Beacon Hose is incredibly saddened to announce the passing of Mitch Mulinski, who served our department for an incredible 61 years. Mitch peacefully passed at home Monday evening surrounded by his family.
Mitch joined Beacon Hose in April 1965, as the fire service ran in his family. He served as a firefighter for many years and dabbled on the ambulance for a time until he switched to our fire police unit in the 1980s. During that decade, Mitch became affectionately known as Photo 1. He was our department’s official photographer for several decades, leaving behind a treasure trove of photos documenting our company’s history.
In June 1985, Mitch joined Lieutenant Bob Cole in driving emergency relief supplies to Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, after the community suffered a devastating tornado. Mitch documented the trip with a photo journal as our Beacon Falls community raised more than $2,500 in food aid for the Pennsylvania town.
In 2000, Mitch earned his EMT license and was a prolific responder on our ambulance. Before Beacon Hose adopted full-time daytime EMS staff in late 2007, Mitch took pride in responding to the majority of our daytime EMS calls. His peers recognized him in 2003 and 2008 as the winner of our Star of Life Award, which is presented for outstanding emergency medical service at Beacon Hose.
Mitch assisted in teaching EMR and EMT classes for many years, often serving as the class patient — he was adept at acting like a sick patient and made it easy for new learners to take vital signs. Only when Mitch’s own health started to go downhill did he step aside from his EMS work.
Over the years, Mitch was involved in countless events at Beacon Hose. He was a past carnival chairman and still volunteered to sell raffle tickets outside the fire department as recently as last year, despite his health challenges. At our 2025 Installation of Officers banquet, Beacon Hose awarded Mitch a shield recognizing his 60 years of service to the department.
Most importantly, Mitch continued a family tradition that he passed down to his granddaughter, Lauren, who has been part of our department for nearly 10 years and serves as our secretary, and his son, Tom, who is currently a firefighter and EMT at Beacon Hose.
We are devastated to lose Mitch, but we are so thankful that he chose to make Beacon Hose and Beacon Falls such an important part of his life for more than 60 years. Our love and best wishes go out to Mitch’s wonderful family, especially his wife, Wanda, who has been right by his side at our events for so many years. We will post information about services as soon as they are finalized.
