Legislator Margaret Cunzio says her dream to become a firefighter began 41 years ago.

"I'm taking the bulls by the horns,” says Cunzio. “I'm saying this is something I wanted to do."

During the height of the pandemic, Cunzio, who serves as vice-chair of the Board of Legislators Public Safety Committee, ensured local fire departments were covered.

"I said, ‘I feel like I can do more,' and one of them said, 'Why don't you join?' And I said OK,’” recalls Cunzio.

The lawmaker is now one of a handful of women in the Thornwood fire department. "She's a spitfire. She's nonstop when she started, she started right out of the gate full throttle,” says Thornwood Fire Co. 1 President Herbert Doerr.

The 5-foot-3, 100-pound woman also works as a personal fitness trainer at Armonk’s Equinox Gym. She tells News 12 her role at this job continues to be an invaluable experience in becoming a firefighter.

"I tell people you're never too old to start something new,” she says. "Go for it, because you only have one chance in this lifetime.”

Cunzio is not only a county legislator and a firefighter in training in Thornwood, it is also her assigned rig.