Eighteen years, two children, and several ranks later, Eleneki has made a career of fighting fires and now, as HFD's first female captain, she has become a leader of men.

The transition from 19-year-old recruit to full-fledged firefighter to fire captain was eased by her respect for the department, borne out of a lifetime spent around firefighters and the support of her male peers, said Eleneki, the daughter of retired Capt. Peter Akiona Jr., a 32-year HFD veteran.

Eleneki, 37, is one of six women firefighters in the 1,090-member department, which also has one current female recruit.

Honolulu Fire Chief Attilio Leonardi acknowledges that HFD needs more women firefighters and said the department constantly tries to recruit them. He said a program aimed at educating women about the profession, called Can You Take the Heat, will be reinstated this summer. The last time the program was in effect, it helped encourage more than 300 women to take the firefighter's written exam.

Newly appointed fire captain Debbi Akiona Eleneki shops for food for lunch, accompanied by other firefighters from Station No. 3 in Makiki including Marc Contee, center, and Keono Kalahiki. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

He said he hopes Eleneki's success will help other women shrug off societal stereotypes and try to make careers for themselves with HFD. He said anyone, man or woman, can be a firefighter as long as the person is smart and in good physical condition.

"She (Eleneki) is getting promoted because she can do the job," said Leonardi. "Debbi meets all the requirements to be a captain."

Eleneki calls her career as a firefighter "fate" because she originally wanted to be an accountant. She went away to school for a while, hated accounting, and came back to the University of Hawai'i to study architecture. That's when she took the fire exam.

She never thought that she would join her dad, and brothers Kevin, Aaron, Byron and Peter III, as firefighters, especially since she took the test only because her dad and youngest brother prodded her to give it a try.

She remembers staring at her desk while she took the test because she said she could feel all the male eyes in the room staring incredulously at her. Later that day, she ran into a close friend's father who had heard that Eleneki had taken the test.

"He said, 'You're never going to be a firefighter!' He thought that was the most ridiculous thing he heard of," she said. "I just got so upset. I didn't say anything, I didn't give him a reaction, but inside I thought, 'Oh, yeah?' and that's what prodded me. That's what got me going."

Eleneki's father said his family is very proud of her and humbled by her accomplishments. "Just to have her be a firefighter 18 years ago, that was something already, but this — this has a tremendous effect," said Akiona, 79.

Eleneki said one man's negative comment may have kick-started her career, but the continual service to the public is what keeps her in it.

"Going to those scenes and knowing what an impact your job has made on these lives, that's what keeps me going," she said. "It's so cliche, but it's being able to help the community and you're given that opportunity (as a firefighter)."