Celebrating our First (Full-Time) Female Firefighter

March is Women’s History Month, and Firefighter Rose Pattenaude is making history as our first full-time female firefighter.

Rose joined the department as a Volunteer Firefighter in 2021. Since then, she has served as both Intern and Seasonal Firefighter. Starting this month, she will be joining our ranks as a full-time paid Firefighter.

Sonoma County’s recent history of wildfire led Rose to us. She was working as an Animal Keeper for Safari West when the Tubbs Fire started in 2017. Rose recalls the phone call from her boss, telling her the wildlife preserve was on fire. She remembers watching the hills burn, wondering if the animals at Safari West survived. When she was allowed back into the preserve there were still pockets of fire, and her first firefighting memories are of knocking down fire in shorts with shovels. About this time, Rose started thinking about life in the fire service, but it wasn’t until after the 2020 Kincade Fire that she realized she needed to do something to help. She decided to go back to school and take fire classes at Santa Rosa Junior College, eventually joining this department as a volunteer.

Raised in Windsor, Rose is a local girl who loves working close to her hometown. She loves the people she works with and the variety of the job. She loves problem solving and helping animals, with a special interest in animal rescue. When asked if she has ever done anything heroic, she humbly says she is just doing what she feels like she needs to do.

Rose is an artist- woodcarving, drawing, painting, and woodburning. Her art is based on her life and her interests: aviation, animals, firefighting, and veterans. When Rose is not on duty at the fire station, she is volunteering at the air museum or helping with Fire 208, a pre-academy course at SRJC that mentally and physically prepares students for the rigors of the full academy. She enjoys showing students the fundamental skills they will use to get through the academy.

We are excited to be hiring Rose Pattenaude during the month that recognizes and honors the contributions of women to history, culture, and society, and look forward to having her with us for many years to come.