How unlikely it seems that the fire-and-ambulance dispatcher judged to be the best in America would also be a locally esteemed skunk whisperer. But it’s true. If Cloverdale High School alumna KT McNulty isn’t at work at the 24-hour dispatch center within the headquarters of the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, there’s a good chance she’s speaking soothingly to a skunk or other wild critter in a bind. As notable as she is as a volunteer with Sonoma County Wildlife Rescue, it is McNulty’s performance in her day job that has brought her national recognition. Told of what she did to save lives under unprecedented circumstances during and following the ferocious Sonoma-Napa firestorms of October 2017, the Utah-based International Academies of Emergency Dispatch have named the 37-year-old McNulty its Dispatcher of the Year. She thought on her feet when a Sunday night shift that “started off very ordinary” erupted into one anything but.