When Ann Mullooly joined the New Hyde Park Fire Department nearly 25 years ago, she had no thoughts about becoming a chief in the department.
“I had no desire to move up the line. I just wanted to help people,” Mullooly said.
She said she’s proud to be the department’s first female chief as its 4th deputy chief, with the prospect of moving up the chain of command to become overall chief of the department in five years. She recently ran unopposed to be elected the post.
“It’s something different,” said Mullooly, who was a captain in Engine Co. 3 before assuming her new role. “The opportunity arose that I could run for chief and I got elected.”
She said ex-chief John DiVello of Engine Co. 3 and ex-chief Jim Nagy of Protection Co. 2 both encouraged her to seek the deputy chief spot and she said she was pleased to have the support of her peers in the fire department.
Mullooly, 53, a New Hyde Park resident since 1987, had considered running for deputy chief several years ago, but she decided against it because of her duties as an emergency medical technician in the New York City Fire Department. She retired from that job last year, after serving 30 years, first as an emergency medical service responder and then as an EMT. She was an EMS lieutenant specializing in working with hazardous materials and rescue medic work with the city fire department when in the years before she left the job.
“I really enjoyed the job. It was different challenges every day, meeting people and saving people every day,” Mullooly said.
She estimates she saved 200 lives over her 30 years in what she described as “very satisfying work.”
Growing up in Baldwin, Mullooly had friends in the local Boy Scout Explorer post, a forerunner of today’s junior fire department in many Long Island fire departments. She got involved with the Baldwin Fire Department while she was still in high school and then went for emergency medical service training as a requisite for her job in the city after she graduated.
“I got interested in doing medical work in high school,” she said.
Upon joining the New Hyde Park Fire Department, Mullooly was a member of the Rescue Squad for five years. She then transferred to Engine Co. 3, where she has served since, holding the ranks of 2nd lieutenant and 1st lieutenant before serving most recently as captain.
She said she enjoys the camaraderie with her fellow volunteers as well as the mission they were.
“Occasionally we have our differences. But we’re all working for the common goal of helping the community. When they need us, we come,” Mullooly said.
Now she is focused on her new responsibilities in the department.
“To me, I just want to do a good job. It’s more administrative,” she said, adding that she’s grateful to have the support of the other deputy chiefs helping her to acclimate.
She’s also started to get involved recently with Operation Wounded Warrior, the countywide fire service initiative to support wounded veterans coming home from the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Mullooly said she’s pleased have risen through the fire service ranks, as she knows other women are trying to do. And she hopes she can set an example other women in the department will emulate.
“You’re re cognized for doing your job. The women in the fire service aren’t looking for something special,” she said. “I would hope other women in the department will follow my footsteps in years to come.”
