Jeff Holden’s last service call as a Petaluma firefighter was for a malfunctioning heater that filled a young family’s home with smoke.
After returning to the station around 6 a.m. on Friday, Holden, 54, a Battalion Chief for the Petaluma Fire Department, cleaned out his office and, a few hours later, clocked out for the final time, ending a 33-year career as a first responder in Sonoma County. He spent more than 28 of those years in Petaluma.
Providing emergency services comes with extremes, seeing death delivered and life restored. Things can and do go wrong, Holden said, and having a final call where something went right was fitting.
“The fire detector worked,” he said with a smile.
Holden began his education in the early 1980s, hoping to take over his father’s veterinary practice. As a child, born and raised in Sonoma, he assisted him with service calls and developed a love for farm animals. Even now, he raises sheep on his property just outside Petaluma.