The new commanding officer at the Sheriff's Department's substation in Ramona began work last month on Friday the 13th, but for Lt. Julie Sutton, it was one more day in a streak of good luck.

Less than a week after she replaced Lt. Duncan Fraser as the substation's leader, Sutton was already hard at work in her San Diego Chargers-themed office. She described her first Ramona brush fire, her plans for the substation, and the string of events that landed her the job at the top of her wish list.

After 12 happy years in the department's communications center and a stint as a patrol lieutenant in Santee, she wanted her own station. Sutton, 52, said she developed a serious crush on the backcountry, especially the Ramona area, after moving to nearby Lakeside.

She had hoped to land at the substation in the department's last round of routine officer rotations this summer, but another lieutenant was tapped for the job. But at the last minute, a lieutenant elsewhere in the department retired, triggering a new shuffle of assignments. And she got her wish.

"This is a great place for me, because I've always prided myself on being a problem-solver and kind of thinking outside the box for answers ---- and not just the easy answer," said Sutton, who keeps her dark strawberry-blond hair cut short. "I've always prided myself on not just knowing what to do, but who to ask."

Lt. Mike Barnett, the new commanding officer at the Fallbrook substation, said Sutton is renowned at the department for her problem-solving skills.

"At the communications center, she coordinated reserves, volunteers, chaplains," he said. "I think everybody knows Lieutenant Sutton because she's made our jobs so much easier over the years."

In a relatively quiet area such as Ramona, a rural community of about 20,000 people nestled in the chaparral-covered mountains southeast of Escondido, the problems people bring to the Sheriff's Department aren't always crime-related, she said.

"A broken sidewalk might not be our job to fix, but it is our job to eliminate menaces from people's lives," Sutton said. "So people bring us problems like that because they know they can, and we coordinate a way to fix the situation."

Enlisting outside help is critical for solving bigger problems, such as keeping teens safe on the roads, she said.

That's where the Chargers come in.

As a member of a sports-loving family ---- she and her husband have three children ---- Sutton said she's well-aware of athletes' power to influence fans, especially young fans.

"As the department's volunteer coordinator, I've gone to high schools with players to promote driving safety," she said. "Deputies can go in front of that age group and say that stuff, and depending on the age group, it might or might not get through. But if a football player says it, a lot of them really listen."

Traffic safety is a big issue for Ramona residents, Sutton said, because they depend on winding, two-lane roads ---- Highways 78 and 67 ---- for access to neighboring communities such as Escondido, Poway and Julian.

Fires, which ravaged the area in 2003 and 2007, also are among residents' greatest concerns, she said.

"I've been at fires before, but this is the area where you hear 'fire,' you catch your breath," she said.

Sutton said she'll make it a priority to streamline evacuations to avoid the chaos that accompanied the mass exodus during the last two major wildfires.

"I've already set up some meetings about it," she said.

Call staff writer Morgan Cook at 760-739-6675.