ERIE, P.A. - Buffalo native, and Buffalo State graduate, Seenah Mishel says she's not one for the limelight, but her recent promotion has pegged as a trailblazer.

"Lieutenant Mischel is the first African-American and first female to be promoted to lieutenant," Erie, Pennsylvania Mayor Joe Schembel said during a recent fire department promotion ceremony.

Lieutenant Mischel moved to Erie in 2004 and the army veteran officially joined the fire department in 2010 after hearing a radio ad encouraging minorities and women to apply.

She first became fascinated with the profession as a child.

While playing kickball on the streets of Buffalo, she recalls a fire truck stopping nearby .

"A female firefighter jumped off of the rig and they were responding to a call," Mischel recalls. "That was a very pivotal moment for me seeing her because before that I had no idea that women did this job."

She later learned that firefighter's name is Ellen Pauletta Peoples, who retired after 27 years of service with the Buffalo Fire Department.

"I realize that when I'm out doing my job, I get the same looks that I gave her," said Lieutenant Mischel.

Lieutenant Mischel says she couldn't have achieved such success without the help of her fellow firemen.

"My crew rallied around me," she says. "They turned me into the firefighter that I am now. I give them a lot of credit."

Mishel says she has yet to meet Ellen Pauletta Peoples, the female firefighter who inspired her but Mischel says she hopes she can ignite the same spark in others for the profession as Peoples did for her.