MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Bonnie Bleskachek was grocery shopping with her son earlier this month when a stranger recognized her.

“Hey, you’re the chief, right?” he said, according to Bleskachek. “Ha, ha. Not for long, though!”

The remark, recounted by Bleskachek in an interview last week with The Associated Press, was far removed from the encouraging “You go, girl!” comments she says she got from strangers after she was appointed the city’s first female fire chief in 2004.

A lot’s happened since then. Bleskachek has been on paid administrative leave since March, awaiting the outcome of a city investigation. Separately, three female firefighters sued her, alleging various acts of discrimination and sexual harassment.

In a wide-ranging interview this week, the native of Chippewa Falls, Wis., said she doesn’t know if she’ll ever return to the job she loves.

“First of all, the city has to decide if that’s what they want. And secondly, I need to decide if that’s what I want,” she said. “Having been through this, quite frankly, I don’t know if … the time away from the kids and the family, if it’s worth it.”

The city would not comment on the ongoing investigation. Bleskachek also would not talk directly about it.

“I’ve been spending a lot of time worrying, wondering. Wondering, you know, where is this all going to lead?” Bleskachek said. “I never in a million years thought it would last this long, when I requested to be put on administrative leave.”

The city’s firefighters are also tired of waiting, said Tom Thornberg, president of the Minneapolis firefighters union.

“I think everybody would just like to see it over with so we can move on. And if Bonnie’s coming back, then OK, and if she’s not, let’s get into the process of choosing a new chief,” Thornberg said.

City spokesperson Matt Laible said that as of early September, the most recent figure available, the city had spent nearly $198,000 on the investigation.

Bleskachek, 43, is a lesbian, and one of the only openly gay fire chiefs in a major city. She and her previous partner have two children, a 12-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy. Her current partner is a captain in the fire department.

Bleskachek is a firefighter to the core. As she sat down for the interview in her attorney’s conference room, she casually evaluated whether the thick wooden pillars would hold up in a fire. (She deemed them safer than the ceiling beams.)

She said she enjoyed firefighting because she found the work meaningful, whether she was saving a life or comforting a child whose parents were injured in a car accident.

When she became chief, she said, she missed going on calls. But she said she enjoyed the managerial parts of the job: team-building, working with people, generating new ideas.

Throughout her career, Bleskachek was active in making the firehouse a better place for women. For example, she worked to change a portion of the physical test to accurately reflect work required on the job.

But some women claim they were treated unfairly by Bleskachek, and three lawsuits were filed this year. The lawsuits – two of which have been settled – paint a picture of a woman who let her love life interfere with personnel decisions.

Bleskachek denies the allegations and says they are based on rumor.

“I did not bring my personal life into work. I’ve wanted very much to keep them very separate,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what I have done in reality. The conjecture, the rumor mill at the fire department, is unbelievable.”

In the remaining lawsuit, firefighter Kristina Lemon claims Bleskachek pursued a sexual relationship with her, and that when Lemon refused, Bleskachek denied her training and advancement opportunities. Bleskachek tells a different story and denies the claims, which span a 10-year period in which Bleskachek moved up the ranks from captain to chief.

Lemon said “running for cover” under the guise of rumors shows that Bleskachek isn’t taking responsibility.

“The truth simply always comes out,” Lemon said.

Bleskachek said she wants the truth to come out, too.

She has mixed feelings about settling the two other lawsuits – which focused on a promotional exam – saying she understands the city’s decision but wishes she would’ve had the chance to clear her name. She admitted no wrongdoing in the settlements, but says “it leaves a question in people’s minds.”

“In the court of public opinion, I was deemed guilty before we even started work on [the lawsuits],” she said.

She acknowledged that some people might wonder if she would be effective if returned to her job. But she says she’s gotten encouraging messages of support from many people in the department who want her to come back.

“The reality is, those are the people I work for more than anybody,” she said.

She said her time off gave her a new perspective.

“It shows me where my priorities really are, and that is my family,” she said. “How easy it is to get lost in the absolute and incredible business of the chief’s [job]. In the end, if I retire now, five years from now people will be like ‘Bonnie who?’ but the reality is I’m going to be my kid’s mom forever.”