The South County Fire Protection Authority, which serves the San Mateo County Cities of Belmont and San Carlos, and the unincorporated Harbor Industrial Area, has the sad duty to report that Battalion Chief Gene Mullins, age 51, died at approximately 10:30 p.m. on Saturday evening, June 1, 2002, at his Half Moon Bay home after a nearly three-year battle with cancer. A second-generation firefighter - his late Father, Robert, had previously served with the Office of the California State Fire Marshal and the Colma Fire Protection District - Gene is survived by his wife of thirty years, Nancy, two teenage daughters, Katelyn and Rachael, his Mother, Eris, of Point Montara, and three brothers - Jerry of Newark, and Randy and Bruce of Half Moon Bay. Randy also is a firefighter, serving with the Half Moon Bay Fire Protection District.

A departmental funeral service is scheduled for 1300 hours on Friday, June 7, 2002 at the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Belmont. Beginning at approximately 1115 hours an initial procession of fire apparatus will accompany Chief Mullins' body and family from the Dutra-Miller Coastside Funeral Home in Half Moon Bay. They will proceed from the Coast to the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the memorial service. Click here to view the specific route. The balance of the procession apparatus will stage ("Ralston Staging"), facing Belmont, on the Ralston Avenue overpass for Highway 92. These units, in place no later than 1145 hours, will join and complete the initial procession enroute from Half Moon Bay. Personnel covering Stations 13, 14 and 15 are requested to have their Class "A" uniforms on and be standing at attention and saluting as the procession passes. Apparatus should be on the ramp to the street edge with Code 3 lights operating. The Transportation Officer will arrive several minutes ahead of the procession to alert you. The memorial service is expected to last approximately one hour and fifteen minutes.

The entire memorial service will be broadcast live on this site.

The recommended route to the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is Ralston Avenue to Alameda de Las Pulgas. Apparatus will be directed within the actual parking area by the "Church Staging" Officer (Battalion Chief Geoff Balton). Click here for a map or driving directions. The San Mateo County Thomas Brothers map page for the church is 749:C2. The San Mateo County Fire JPA map page is 2954.

All departments planning on sending apparatus to the memorial service are asked to send an e-mail message to South County Fire Authority Battalion Chief Doug Fry (dougf@scfa.dst.ca.us). Please indicate the following in your message: Agency name and address Number and type of apparatus Number of personnel Please notify Chief Fry of your intent to attend no later than 1700 hours on Thursday, June 6, 2002. Apparatus should travel on White 1 (154.28). If necessary, you can communicate with the event dispatcher on this frequency using the radio designator "Church Staging". The dispatcher can also be reached at (650) 888-1886. Control-32 (White 4) will be utilized by "Memorial IC" command and general staff. Uniformed personnel are asked to arrive at the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary by 1215 hours. Park in the rear church lot and report to the Detail Officer (Captain Mike Gaffney). All fire service personnel are requested to wear their respective fire agency's Class "A" or "dress" uniform to the memorial service. All breast badges are to be covered in black.

Following the funeral service, a reception will be held for everyone at Saint Michael's Hall located on the chuch property.

Click here to send an e-mail message to Gene's wife, Nancy (all messages will be printed and hand delivered). Other correspondence may be sent to the department for delivery to the family. Address this mail to Nancy Mullins, c/o South County Fire Authority, 600 Elm Street, Second Floor, P.O. Box 3009, San Carlos, CA 94070-3018.

The family requests that "donations in lieu of flowers" in Gene's memory be made to the organizations shown below. Send donations to: Half Moon Bay Girl's Softball P.O. Box 707 Half Moon Bay, CA 94019 Create a Smile Foundation c/o Redwood City Fire Department 755 Marshall St. Redwood City, CA 94063 Alisa Ann Ruch California Burn Foundation 1801 Van Ness Ave., #340 San Francisco, CA 94109

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact the Fire Authority at (650) 802-4255 or write South County Fire Authority Fire Chief Herb Jewell (herbj@scfa.dst.ca.us) directly.

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Public Information Officer (PIO) Richard Price (richp@scfa.dst.ca.us) is available for press inquiries. He can be reached at (650) 802-4259 or paged at (650) 594-4402. On Friday, Bill O'Callahan (wocallahan@co.sanmateo.ca.us) will be available to assist media crews onsite at the memorial service (technical needs, interview scheduling, etc.). His cellular number is (650) 740-7291. A PIO representative will be accessible onsite through the "Memorial IC" Command Post.

Press Release - South County Fire Protection Authority Mourns Loss of Battalion Chief Gene Mullins San Carlos, California, June 4, 2002

Downloads Department Photo 127kb; jpeg

Memorial Service Program 256kb; MS-Word (.doc)

Church Seating Plan 48kb; Visio (.vsd)

All photographs by pool photographer Peter Mootz (ActionPhotoVideo@aol.com) will be available Friday afternoon. Pete can also be reached at (650) 573-6603 or paged at (650) 216-4251. Other photographers are asked not to photograph inside the church during the memorial service.

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