Founding Member Of Murrieta Fire Department Dies At 93

The following is a Nov. 22, 2022 press release from the city of Murrieta:

MURRIETA, CA — Murrieta Fire & Rescue is saddened to announce the passing of retired Fire Chief Marvin D. Curran at the age of 93.

Chief Curran was a lifelong Murrieta resident, U.S. Army veteran, dedicated public servant, and founding member of the Murrieta Fire Department. He was the second fire chief to serve in Murrieta Fire's 75-year history.

Fire Chief Bernie Molloy shared that "Chief Curran was an icon in this community. Someone can rarely be raised in a community and be a tireless public servant in that same community; Chief Curran is one of the few who did just that."

Public service has long been a part of the Curran family. Marvin was the son of E. Hale Curran and the father of recently retired Murrieta Fire Captain Richard Curran.

Marvin joined the fire department when he was 18 years old and was the youngest member to volunteer for the fire department at that time.

In addition to his volunteer firefighting duties, he was the full-time school custodian and the first school bus driver at Murrieta Elementary. When a bond attempt was made to become a unified school district, he was a Murrieta School District board member. He was appointed assistant fire chief in 1958 by Ray Thompson and served as fire chief from 1972 until his retirement in 1992.

Under Chief Curran's leadership, Murrieta became an incorporated city in 1991 and he helped the department to transition from a volunteer to a combined career fire department. Most recently, he celebrated the fire department's 75th anniversary this past April.

Murrieta Fire & Rescue personnel will shroud their badges as a sign of respect to Chief Curran, who was the last surviving member of the original Murrieta volunteer fire department.

Memorial services have yet to be announced.