Linda Long-Cumberbatch, first female Philadelphia Fire Dept. battalion chief, has died at 60

Linda Long-Cumberbatch, 60, of Philadelphia, the first female battalion chief in the Philadelphia Fire Department, longtime paramedic and captain in the Emergency Medical Services division, public safety expert, mentor, and artist, died Monday, March 3, of glioblastoma at her home in Roxborough.

Chief Long-Cumberbatch made history as the city’s first female fire captain in 2010. She joined the PFD fire division from EMS in 2004, worked with crews in West Philadelphia, Port Richmond, and Kensington, and made history for the second time in 2017 when she became head of the 3rd Division’s 9th Battalion in Germantown.

She retired in 2023 after fighting a raging chemical fire for 14 hours in 2019 and being diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2021.

In 1984, she became the first female volunteer firefighter at the Wissahickon Fire Company in Ambler. In 1990, she joined the EMS division at a time when women in the PFD were few, and she became paramedic captain in 1997. “She was a true trailblazer,” former PFD colleagues said in a tribute.

Wherever she worked, Chief Long-Cumberbatch was motivated, she told the Daily News in 2014, by challenging herself to overcome and achieve, and those around her to keep up. “It’s such a sense of accomplishment when you go into that dark, smoky, hot room and put the fire out as part of a team,” she said. “Then it’s over, and you can look around and say, ‘Look what we did. We stopped it.’”

She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in EMS and public safety while working at EMS full time, and became an expert in emergency medicine, firefighting techniques, and building construction. She spoke often of the misogyny and doubters she encountered in the early years, and of her resolve to prove them wrong.

“When it goes right, you almost don’t have to talk because everybody knows where they’re supposed to be, and you can look at each other and see what’s going on.”

She was good at organizing and motivating people, and became a popular instructor and mentor at the Philadelphia Fire Academy. “She was our momma hen,” longtime friend and fellow firefighter Jen Leary said in an online story for novocure.com, “and it was nice to have someone like that.”

She said her kindergarten class took a field trip to the Engine 64 firehouse on Rising Sun Avenue one day, and she knew then that she wanted to drive a fire truck. So she became a volunteer at Wissahickon and worked her way through the PFD.

Adam Thiel, then fire commissioner, told the Daily News in 2017: “It took a lot of guts for her to cross over from EMS and go back up through the ranks.”

Away from work, Chief Long-Cumberbatch enjoyed hiking in Wissahickon Valley Park, along sandy beaches, and elsewhere. She painted and collected tiny stones and bits of metal and glass on her walks and crafted them into handmade pendants, bracelets, and rings.

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She sold her jewelry in local consignment shops, and one store owner said in a tribute: “It was always a joy to work with Linda.”

She was active with the Red Paw emergency pet relief team, Second Alarmers Rescue Squad, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s national advisory council. She was a dragon boat paddler and an outspoken advocate and fundraiser for cancer programs after her diagnosis.

“Her grit and determination were inspirational,” Mike Bresnan, president of the firefighters union, said in a tribute. Her family said: “She touched the lives of thousands of people through her work.”

Linda Marie Long was born May 2, 1964, in Philadelphia. She grew up in Olney, went to Philadelphia High School for Girls, and moved to Ambler when she was 16.

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She graduated from Upper Dublin High School and volunteered with the Community Ambulance Association of Ambler. She earned a bachelor’s degree and 4.0 grade-point average at Drexel University and a master’s degree at St. Joseph’s University.

She married and divorced twice, and had a daughter, Tessa, and a son, Benjamin. She married longtime partner Kirk Cumberbatch recently and welcomed his daughter, Sahara, into her family.

Chief Long-Cumberbatch was an avid reader. She doted on her family and traveled with her husband to Iceland and elsewhere.

Friends and former colleagues called her “an amazing woman” and a “true warrior” in online tributes. One friend said: “Her legacy is inspirational.”

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Her advice in 2014 to other people facing big challenges, especially young women, was: “Just do it. … Just try it. I think people often regret the things they haven’t done.”

In addition to her husband and children, Chief Long-Cumberbatch is survived by her mother, four grandchildren, seven sisters, two brothers, and other relatives.

Celebrations of her life were held March 10 and 11.

Donations in her name may be made to the National Brain Tumor Society, 55 Chapel St., Suite 006, Newton, Mass. 02458; Shriners Hospital for Children, 3551 N. Broad St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19140; and St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church Whitemarsh, 7020 Camp Hill Rd., Fort Washington, Pa. 19034.