FORMER Queanbeyan State Emergency Service training officer Patricia Maxwell has the honour of being Sutton SES's first appointed controller.
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The title means she'll be the top dog when it comes to responding to situations in the newly formed response area.
But the Canberra training systems worker, affectionately known as Patty to her mates, is just happy for Sutton to be independent of its former Yass SES ties.
"We just got our response area last week. We're halfway to Murrumbateman and up to Wamboin. It's a large area," Ms Maxwell said.
"Everyone is very excited about it and it's a good feeling that we're now responsible for our own section."
Ms Maxwell will command a crew of up to 10 people at the Sutton outpost.
Initially, Sutton had been connected to the Yass SES, with Sutton as a remote team.
But now it will be self-administrated and have its own vehicles and budget.
"When Sutton was first formed it was solely underneath Yass. Equipment and paperwork went through Yass and our controller was the Yass controller," Ms Maxwell said.
"We've got our own area now, but we'll still do dual trainings together. We're still in their cluster, and if there is a problem in Yass, Sutton will still attend to it."
As the area's first controller, Ms Maxwell says her first goal is to make an impression with the local community.
She says even vehicle servicing will be put back into the local economy.
"My hopes for the Sutton branch are for it to build up in the community, build up our relationship with the Rural Fire Service, and build up our relationships with the community itself," she said.
"Eventually what I want to do is to get a team from the actual Sutton area to be able to respond as soon as possible. That's what I'm working towards now. If we have a team available there that we can call on straight away instead of the rest of us from Canberra and Queanbeyan."
Ms Maxwell is a 10-year veteran of the SES. It's a pastime she is passionate about, and told the Age it's become a big part of her life.
"Other than belonging to the community, I like the friends you meet," she said.
"I'm still friends with people from the unit from 10 years ago, the ones that have come afterwards and even went out on a job meeting people and then catching up with them up afterwards. It's become part of the job."
