For Kailee Horvath, 23, helping protect people runs in the family. Her father, Julius, signed on with the Ashburn Volunteer Fire & Rescue Department more than 20 years ago and served as a rescue chief for a time. Her brother, Alex, is a professional firefighter with the city of Fairfax while also volunteering in Ashburn.
So no one was probably too surprised when – at age 17 and still a student at Broad Run High School – Kailee joined the Ashburn fire department and started working toward becoming an emergency medical technician. She went on to complete fire school as well and now is a volunteer firefighter and EMT in Ashburn alongside her dad and brother.
And she’s also a full-time college student studying nursing at Marymount University in Arlington.
Oh, and she’s the reigning Miss Virginia USA proudly represented Virginia in the competition at the start of October. (The crown ultimately went to Miss Texas — R’Bonney Gabriel.)
Just typing up Horvath’s accomplishments is exhausting, so living it must be a wild ride indeed. Our partners at Ashburn Magazine interviewed this talented young woman about everything she has going on and the dichotomy of being both a rough-and-tumble firefighter and an elegant beauty queen. Click here to read the full interview.