Murray to step down at GEFD

After 53 years of fighting fires, including 10 as Glen Ellen’s fire chief, Bill Murray is calling it quits – sort of.
Murray was expected to announce his resignation at Tuesday night’s meeting of the Glen Ellen Fire Protection District board. He’ll continue as chief until June 1, when Peter van Sleet, a 20-year volunteer veteran of the department, will take up the reins.
“At 79, I shouldn’t be driving Code Three,” Murray joked Tuesday morning.
Murray’s ties to Sonoma Valley began when he was four years old, with visits to the Sonoma Mountain shack his grandfather built in 1915. He worked for the San Francisco Fire Department for 30 years, including a long stint as captain of an aerial truck, or “hook and ladder,” and began volunteering in Glen Ellen in late 1987 at the behest of then-Chief Win Smith.
When Smith became ill in early 1998, Murray “was the only one they could reach without training somebody.”
Murray said he’ll still be active in the firefighters’ association and other district activities, adding, “They’ll have to carry me out of here feet first.”