Irving Fire Chief Mario Molina is thankful for mentors

by Minnie Payne

IRVING — Irving Fire Chief Mario Molina, 43, was born in Monterrey, Mexico, but moved to Chicago when he was about five years old.

“I attended grammar, middle and high school in Chicago, graduating from Benito Juarez High School in Chicago in 1982,” he said.

Molina said that when he graduated from high school he thought he wanted to be an engineer and moved back to Monterrey to attend Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon in Monterrey to pursue that dream.

“After about three years of studying to be an engineer, I decided that I wanted to be a firefighter, so I came back to the United States and earned an associates degree in Fire Protection from Tarrant County Community College and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management from Charter Oak College in New Britain, Connecticut,” he said. “My bachelor’s degree was done online.

“I’m presently working on my Master of Business Administration degree from Texas Woman’s University.”

Molina attributes his position as Irving Fire Chief to many mentors, particularly Carrollton Fire Chief John Murphy.

“There’s no question in my mind that I’m in my present position because of John Murphy,” he said.

Right out of school, Molina started his firefighting career with the Carrollton Fire Department in 1989.

“I had the privilege of appointing Mario assistant chief right after I arrived in Carrollton,” said Carrollton Fire Chief John Murphy. “Obviously Mario’s professional demeanor, as well as both his professional and personal integrity is above any doubt.”

Murphy said that it was his honor to promote Molina and that he really hated to see him go when he took the position of fire chief for the City of Irving.

“Mario always, as I had, wanted to be a fire chief and we can both say that dreams do come true,” he said.

Molina said that he came from an average background.

“My dad worked night shifts as a laborer in a warehouse, and my mom was a stay-at-home mom,” he said. “Mom did a wonderful job in raising us.”

Molina said that he started work at age 10 for friends of his parents who ran a small clothing store.

“We were basically part of their family and didn’t see it necessarily as work,” he said. “We were just helping friends.”

Through that experience, he said that he was able to learn values such as discipline, respect and customer service at an early age.

According to Molina, there are 298 firefighters in the Irving Fire Department, and he tries to convey to them the importance of customer service by leading by example.

“I provide the best customer service that I can, and I know that, in turn, the firefighters will provide good customer service,” he said. “They [firefighters] do a wonderful job, and I’m very proud of them.

“They are truly courageous.”

Watson Kohanke, a firefighter for the City of Carrollton Fire Department, said that Molino earned a National Registry Paramedic Certification from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in 1991 and worked part time as an E.R. paramedic for Children’s Medical Center in the early to mid-1990s.

“Mario has also been involved as a volunteer with the Parkland Hospital Burn Camp, Camp I-Thonka-Chi, in Marietta, Texas,” he said.

“A part of his job was also training firefighters’ continued training, as well as training new hires.”

Molina has been fire chief for the City of Irving for a little over a year and said that he’s very proud to be a public servant and very blessed to have had great mentors.

“They [mentors] tell me that they were there to teach, but I was there to learn,” he said.

Molina is married to his wife, Deya, and they have two sons, Bryan, 18, and Kurt, 13.