will and grace

Meet the heroic Houston firefighter blazing a trail in this year's smoke show pinup calendar

Tara Grace Houston Fire Fighters Calendar 2022

Photo courtesy of Tara Grace

The Houston Fire Fighters Calendar is back and there’s a twist for the first time: female heroes are mixed in with the expected shirtless, greased-up, muscle-bulging, beefcake guys.

Tara Grace, 45, adorns the month of December. She is an active fire fighter, a 19-year veteran of the Houston Fire Department, assigned to Station 42 near the Ship Channel. This is her first experience as a calendar girl.

The 2023 Houston Fire Fighters Calendar is available for $35 — plus $6 for shipping — online. The calendar was produced by the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association Charitable Foundation, benefitting the its Burned Children’s initiative.

We caught up with “TARA FIREFIGHTER” as she’s billed on the calendar. Grace is pictured wearing a relatively modest red tank top and regulation tan fire fighter pants. She is holding a cat.

CultureMap: Seriously, when was the last time you climbed a tree to rescue a cat? Is that even a thing for fire fighters anymore?

Tara Grace: Not necessarily climbed a tree to get a cat down, but we actually do rescue animals that are trapped inside a house fire pretty frequently.

I’ve rescued several dogs over the past couple of years. One of the things that is cool about the calendar is we have some rescue animals in a few of the photos. I think that’s awesome. I was glad to do that part.

CultureMap: What attracted you to become a fire fighter?

TG: I heard about it while I was a personal trainer in a health club. It always interested me. I didn’t have any family members who were in the fire department or anything like that. I had always heard more about female cops than fire fighters.

I met some folks during the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo that introduced me to some female fire fighters. I just stepped out and gave it a whirl. It was a challenge and I absolutely loved that part of it.

CultureMap: Did you have to audition for the calendar or did somebody just say you’re going to be the December model?

TG: I did have to audition and that was more nerve wracking than doing the photo shoot. You’re in front of your peers, a formal selection committee. If you’re not used to that, it’s a very strange experience. It’s more than just trying to look cute.

CultureMap: You’re not wearing a bikini or posed in a sexually provocative position. Was that on purpose?

TG: We wanted to show that there are female fire fighters and we are strong. We’re also a limited number. We are less than three percent of the fire fighters in Houston. It’s important that we are represented in the calendar this time.

I like my photo. We were in a house that actually just burned down a week prior to my photos so it was a really cool setting. Plus, I’m proud that the calendar raises awareness of the burn children.

CultureMap: Do fire fighters really slide down poles?

TG: I have done that. I slid down one a couple of weeks ago when I was at Station 20. But they don’t make stations anymore with poles.

CultureMap: How often do you respond to a fire?

TG: It’s pretty regular. We answer for a lot of car fires and truck fires. There are warehouses by my station. We also have a neighborhood. One recent day, we had two car fires and one house fire. So, it’s hit or miss.

CultureMap: Do fire fighters sleep at the station? What is your schedule like?

TG: We all sleep in the dorm together like one big, happy family. It’s like a night out camping. I’m camping with the dudes. It’s a minimum of two 24-hour shifts a week. We work 6:30 am to 6:30 am shifts. The city is short on staffing right now so sometimes we work three days in a row.

CultureMap: Are fire fighters really great cooks? How would you rate yourself?

TG: You can ask the guys in my station: I believe that a few of us have some magic cooking skills for sure. Like last night, I made beef teriyaki with vegetables and Jasmine rice and vegetable egg rolls.

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Support the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association Charitable Foundation and its Burned Children’s initiative by purchasing the 2023 Houston Fire Fighters Calendar online.

Contact Ken at ken@culturemap.com.

Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”