It has nothing to with her being female, nor is is it solely about her lack of experience as a firefighter. It is possible to be an effective manager without having the same experience as those you lead. But a good leader would rely on the experience and input of their staff (the Chief of Department and other chiefs in this case). What a good leader would NOT do is is go behind their staff’s back and make changes to the personnel who work directly for that staff. It’s leadership 101, which she obviously missed.