The new chief of the Montezuma Fire Protection District took a little break from the fire service, but never really stopped looking for the right job in which to return.
Michael O’Connor comes to his job after he had worked a couple of years with the Georgia Department of Transportation as a traffic manager, a job in which he was responsible for emergency response to the highways of Henry County, located about an hour or so south of Atlanta.
He said he enjoyed his time on the East Coast, especially learning about all the American history there.
The chief’s job at Montezuma proved to be the job that brought him back West. “It’s a small department. It’s close to Sacramento where many of my family are living,” O’Connor said.
“I started, actually, on the 12th,” said O’Connor, 56, who spent 25 years with the Hollister City Fire Department, climbing the ranks to chief.
He lives in Sacramento, but said he is looking to move soon to Rio Vista.
O’Connor started his career in the Sacramento City department, and has worked for the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Slough House, Merced and Madera County.