Lexington’s first Black female firefighter remembered 19 years after her death

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) — Brenda Cowan is described as a trailblazer, with her legacy still lasting nearly 20 years after her tragic death.

Cowan graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Her professors said Cowan was “positive, attentive,” “an asset” and someone with “patience and good humor.”

“Her smile seemed to welcome everyone and include everyone. Her smile was not just on her lips but was evident in her eyes and revealed both her positive attitude to learning and her engagement with those around her,” Betty Lorch, an assistant professor at UK who taught Cowan, said.

Cowan was Lexington’s first Black female firefighter, eventually climbing the ladder and being promoted to lieutenant in 2004 as a “committed” member of Engine 18.

One week after her promotion, her crew responded to a domestic violence call where she was shot in the line on duty on this day — Feb. 13 — 19 years ago.

Pain remains, but the city, school and the Lexington Fire Department remember Cowan every year on Feb. 13.

The largest elementary school in Lexington also bears her name, Brenda Cowan Elementary.