Sebastopol Fire Department Names Pattie Murphy 2023 Firefighter of the Year

Longtime city worker goes the extra mile to keep operations running smoothly

The Sebastopol Fire Department’s 2023 Firefighter of the Year, Pattie Murphy, works full time as senior administrative assistant for both the Sebastopol Building Department and the Fire Department. Here she poses with her plaque in front of a fire engine.

The Sebastopol Fire Department has named Senior Administrative Assistant Pattie Murphy 2023 Firefighter of the Year. The Sebastopol Times caught up with Pattie at the firehouse and asked her some questions to introduce her to the community. The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Could you tell us your full name, where you live, your age and how long you have lived in the area?

My name is Pattie Murphy. My maiden name is Powers, which is important to me because I come from a fire family. My dad was a volunteer here. I was born and raised in Sebastopol. I live just outside of town in Freestone now. My husband and I raised our children where my husband grew up. He grew up in Freestone. I turned 55 in December. And other than a very short period of time, I’ve always lived either in Sebastopol proper or in the outlying areas.

How long have you worked for the Sebastopol Fire Department and what roles have you worked there?

So I have been with the city of Sebastopol since August of 2000. I have been in the Sebastopol Fire Department since July of 2015 as the administrative assistant for the department. I’m also part-time for the Building Department for the city of Sebastopol. So I’m the administrative assistant for both departments. Every day, it’s all day, every day, both things. There’s no, “you’re going to do this 50% of the time and you’re going to do this 50% of the time.”

What do you do for the Fire Department?

So for the Fire Department, I do everything from setting schedules, ordering supplies, ordering equipment, getting the guys whatever classes or certifications they need, making sure they’re on top of the certifications that they have. I answer phones, not in a 911 capacity, but I do answer phones and questions relating to everything fire related. I do get calls often for people that say, “Oh, I see a fire.”

A lot of times, if you’re outside city limits and you call 911, it’s going to go to the CHP call center, and it’s going to be a busy signal. So you’re going to call me. I’m, in turn, either going to direct you to call another emergency number, or I’m going to take the information and get the call to REDCOM. REDCOM is the Sonoma County dispatch for fire and medical.

You mentioned that you work for both the Fire Department and the Building Department. Combined, are they a full-time job?

Oh, absolutely. Yes, I do work full time. I’m a city of Sebastopol employee. My specific duty as senior administrative assistant is for the Building Department and the Fire Department. There never is a day that is the same, and there never is a day that it is 50/50.

The Building Department is physically located in the fire station. From where I sit, the office to my left is the building official’s office. And the Building Department has been in the Fire Department shared space as long as I’ve been with the city. And I’ve been here almost 24 years. I work full time. I work 40 hours a week.

What do you like most about working for the Sebastopol Fire Department?

I come from a fire family. My dad is a career firefighter. My oldest brother was a career firefighter. My youngest brother did seasonal work with CAL FIRE. So this is a familiar environment for me. I like the atmosphere. I like to be around anything medical, fire, EMS related. So it was a good fit. I probably should have been a firefighter instead of what I do. But I like to be able to help.

I feel like I’m the epitome of a public servant in that I’m going to do whatever I can to help you, whether it’s in my role in the Fire Department or my greater role as a city employee. I’m going to help you wherever I can because I did 15 years in a different department. I know a lot about moving people where they need to be. But helping people is my greatest joy in working at the Fire Department—whether it’s our citizens or the firefighters.

What’s your least favorite thing about working at the Fire Department?

I think my least favorite thing is feeling like I’m not always able to get people the help that they need. And it’s never on the fire side, it’s on the city side as a whole, because I can’t help them get where they need to be.

Can you briefly describe the operation of the fire station, for our readers?

The Sebastopol Fire Department is a volunteer department, excluding one paid fire engineer. We typically have a paid fire chief, who retired at the end of 2022. The fire department is in flux right now. We don’t know if we’re going to consolidate, if we’re going to stay stand-alone or what variation of any of that is going to happen.

We have 34 volunteer firefighters and one paid firefighter. Our [paid] firefighter is here. Our engineer is here Monday through Thursday, the same hours as me. Pagers go off. Firefighters come down. They go [out] on the call. We have a stipend shift every day, one volunteer that comes in and works a nine-hour shift every day with the engineer.

In your own words, why do you think you were named Firefighter of the Year? 

So it’s a little different this year, being Firefighter of the Year, since I’m not a true firefighter. I am fire personnel. I am the administrative assistant for the Fire Department.

I think because I pull everybody together. I pull all the aspects of the Fire Department together. The suppression and EMS part of the department is one very large piece, but it’s one piece. It’s all of those outlying pieces. It’s all of the pieces that make it easy for them to do their jobs, whether they’re career firefighters or volunteers. I pull all of that together. I make it easy for them to do what they need to do to help our community.

Did you receive a Firefighter of the Year plaque or award?

I did. I have a plaque and I actually brought it. I’m like, I should bring it just in case. It was a huge shock to get it. And I’ll just tell you a little part of the story:

So, every year we do three awards, the culmination being the Firefighter of the Year, and every year it’s the chief and the assistant chiefs trying to decide who should it be. What did the Firefighter of the Year do? Did they have a heroic save? Did they have some new innovation? Did they do something to save the city a bunch of money? You know, what has the Firefighter of the Year done this year?

And then, come our Christmas dinner, the chief is giving his little spiel, and he starts giving little hints, and we all sit around, and it’s like, “Oh, I think it’s so and so.” And he said, this year, “If I gave you a hint, you’d know exactly who it is. So we’re just going to call them up.” And he called my name, and I went up and then he gave the whole talk about why I was Firefighter of the Year!

So, it was kind of cool.

If there was one gift you could bestow upon the Fire Department or fire station, what would it be?

PM: Money. The city’s in a deficit. The Fire Department is volunteer, and that’s a big part of what might or might not happen with the department: Can the city sustain keeping it independent? Or do we need to consolidate to make it whole?

What are your favorite things to do outside of work?

Ultimately, it is to spend time with my family, whether it’s my siblings—I have four older brothers—or my children.

Is there anything you would like to say to the community?

Thank you for your support of the Fire Department, because we do have great community support. We love our community as much as they love us!

Sebastopol Fire Department, 7425 Bodega Ave., Sebastopol. (707) 823-8061. www.cityofsebastopol.gov/departments/fire/