BALTIMORE – Coppin State Hall of Famer Twana Allen was recently promoted to rank of Fire Lieutenant by the Baltimore County Fire Department (BCoFD).
A native of Avenel, N. J., Allen was inducted into the Coppin State Hall of Fame in 2014. She was the first African-American fire specialist in the history of the BCoFD. Now she's making more history. She is a 14-year veteran of the Baltimore County Fire Department.
Fire Lieutenant Allen began her journey as a volunteer at the Woodlawn Volunteer Fire Company. In 2001, she began her professional career as an EMT-Basic at Station 18, Randallstown. In 2002, she was promoted to paramedic; in 2009, she became a Fire Specialist.
Twenty percent of Baltimore County Fire Department's sworn members are women - well above the national average.
The Kamenetz Administration and Fire Chief John Hohman have made diversification of fire and EMS personnel a priority. Women make up 14 percent of career personnel in the department, and minorities make up 38 percent. As of October 2015, there are 990 career personnel, with 195 women serving on the career side of the Baltimore County Fire Department.
Allen was an exceptional athlete at Coppin State. She began her cross country/track & field career in 1994. A versatile runner, whose strongest event was the 400, Allen was a member of Coppin's 4 x 100, 4 x 400 sprint medley relay team.
Her breakout year was 1996 where she was a NCAA Indoor All- American in the 800 meters, ECAC Indoor Champion in the 800 meters, NCAA Qualifier in Outdoor Championships, MEAC Indoor and Outdoor Champion in the 800 meters, and MEAC Indoor Champion in the 3000 meters. She holds the Coppin State University's record for indoor 800 meters (2 minutes, 6.74 seconds) which she established in 1996.
"North Avenue was our track," Allen said during her Hall of Fame induction speech in 2014. "We improvised a lot when I was here. Our coach made a track out of a grass field and we ran on Douglas' track as well. This is a great honor to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. There were so many other athletes that the committee could have chosen. Words can't express how I am feeling right now."
