynda Barry
A lifetime in hockey: Jenny Heron
This story is part of our International Women’s Day 2026 coverage. Explore more local profiles and features here.