Fire department's assistant chief retires after 20 years of service

After 20 years of service to the

Bigfork Fire Department, assistant chief Nat O’Farrell resigned

last week at a trustee’s board meeting.

O’Farrell is planning to take a job out

of state that will not enable him to continue as assistant chief, a

role he took on in 2004.

“I was offered a job in Williston,

North Dakota that made financial sense so I decided to make the

jump,” he said.

O’Farrell joined the Bigfork department

in July of 1991. After working his way up the ranks over the years

O’Farrell twice served as interim chief for the department.

His role as a firefighter at all levels

is something he continues to be passionate about.

“I just enjoyed being a part of the

community and helping the community out,” O’Farrell said. “My

grandpa worked for Butte City Fire Department and his father was a

volunteer, so it kind of ran in the family.”

Being a firefighter is so strongly

rooted in O’Farrell’s life that he won’t be entirely giving it

up.

“I’ll probably still be active as a

volunteer when I come back (to Bigfork),” O’Farrell said.

On several occasions the now former

assistant chief was named Firefighter of the Year by his

department, and twice received the same honor from the Veterans of

Foreign Wars.

“Nat did great things for this fire

department,” Bigfork Fire Chief Wayne Loeffler said. “A lot of the

great things we are doing is because of him. He was a great leader

of our department and he will be sorely missed. He is going to be

hard to replace.”

That feeling is mutual for

O’Farrell.

“I’ll miss the members themselves being

that we’ve created sort of a family there, so it will be like being

away from the family,” he said.