Firefighters recall 50-year veteran

07/22/2006

Robert Varley , Register Staff

BRANFORD — During the brief lull between emergencies, members of the Fire Department spent Friday recalling the contributions and mourning the death of retired Fire Chief Peter Mullen. A firefighter’s firefighter, as he was called by a number of friends and colleagues, 78-year-old Mullen had about 50 years of volunteer and career experience and served on a number of state agencies.

"If it was not for Pete Mullen, I would not be where I am today," said Mike Klarman, deputy and acting fire chief. It was a sentiment reflected by others, as well. "It was his role as training officer that set him apart."

Mullen died Friday morning at Yale-New Haven Hospital after a lengthy illness.

Klarman estimated Mullen was influential in the development of thousands of firefighters, and credited him with establishing the department’s rescue squad back in the early 1970s.

"Pete was a natural-born teacher. He prided himself on being on the cutting edge of fire department training and techniques," Klarman said. Mullen was as adept at teaching how to "make a fire hydrant" — hooking it up to extract water — as he was imparting knowledge about supervising a fire scene.

Capt. Lowell Collingwood said Mullen nurtured many teenage volunteers in a time when there were fewer gadgets.

"Firefighting is still firefighting; you still have to maneuver the nozzles. What he taught us, we still use," he said.

Firefighter/emergency medical technician Kenneth Harrington said Mullen could be a "bull" when putting them through simulated training fires more intense than anything they saw in actual calls.

Once, after a heated argument over setting up the 911 system, Harrington walked out, promising not to return. Within 10 minutes, he said, Mullen was calling him and inviting him to breakfast.

After being hurt in an ambulance accident, Harrington remembered Mullen walking right into his house, offering his help.

"He loved his men. He knew every guy’s wife’s name, every kid’s name ... whatever, he knew it," said Harrington.

Mullen, who was born in Massachusetts and raised in the New Haven area, started as a volunteer firefighter in 1950 when he was still working as a supermarket butcher.

"It was not an uncommon sight growing up in Branford to see Pete running out of the A&P that used to be on Cherry Hill (Road) and Main (Street), pulling off his apron, getting in his car and responding to an emergency," Klarman said.

By 1969, Mullen was a career firefighter and began a rise through the ranks; he was named fire chief in 1984. Although he retired in 1994, he still assisted the department whenever possible.

He also served as secretary and treasurer for the Connecticut Fire Department Instructors Association and the Connecticut Commission on Fire Prevention and Control.

Mullen is survived by a wife, Helen; daughter, Eileen; and two sons who both serve in the department. Ronald is a deputy chief and Michael is a volunteer fire captain of Engine Company No. 9 — his father’s former position. Mullen will be given full departmental honors 10 a.m. Wednesday at a memorial service at St. Mary Church.

Robert Varley can be reached at rvarley@nhregister.com or 789-5734.