East Williston Fire Department Chief Daniel Cramblitt was already the first third-generation member in the volunteer fire service’s 124-year history before being appointed chief in April.
With his recent appointment as chief, he is also the only third-generation member to attain the top job.
His father and grandfather achieved the rank of lieutenant during their tenures in the department.
“I spent a lot of time in the firehouse growing up,” said Cramblitt, whose family moved to East Williston in 1983.
Cramblitt joined the fire department in 1999, the same year he graduated from The Wheatley School. Prior to taking command of the department in April, he served two-year terms as 2nd assistant chief and 1st assistant chief and served as engineer, lieutenant and captain of Engine Co. 1 before that.
Cramblitt, 32, said it feels a bit “surreal” to be commanding the 60-member volunteer fire department.
“It’s definitely a privilege,” he said. “It’s the culmination of a lot of hard work. It feels really good to achieve it.”
On a full-time basis, Cramblitt is the manager of VecTec Lighting in Mineola, a job he’s held for the past 18 months. The company installs lighting in fire department chief’s cars, police cars, department of public works vehicles and volunteer firemen’s cars.
Prior to that, he worked for two years as an emergency medical technician for North Shore Medical Center. Prior to that, he worked for a magazine distributor in Hicksville and East Farmingdale.
“I like to learn new things and then do something else,” Cramblitt said.
He also worked for the New Orleans Police Department from 2004 to 2006. It was the combination of the job opportunity and the warmer climate that drew him there.
But he said the living situation in New Orleans became difficult after Hurricane Katrina and he left the job and returned to New York six months after the mammoth hurricane struck.
Last fall, he spent three days straight at East Williston Fire Department headquarters during and after Hurricane Sandy devastated Long Island.
“I was here the whole time,” he said, recalling the experience of sleeping “a couple minutes here, a couple minutes there.”
He was awakened from a brief nap at 1 a.m. the day after the hurricane struck and took command of an engine with East Williston volunteers who headed south to assist the Long Beach and Island Park Fire Departments to put out fires in that area. Their route was initially blocked by deep water and an alternate route proved equally impassable, so they stood by for the Oceanside Fire Department, which also had fire engines disabled by the flood waters caused by the storm.
In East Williston, the volunteers responded to more than 60 calls between the hurricane and the nor’easter snowstorm that followed Sandy.
As chief, Cramblitt said one of his goals is to continue pushing training programs for department members, particularly cross-training for engine and truck company members. Three members of the department are currently taking EMT training courses.
The department’s current $210,000 budget, which he drafted, represents a year-to-year increase of approximately 12 percent for the department, which he said needs to upgrade equipment from coats, helmets and boots to next-generation breathing apparatus.
“Although we did get a very generous increase from the village board to bring us up to new [equipment] standards, we’re maintaining a tight budget,” Cramblitt said.
As one of 13 Nassau County fire departments participating in a $500,600 federal grant secured to assist in recruitment efforts, recruitment is also a priority for East Williston’s new chief.
“We’re always looking for new members,” Cramblitt said.
In his infrequent free time, he said he likes to spend time with his girl friend and their dog. And he said he also enjoys tinkering on his 1979 Z-28 Camaro.
