Luca Mullane never thought he’d be working for CAL FIRE. Or the San Mateo County Fire Department. Or any fire agency, for that matter. Searching for a job in the Bay Area as a newly graduated student with very little work experience wasn’t working in his favor.
Mullane was born to an Italian mother and English father in San Diego and raised in San Jose and Vancouver, Canada.
In high school, he became fascinated by international politics after taking a class called ‘Conflicts in the Modern World.’ So, he decided to pursue an education in government-related studies.
Mullane says, “You hear about all these conflicts in the news, but you never actually hear the long, long story or historical context of the issues. And it was just really interesting to learn.”
He went on to graduate from the University of British Columbia with a degree in International Relations. Then he moved to Boston and earned a master’s degree from Boston University in International Security.
Unfortunately, timing wasn’t in his favor. As Mullane was earning his masters, COVID locked down the country. He was not able to gain any work experience. He says, “Very few offers, very few interviews, I applied for a lot of jobs. A lot of things didn’t go anywhere. All of the internships and work experience programs were all put on hold during my master’s degree which I think is a pretty common pathway for a lot of people. That is to get a foot inside the door of a company. So I never got to get that experience anywhere.”
Mullane thought with his educational background he would find a job more easily. He scoured websites for government jobs in California. After checking CAL FIRE Careers Linked In page, a recruiter reached out to him highlighting two jobs that might pique his interest. They were both for the position of Staff Services Analyst (SSA), with one being in Sacramento and the other in San Mateo County. He applied for an won the SSA job at CAL FIRE, San Mateo County Fire Station 17 in San Mateo.
Now just 6 weeks in to the job, he’s settling in to the 4-day, 10-hour/day workweek. Mullane oversees and maintains records for the ever-growing fire fleet at the San Mateo County Division of CAL FIRE CZU. He says, “There are 65 or so vehicles between all the fire engines, all the staff vehicles, and all the miscellaneous vehicles. They want someone to be in charge of maintenance, keeping up to date information, and making sure when the chiefs want to see what’s going on with a vehicle they can do it easily.”
Mullane is blazing a trail. His job duties at our department are in a way new. As a rapidly growing department, the need to have a modern and accessible way to keep records is more important than ever. CAL FIRE CZU Deputy Chief of the San Mateo Division Jonathan Cox says, “Luca’s position is important as the support function to ensure that the County Fire Department vehicles, equipment and facilities are maintained at all times in order to provide the best possible service to the communities we serve. With approximately fifty pieces of apparatus and five stations, we identified the need to have a singular support role within County Fire to coordinate and facilitate fleet and station repairs.”
Mullane has been spending a lot of time talking to different software companies to find just the right fleet management software with an accessible dashboard that will help organize the data for the complex inventory.
He says, “I’m learning a lot right now and that’s been the biggest challenge.”
One thing Mullane didn’t know about CAL FIRE is that many employees have the opportunity, once qualified, for deployment to major incidents. It’s a major advantage for CAL FIRE employees looking for career development, and educational and financial opportunities. CAL FIRE has 5 departments including Fire Protection, Resource Management, Communications, Air Operations, and Administration and Resource Support. There are thousands of highly-specialized jobs within the agency, including the CAL FIRE Intelligence Unit, which is responsible for gathering, analyzing, and disseminating information related to fire threats, risks, and incidents. The unit plays a crucial role in supporting the department's fire management and prevention efforts.
There is incredible room for growth and career advancement throughout the department.
Mullane is interested in growing, learning, and getting a great record-keeping system that’s self-sufficient underway. “That’s where my focus is right now. I’m enjoying it so far. It’s still really new.”
Mullane is already doing a great job and we’re excited he’s part of our team.