GETTIN SALTY EXPERIENCE PODCAST Ep.143 | CAPTAIN ROBERT JOHN BURKE

You're listening to the Getting Salty Experience podcast. In fact, you are, and a weir we go Welcome back to the Gain and Salt the Experienced podcast, Roof. I don't know if you know this. Oh, I know the only one that brings the firehouse kitchen table to I don't know about that. Listen. I want to tell you this thing. I don't know about that. There's a lot of guys at this saying they do. But let me give you this little I don't know you're ready for this. Can you

get good pizza in Florida? No? You can't. You know why because you need the write ingredients. You can call it pizza. I don't give a shit what you call you call, but it's not really pizza. You could say you've got the only fire house kitch your table, but you really don't because you don't have the right ingredients. You don't have this right here. So keep saying that you're the only podcast. The guy on the podcast the day before we get him on the podcast, how about that? Oh

that hurts. That one hurts. That's a that's lease on that one. I think if you see me, if you see me moving around in my seat, my Hinne's a little sore from that one. So I know somebody else's Hini? Who was a little saw? Who's that? Who's that? Let let's just say I was at UH. I just want to say I was in Harrisburg this week and it was great and UH, I met a lot of people. I actually almost I ran it to UH. I ran it to Jeremy. He's setting me up here we go fire radio? I

did? He was. I mean, no, it's not natural fire radio. It's I don't go to NFI, which means I don't go to no fire radio. But he did. He did beat you to the punch. But oh, he's got a picture of his cat. Oh what is that? What happened? Just you ran right into him. I don't know what was already there and you just what happened? Wow? Wow? Man? You know if I had, if I had feelings that I would be hurt right now. Take that in. Yeah, that guy is in there.

He gave video a lot. I didn't know you guys were having him on tonight. I'm like, dude, are you are you at your point? Yeah? That's my point, YEP, it's the I don't go to NFL. It's I don't go to no fire radio. So that's what we're gonna call him. And the other guy is Pindicue and the donkey what he doesn't I don't know. I don't know if he does. But that's all I gotta say about that, right, So so listen, we have a blockbuster guest bow. This guy gives and gives back the fries service. You don't

even have to bro you know. He's a big Hollywood guy. You'll see how butter him up when he comes in here. So, oh man, he's got the shuttles falling out of his pocket all over the place. So listen for the three d games out. So for the three of you guys that actually watched Jeremy Show, don't ruin if you have a couple of thousand in our show tonight, all right, don't route it for a few thousand

watching live tonight. All right, I'm not am not all right, guys, Let's move forward, come on quickly, all right, Here we go, Here we go. Let's you. Let's hear from from people at Armor Tough. Armor Tough. Interlocking floor tiles are the best choice to replace new or aging, stained or cracked concrete or epoxy floors. Here's why. Armor Tough tiles come with a lifetime warranty and are usually installed in one or two days, depending on the size of your station, with virtually no disruption in

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see that? One more time for me? I didn't miss what you say? What we'll be strowing up here right now? Gods, it's your que todd and unshy and unfiltered. Ladies and gentlemen. This is Coops's rings. Yes, this is a rent. This would be really quick. So I don't know if you guys know about the live burn that went out in ban Canada. So it was a prescribed burn highlighted on the agenda of a woman's firefighting conference held to promote diversity and conclusion in a male dominated field. It

didn't go so well. Accidentally setting BANF National Park ablaze wasn't part of the plan. Subscribe burn was carried out in compound medals adjacent to the BF town site. It rags out of control Wednesday, forcing a temporary evacuation of horses from the Banef Light Horse Association and hundreds of area residents and tourists and the Rocky Mountain Resort. I'll make this really brief, so being a rough we say it all the time. I don't give a shit what you are.

I don't give a shit if you're a man, I don't give a shit if you're a woman. I don't give a shit what color you are. I'm gonta give a shit what you got between you like, just do a goddamn job. That's all we're saying. If you could do the job, then you're just a firefighter. You don't have to be a male firefighter. You don't have to be a female firefighter. You don't have to be an Italian firefighter. You don't have to be a firefighter with a big, fat,

crooked nose. You can just be a firefighter, bro, that's all I'm asking for. Can we stop putting people in boxes and just do a goddamn job earn it down buildings? And yeah, that's it. That's all I gotta say about that. That's it. Thank you. That's today. Don't all right? You want to bring him in? Bro, let me get let me get my seat, pill because my butt turnta come to the stage, Captain Bobby Burke. Whoa, he's like, no doubt he's saying

that. Welcome to the show. Welcome to the show, Captain Burke. Before we get started talking about your dual career here, let's get patriotic served. Can you see by the dawnslylight? What's so brightly we held at the twine lights? Lastlyming whose broad stripes and bright stars? Through the proless fight or the ramparts we watched were so galled lee streaming and the rocket rack glad the box fasting gay froof through the night? That are flags? Was there?

Oh? Say? Does that StarSpangled God? Or the land of the Friend and the home of the brand? Amen? Well, like I said before, thank you for coming on the show. Even if you saw the show mister Brooke, I appreciate it. But that speaks to what an honor is to be here. I know what I mean, And I mean he's good. I don't know if he's out right. I've seen some of the people you've had on the show, and it is an honor beyond, uh, anything that I could ask for. So I appreciate being Well, let's

talk about how you have the time to do two careers. How do they have time to be a volley captain, a firefighter? And I mean, I'm looking over some of the films you're being been in that they're like, I didn't even know you're in half of these? How did you even start that? How did you even start? I mean, let's talk about how at the beginning. I know you get your first generation. Uh, your dad was from Galloway, Ireland, So give us the early You grew up

in Manhattan somewhere. I think I was in Manhattan until I was a I was a child in Washington Heights. My parents immigrated from Ireland. They were in the thirties. Um, you know, my father worked in the refrigeration warehouses on the West side of Manhattan. He was a bartender. He was the super of our building. So, um, you know it was it was we didn't know any better. We were happy, Uh, not much

money and stuff like that. Son, My father got a job as a m well a priest who in our family knew situation and said to my father, I can get your job as a church custodian in the east Northport. Get your family out of the city. So my father took the job and he retired. Well, he was a church custodian until he passed away in nineteen eighty four at the age of sixty four. And um, yeah, so that's that's that's how we you know, from Ireland to um Manhattan.

And but ninety five percent of my family are still in Ireland. Really, you know, back often, all right, as much as I can. Yeah, I go back very often. Actually I haven't been back since twenty nineteen, but we'll change that. And I mean quite a few. It's embarrassing how many cousins really sure? Yeah? Yeah, you have an identical twin brother, is that fraternal? Fraternal? Billy? Yeah, fraternal? And I have three older sisters, uh, two r ends. One's a

nurse pectitioner and one was a speech phothologist. An audiologist all retired. What does Billy do? Your brother? High tech medical equipment sales. Yeah, so that was a pretty big move to get to go from manhatt I mean it's a big move to coming here obviously, but then to go to Manhattan to Long Island. What year was at that was? That was seventy. My father didn't my father didn't care for my father. It's not that he didn't care for America, but he missed Ireland. Whereas my mother never looked

over her shoulder. She couldn't get out of there fast. She came here first. She was a seamstress. She worked her way up, got a seamstress job with some uh, you know shop on Fifth Avenue and uh. And then my father came a year later. And then did they meet in Ireland? They were they were dating in Ireland and my father wouldn't pop the question. And I think the story was they met on a bus uh in uh in the city somewhere and that was it. She knew he was on

the way over. My father had a sister, Mary, who worked with the Boston Red Sox Organization for forty years. She was the private secretary of Tom and Jane Yaki, the owners, and uh, so she facilitated a lot of you know, their honeymoon these types of things. And yeah,

you grow up a Red Sox fan, did you? No? I did not, not in Washington Heights. So there's a story there because we would get boxes of the top notch Red Sox swag and my father we'd all look in the box and we're like, wow, that's nice stuff, and down to the down to the convent it would go. My brother said to me, this poor kid somewhere in the country where in the finest red sixe in

Washington Heights. You'd be like, yeah, funny look, um, yeah, before the right across the river, right across you know, yeah, your Marshall arts career too, right what you're black? Oh? Yes, I I second degree. I stopped training about oh uh twenty years ago. I trained for twenty years. Um. I trained with the some of the great best guys in the world in Camp Hanson in Okinawa. During the Vietnam

War, they would rotate Marines in and out of that base. It was a Marine Corps base, and so out the back door of this particular Camp Hanson was the headquarters of this particular style of karate. You had an in northern amount of Marines who came back to this country to proliferate that style. It's called Matsubayashi Sharon rue, very no frills, Okinawan style. Five bucks in the can on a Monday, Wednesday, Saturday night, very cheap. It wasn't a belt factory. I can tell you that. I was a

white belt for like five years. I thought they just forgot me, but I didn't. It was not a commercial school like Burke. Yeah. It wasn't a commercial school like Oh, on Saturday, you're gonna take you a double secret test and you're gonna pay two hundred and fifty bucks and you gotta get you. Yeah. No. One night, one night he reached it and he pulled out a belt that was like brown with green with brown tips,

and he goes, work hard and you'll deserve that someday. And that's the same thing he said to me after seven years when I showed on it's called uh. He gave me my black belt after seven years and he said, work hard, someday, you'll deserve that. Wow. So twenty years of it, Oh yeah, no, I trained I. Yeah. That was the one thing that they asked me and I remember specifically, they said, what we what we train, what we show. You don't forget it.

It would be an insult too to forget it. So it was complimentary to to acting like uh, at the beginning of a kada, you say hiju may it means begin, so you don't go, oh wait, you know, oh let me adjust my you know, you go, you know what I mean? And so um listen. Uh for five bucks, you were getting like soaken, like the the warm up was designed to make you pass out, you know, and you know, vomit. It was really good, strong, hard training. It was like having your own personal trainer,

you know what I mean. But you were learning something and it was very Uh. You were learning to move with people very you know, in a sequential move and then weapons. Uh try to be your alley Kobe. Yeah did you train? I did? Oh? What did you train? I took a couple of different things I took. H they're very far it right now, bro, Yeah, it'll come to me. Uh. Taekwondo I took for a long time, which is it's not it's not made for somebody older with high kicks and stuff like that. I have bad knees.

It's just not practical, it's not I did a little jiu jitsu, but not anything to speak up. But I did it for a long time too. It's fun, it's a good workout. It is a good workout, and you can throw a beat down if you have to. Yeah, many black boats get theirs kicked every day. So even monkeys can fall out of trees. Yeah, I see squirrels ting all over the places. Miss in the branch. Dude, So you went to you go to Northport or East?

I'm sorry East Northport. I don't. I don't want to. I'm very proud of it's the Northport. And what when did you know you wanted to be an actor? But uh, there's a couple of different segues. Uh. My father worked on the docks. He had an Irish accent. He was six three two seventy five. I said I want to be an actor and he said three words. He goes, fucking what? And so I said an actor and he goes, we don't do that, and he goes he goes, we don't even know anybody who does that, and and

then he's like, Mary, come in here. He's talking. Man. He was the boy wants you have no idea, we're gonna have to smack some sense it to him. Forgot six. I think back on him, and I think, the poor guy, you know what I mean, what must he have thought? Like? He just was like, you're gonna be a fucking you know you're gonna so And we had hooks in the in the in the New York City Police Department from that neighborhood. But anyway, he was very supportive in the end, you know. He used to take me

to classes, and then I got an internship. Uh. It wasn't like guys and dolls and these types. It was. It was anyway. I was supposed to um answer the phone and paint scenery and sweep the floor. But I tried out for two of the shows and I got them. And I'll try to make the short. So I traveled the country in my senior year of high school rather than go to school, and they given me one

hundred and fifty bucks a day to eat with. That's the per diem cash, untaxed because I'm a student, and I kept it in a shoe box. I couldn't eat four dollars worth the food in nineteen seventy seven, so I keep it in a shoe box. It's number two shoe boxes. And I come home and I have these two shoe boxes and I showed my old man. He goes, He goes, what's that? And I said, that's what they gave me for action for acting. Well fuck, it might not be a bad thing, you know. Anyway, he goes, can

you go to school for that? And I said yeah, yeah, and he goes, well, okay, And so I got a scholarship to a school in West Virginia. I went to Suffolk Community. I went to Delphi uh where else there? And then I did four years at a state University of New York and Purchase, New York in Westchester. And that was a tough place to get into. The training was very solid. Uh Stanley Tucci, Wesley Snipes, Edie Falco, they were all with me there. I was with them there, and uh yeah, so that's how I I was

trained. And so he never got to see you in a big movie or what about your mom? She passed away twenty and eighteen. She was ninety eight. She was great. She was she was a oh yeah, like I you know, I saw her almost every day or I took care of her for seventeen years. Uh. I always tried to get acting jobs in New York. Uh, you know, I took it every almost ninety eight percent of her doctor's appointments all the time. She was in a terrible accident

in seventy six. She was hit by a drunk driver. Left handicap terribly. Uh you know, uh, twenty percent vision left, but strong, Irish strong. There's a funny cross over. Bobby Halton grew up in the same town Bobby Halton's mother and my mother in mass like nine o'clock on a Tuesday, and Uh, she'd be like, did your watch rescue me last night? He's like, and Missus Halton was the one who told my mother,

She's it's really a filthy show, Missus Burke, you know. And and uh, Bobby and I would laugh about that and love that he was his father. His father was very instrumental in my family. After my mother was hit by that accident, and his father worked in a law firm and and he came in one day and he said to my mother in the hospital. She was in the hospital for over a year, and he said, Missus Burke, you're gonna have to talk about suing my mother said what what

and she he said the lawsuit. Now she says, oh, I'm not suing anybody. He goes, well, missus Burke, you know, and uh so, uh so my mother goes, oh, it's not a Christian thing to do. And the joke and the family was Mister Halton said, well, missus Burke, with all due respect, this has got nothing to do with the Son of God. You know, got a Ben Frank go to expression in our family. Somebody go jas face and it's got nothing to do with us. And again, but so nice people, very nice people.

Do you think that's where possibly you got the itch for them to be a five in? Okay? So the Bobby Halton, I know, oh he was a he was a I could not even believe what he was telling us, Like I couldn't even believe. Well, I'm looking I was looking, looking looking for this picture. A couple fifteen years ago. I go online, I want to work a work jacket for the firehouse whatever, and I said, iddled by Chief Bobby Halton, And I'm looking at the picture.

I'm like, thanks fucking Bobby Halten. So I email Penwell, I'm like, dar chief, are you with these same? And he emails me back. He goes, oh, I've been looking at you for years, Bobby boy, you know. So I was like, look at you, you know, and uh but I knew so he came out here to the island on a vacation once. It was it was actually it was Billy golf at his wife's fiftieth birthday party and this all you know, Dugan and everybody here at off ire Hall and Halton is there and he's got his you know,

little drink and everything, and I'm looking at him. He goes, what I remember you and you had head out of your ass. You're like listening at a grateful dead It was. I couldn't believe that this was the same guy. Skateboarder right, skateboarder. He was always on it. I can tell you that he was older than me, but he was always on the skateboard I can remember that. And uh, but it's just a terrifically, terrifically great guy. So what what what drought you into the five service?

Then? Well, it was my my friendship with Pat Brown, and uh, Pat and I started knocking around together like nineteen eighty five, eighty six. I was a contractor. I quit acting after I got out of college for like six years and so so I can't even believe that's him. It doesn't even look like him. Man, the house I'm in right now, the room I'm talking to you from, was Pat's room. Okay. What we did was like ten of us from the city would get together.

We come out here. We'd rent a house and and I said to Patty, I said, you know something, pat you got to leave the island of fucking Manhattan someday, you know what I mean, So why don't you throw in fifteen hundred bucks? Uh April, May, June, July, August, Tomrocto seven months we get the place, you know what I mean. He's like, yeah, okay, So this was his room and h I turned it into kind of an office. And uh So on nine eleven, when he uh was murdered and fell, I figured, know, let

me go back to here, my town. And you know, Patty used to say, who puts the fucking fires out of here? I mean, and he was always talking about a conflagration. I'm like, and what like, there's one goal they're all gonna go. And I'm like, I don't know, Joe, Jim John, you know, and um, and so what happened was afterwards when I came after nine eleven, his brother Mike and I spent some time on the pile, and Mike succumbed to nine eleven cancer

to thirty twenty twenty. This Patton Mike. There's a funny story about that little metal because Pat gave that to Mike that day had a what's what's the ribbon for? With the bugle on it. There's a little bugle on that ribbon, so it's a unit citation, unit citation. So Pat takes one off, gives it to Mike. We're at the bar and some girl comes

up to Mike. It goes, what's that for? The band? Mike was a fireman at thirty seven and forty one twenty fifth Street, and he put himself through um medical school at Albany University, and he used to joke that being a city fireman was the best summer job he ever had. So, but you see the two of these guys, they sounded like, you know, punch drunk Queen's boxes. They were both very, very, very

brilliant. Mike was just like he was a he was an engineering ruman and he left Grumman to become a city fireman, and guys apparently would fall on the floor laugh and like why are you leaving? In the city fighter book. And while he was a fireman, puts himself through medical school and he becomes a top flight emergency medicine physician for thirty years. He retired out of Nellis Air Force Base. He was a flight surgeon for them. Uh I

remember the FBI contacted me a bad character witness for him. I'm like, he's a good guy. So when you left acting for a little while, Jem, consider become a city fireman. No, not a fireman. No, never a fireman. Because John Timody was the first deputy chief of Police in New York City, and we knew the family, the Timmoy family, and so the consciousness of us as children, we were told by other first generation, don't become a fireman. There's nothing out of it. That was

the election. Oh yeah, be a policeman. You can get a free lunch, at least at the firehouse. You can get a free well, you know. But so anyway, that was My father wanted me to be a police officer, I'm pretty sure. And he kind of left us alone just as long as we worked. We always had a job, you know, putting papers together as a kid six seven years old with ink on my hands until Wednesday, being no tables, cleaning the church, landscape being lawns,

moss rock, brick shale. We had to put ourselves through school, which was fine. Um uh, you know, job, job, job, You're always working. But that was fun because you if you like to work, it was fun and if you work with good people, it was a lot of fun. So um so uh yeah, no, I I stumbled back into acting in nineteen ninety. What made you want to leave though? Was there any particular reason? Oh? You know, yeah, it was after my father died. He was in my head and like I could

hear him saying, you know, is this what a real man? You know, reacting? It was in my head banging around. That guy was a man's man, right, So I mean, I mean, big shoes, you know, boiler makers, and and you know he would stare at you sometimes and you're like what you know, you'd be crying and he's like, it's like, why are you crying? I'm like, because you're staring. I mean, I mean so uh. It was old school, you know, people who came into our home said it was like being in the

nineteen twenties or something. It was very strict and um, but like we didn't know any better, you know. We worshiped him, and he took the wind down of my sales when he passed because he was he was just such a good guy, you know, so you find your way back to acting, Like, no, it found me. A guy I went to college with said I'm making a movie. You want to do be in it? And I was doing I'll never forget this. I was doing a deck

on a brownstone walk up on Astor Place and Broadway downtown. Patty Brown came over. It was ninety nine degrees. He came upstairs. He goes, oh, this is great, Bob. I didn't know you did this ship. And I was like yeah, and like we're putting stringers and we're drilling it to the walls into the brick using water levels because it's so you know, tweaked. And he goes, this is beautiful, fucking massive fire has it. But because he had, like it was always crazy. We had

no permits for this. Was that a client because I want to deck back here? We're like, yeah, no problem, problem. I mean there's eight billion. I often wanted to go like pull over and just go upstairs and eight billion pounds of you know, lumbar lumbar. Yeah, yeah, twenty two foot As we're passing up, nobody stopped us. So, um, so what was that movie that's the guy I approach you with? Oh, it was called The Unbelievable Truth. It took eleven days to shoot.

It was my first film, and he played Josh. Yeah and uh, and so it was bought by a company. I went back to work in Brooklyn. I was doing a Brownstone. We were painting, plastering. Me and my buddy Pauly Schultz. Uh. We did four stories inside. We gave her a fucking wine seller dug out of an old cold shoot. He says one day, because you know that would be a wonderful wine cellar. I'm like, shut the trying to get out of here. So then yeah, he calls, he says, listen the movie got Boy. You're gonna

be on a plane, Uh doing press. And that was thirty three years ago. So wow, what do you think your biggest your biggest break was that made you that kind of put you on the map. That I mean, because you have a Tombstone. I mean, I gotta left. You mean, you talk about Tombstone. That's if that's not one of the most quoted movies in the firehouse. And if you're sitting in the firehouse and somebody

pulls out quote up, you're like, yeah, that was. What was it like being on the set of that, shooting horses and riding you know, shooting guns and riding horses. You know, it was Uh, I was pinching myself. You know, who gets to do movies? Who gets to be in a western? Uh? You know, I'm looking and I'm talking with having dinner with Sam Elliott and and you know, uh, all these other great actors, Val and um uh huckle Berry Well at the at the shootout at the Okay Corral, I said him, I got you now

you sent him if you do? And then he driels me here. Bill Paxton goes like this from I'm like shooting. We had fun, we worked, you know, it was it was one hundred and ten degrees there the whole time and it's a dry heat. Um, but it was it was like I'm like, I said, uh, why did I get to do that? How did I get to do that? It was just it was awesome. It was awesome to be in a part of it, you know. So I can't believe that I looked at that when I was looking through

your your list just before. Yeah, that's nineteen ninety three, bro, I'm not kidding. I had to have watched that movie. It has to be a hundred times. If it's all, I have to stop it. It's a rabbit hole. I can tell you that you got any firehouse anywhere in the country, because I've been in Well, it might not be on, but there's a tape of it, like two or three of them, like with dust on them. It was a standard. Uh. A lot

of different stories about that movie. As a matter of fact, the twenty fourth of June, they're flying me out to a thirtieth anniversary of it. I'm not even in the goddamn movie to tell you that, you know what I mean. My son, my son was like six months old. I said, I'm not going to the premier. I'm not a big fan of those things. So I sent my Uh, I stayed home with the baby. He was a few weeks old, and I sent my brother and my wife and his wife and and he comes back. Fucking Gray movie and I

go really, Oh, he goes, it's gonna be clad. He goes, you're not, but it's glad what happened? Yeah right they yeah you guy bro. Yeah. The uh the director got fired after six weeks and they replaced him with another guy. So this statement. They cut a lot of the backstory. Frank McClary, my character was the fastest gun historically, So take Frank first and then cut to me shooting cans and so all of that was cut out, which was fine with me because Kurt Russell said to

us one day, he goes good news and bad news. The good news is we're gonna keep shooting. The bad news is, um, everybody should is cut out of the movie. I was like, well, I gotta go home, and he goes, no, no, no, we're gonna stay and keep shooting. So but it was a lot of how he yeah, totally, totally, No, he's he's a good guy. He's a solid guy. Um. You know there was uh friendships I made on that movie that I still have and Bill Paxton being one of them who passed a

couple of years back. Great guy, great guy, funny as hell, a beautiful guy. I'm in touch with his son, you know, on a monthly basis. James wonderful young man making his way in acting. And so you know, one minute you're watching these people in movies and the next minute you're talking with them, and it's it's that's always been kind of a surreal, you know thing to me, very much like the funniest service. It's like, oh, there he is, you know here, you know,

that's get to talk with these guys. Have you ever seen anything like that? I've never even heard of anything like that. Of that's the guy when he when what's his name? When he's walking when Crystal Water he's going out to the creek and uh, what's his name? Bill? What's his name? Look at that? Look at that we can powers booth. Yeah. And then after after that, after that shootout, the guys are talking and he goes, have you ever seen anything like that? He's like,

hell, I haven't even heard it, heard anything. But you did robo Cop three before that, huh before U get yeah, yeah, that was ninety Oh boy, it's a big blurred ninety two two. It came out in ninety three. So they called me and they're like, they want you to do RoboCop and I'm like why and uh uh, I had done two like classy independent films. I says, how did they how did they see me as a robot? For Christ's sake? At this point, I said, look, Jesus Christ, like anybody could do it. It's like,

what are they being me for? And and they kept saying no because I looked like, weller a little bit, you do look like if with the thing on, you look like well yeah, so um so I held out for like eight months. Now, thank you all. I'm flatted because you got to watch how you say no. And then all of a sudden, my wife came home one day and I said, hello, missus robo because they sent you the number. Oh yeah, I'm doing this. We can make this work. Maybe we can make this work. I used to call

it humping the garbage can. It was, you know, right, So let's get to the fire service a little bit. When did you become When did you want to get involved in? So again? After after we operated, well, we worked on like trying to find pat trying to find anybody. One of the things I observed downtown was like by virtue of how many people you lost, that's where you were on the pile and three truck was

going like right up every night. And so I was standing outside the firehouse with Pat's brother, Mike, and they said, Mike, what do you want to do when he goes, I want to go look for Pat? And he just points him. He goes and you're coming, And I was like, I got nauseous to tell you the truth I had never Let me just preface this by way of saying, I hung around with Pat. I knew, you know, friends of his in the fire service, and I

had zero idea what was involved with the job. I had zero, you know, And I'm sitting down listening to these guys talk and you know about pushing lines, taking doors and set the other and I still, I'm a civilian who hangs out with happens to have friends who are fireman, zero idea of what's involved in not just any fireman. No, I didn't. I didn't know that at the time. He thought what I did was nerve racking.

I'm like, kimme, f I can break so um. So you know, it's twenty years later, I think through osmosis or something that I did understand that I did pay attention to certain things that he was saying certain ways that he conducted himself on the fireground, certain ways that he did not conduct himself. So anyway, yeah, I came back to my town, I says, will you guys take me? And they're like, how old you? I said forty one? Yeah, sure, and off I go

to the Suffocanty Fire Academy. Great training. Can't say enough about the instructors there. I think there a lot of guys from your job who maybe moonlight and there gentleman, just gentleman, professional. No matter how bad you screw something up, it's always okay, fellows a couple of things, you know what I mean. It's it's never like this meaning no, no, no. And another thing about the fire service for me is the fact that it's

a learning culture, constantly learning, constant. I said to a guy the other day, honest to god, I said, how are they doing it now? Because you just come out last year. They goes, oh, they're doing it. I feel it was Uh. I'm always asking the new kids, like, how do they do it now? How do they you know? Whatever it is, whatever task it is, it could be small, it could be big, um, and you try and keep up on these things. But at the same time. A lot of times they're switching

things up. It could be something that's benign as you know, opening a hydrant and you know universal Oh no, mister bark, they're opening it at the hallway and oh um you know, so you have to like speaking yeah so um uh and and you know, keeping up the training with the young guys um uh uh. Not only are we volunteer, we are seasonal and we are chronically understaffed. So uh you know yeah yeah, but here like in the winter, like I said, a seasonal, so you have a

good part of the membership who goes back to wherever they're primary domini. So for the audience, you're on Fire Island, right, Ocean Beach ostensibly, yeah, Ocean beach. Which is I mean, is there's one bridge to Fire Island? No, there's two. There's one of the east and one of the west, but we only use the one on the west. How many companies are on five? Five companies which consist of what any engine companies? A lot of companies, but no ladders operations at all, zero ladder

ladder, no ladder operations at all. You're conducting yourself as a truck company. And is a subject to when you're due. When you come in, Uh, you'll be tasked. You know, you will not be able to I mean you get up on the roofnext you shoot. You're a ladder company, you're you know, you're a tower ladder um. So you have to be ready to um to you know, whatever your task is, to be able to perform it um subject to when you would do that. We're bob,

So we did both. Well, yeah, absolutely absolutely. Let me just also preface that by way of saying very straightforward here, we don't do mvas. I mean we have car fires, we have truck fires, things like that, but you're not doing um. What you are doing is straightforward, you know, wood frame, balloon construction, residential taxpayers with thirty winds every day. Well, you know, a guy said one time, since

you know, burke Win, does your size up? Begin? I sit out here when I opened my fucking eyes in the morning, you know, because you gotta know where are you going to lay in? You know? Um? And where is your water? Some of the municipalities here have shitty water, some have We have very good water in ocean beach. Will will you know, stretch five inch half a mile sometimes to you know, bring better water with you. Um. So there's it's it's you know, I've

been reading lately. It's very good things about the fire Service on you know, these these website. And one was like, you know, you have to be an athlete, but you never get to know when the game is played, you know. And I like that. I get that you have to you know, Um, well that's all pre planned and and training and drilling, you know, but here we practice short man drills. Three guys getting as massive amount of water going as possible, stretching lines for other people

who are coming in. I have a lot of exposure problems. I would imagine back to conflagration. I mean, everything's a small wood bungalow right or something like this, massive you know, plastic boxes being built. Um, they are daunting because we don't have the tower operations. So you're wondering, am I going to spend time throwing a ladder there? Or am I gonna just save his house? You know what I mean? And with three guys

on a windy February night, you don't get a lot of choices. You have to make quick choices about um, you know, risk and reward. Those type of assessments. What's the population in the summer and the winter. I couldn't really tell you. It's like I've heard figures like, uh, six hundred seven hundred in the winter when COVID hit a lot a lot of people came out um uh and in the in the in the summertime, I actually don't know what the numbers are. You have a lot of day trippers.

We have two als and less is UM and we do a lot of metavacs. Also, uh, if you get jammed up, you know, designation wise, you know, uh, I don't really know what the designations are. Just in terms of your injury. You're gonna go out by helicopter. If we drive you down the beach. If you don't have a broken neck, you're gonna get one. So you're put in the helicopter and you go to UH you can go to Stony Brooks outside UM anywhere that has a

trauma center. And you were talking about mutual aid before. Who would be first coming over for mutual If it's east of the district um Ocean Bay Park, Point of Woods, if it's west of the district, Fair Harbor, Salt Air Kisman and you know, actually Chief I'd rather Captain Bertucci said, once he goes, we're all five different, five different engine companies. And Bertucci from eighteen yeah, rescue four always in fact, if Captain Rescue four

wasn't he No, oh no, captain of eighteen Right. I was in Proby school with him too. He's out there by you. He's about three miles west of me. Get out of here. He should have got it started a gail company. Yeah, you had the perfect hair. That guy my favorite. Ask about the first day when he wore the wrong shirt in Provy school. Next time you say, wow, he's never gonna forget that one. Bro. The funds, they say, I have this ferry. Yeah yeah, yeah, I'll be taking it, uh all of July in

August because private vehicles have to be off the eye. Right, you're probably not doing any work right now. There's a writer strike, right yeah, um, you know it is what it is? They uh they come about that, Um yeah, because they're going to be doing a way with writers. You just type in what you want to the computer and the AI guys. Right now, that's all I keep hearing about, is this AI stuff. I'm not too sure what's going on. It's out of the bag.

It's uh, it is, it's bad. It's bad. Won't you won't need writers? Hearing a lot about this, and it's almost like I could pump in uh every episode of Sopranos. The Sopranos ended. They're all at the dining room, the diner table, and you could say to the computer, hey, give me the next episode. Club. What would be a great way to have this show recrank itself, reconstitute itself. You press enter that that computer, that program will give you pographs and everything, scripts,

everything. At some of the standing what was your favorite? What was your favorite? Uh? Movie? Did we ask him that or any did? I didn't really have a favorite. I liked different ones for different reasons. Um. I like to be honest, historical films where you're actually playing somebody that actually lived. Then you get to research the person. You're either gonna try for a to duplicate the person, or or you're gonna go off on

your own. When I did um. General Maddis in Generation Kill. You know, he has a high pitched voice, very specific, and the dialogue for the scenes they have called for somebody barking orders and being you know, very what the audience would think is marine like in terms of command presence. So I didn't really do an imitation of him, per se. I did my own, but I thought, you know, marine Corps general leading the

first Marine Division should sound like. And that was scary because I had I think ten or fifteen of the guys who were actually in the first Marine Division standing there like this. Go, okay, they do that a lot, right, they have well, they had consultants, but the guy who wrote it brought a lot of his buddies over. There was one particular Marine Corps Recon sniper named Rudy Reyes Um. This guy's actually on the calendar of Marine Corps Recon. I mean, he's just an incredible specimen. You know,

X amount of confirmed kills um and and we're still in touch. He actually came out he had to the beach to a warrior appreciation event we had and um uh so yeah, and and and and so certain you know roles that where you have to um uh, you know, research and historically it's always interesting. So he did seven years on rescue. Me like, how yeah, what was did they they know you a fireman? Did they approach you?

I wasn't uh, I was coaching third base. I remember in Little league in my phone rang and it was like, oh, they want you to do rescue me and I go, oh, oh Dennis Leary, Oh okay. So the first um they told me you're playing his cousin. I said, oh yeah, and he goes it's the Gavin family. They're Irish and yeah, he goes, you're a priest and I said, minute hall on hall of fun. So Dennis we got on the phone and uh, Dennis says, you'll be a priest for the first season. And I said,

you throw me a fucking carvedball, all right? You know, oh the character does this now? And I'm like, nah, there's a character does not do that. So he was true to his word. You know. I left the priesthood after the first season, and then I just became like, uh, like kind of the family Consigliari. If Irish family is going to have a consign Yeah. I actually met uh uh Dennis. We went to he had contacted I guess through the f d N Y. He

wanted to do just for the twenty anniversary for the squads obvious. Yeah, and when we you know a lot of the squads I think five five out of the Seven lost everybody, and so he wanted to do something about that. So he got in touch with a friend of mine at downtown and then they contacted me, and then I actually went to go sit with him and

his son and yeah, yeah, and we were bullshitting. He actually took us after for lunch and we you know, I was telling him some of the stories that I had seen and what I heard, and he's like, this is going to be great. I am looking for you know, I'm going to do this. You know, I want to do this. We had a year. Yeah, this was so yeah, it was like twenty and then sure a shit COVID hit and that's kind of why it didn't get done. And then a little while after that, I had contacted him to

try and see if I talked to his son mostly. I guess he handles most of his stuff and he's been pretty cool at me. I haven't really called him or texted him, Like you said, time goes by probably like six months, but he said maybe we'll get him on. But I guess then he started a new show. Right now, he's doing something that really took off, I think, or something like that. I don't even know. Dennis. Did he do anything. I actually did a thing with him

called a race. It was a pilot. It didn't get picked up. I'm not even sure what he's doing now. I didn't even ask him. Yeah, I'll tell you one thing. Let me say one thing about him. After the what's the called storage fire, his cousin Jeremiah Lucy, Jerry Lucy, who has his children, are on the job in Worcester, Massachusetts. Now, so Dennis starts this foundation, He's another guy actor doesn't have to do it. How many how many firefighter foundations can you name that are

run by actors since nineteen ninety nine? You can't. So I always respected that about him. And then when nine to eleven came around, he was kind of poised to, like, you know, raise money and help families and do whatever he needed to do. And then he got in with the FDNY. But you know this, this many years later, this many years later, Um, no mission fatigue. He keeps up in the anti Yeah,

no doubt, you know what I mean. And I always respect that because you know, so many times after you know, uh, you know, especially with veterans, you know, oh, everybody falls asleep, everybody forgets after nine eleven. Everybody's on the west side Highway holding up and then all of a sudden, you know, it's gone. So he is not a guy who does that. A couple of years ago he said, uh, he goes, you know, people write a check for the f D

and why foundation for the Leary Foundation. He goes, there's nothing to that. Any rich guy can write a check. He goes, Let's bring them to the rock, let's put them, let's have them push a line, Let's have them you know, awesome. And and I'm telling you, guys say that it's a lot of fun those stuff. It's well, I think it's a good morale booster. The guys seem to enjoy it, the instructors, and they're complete gentleman professionals. They get a kick out of it.

Yeah. But uh and he raises a lot of money. And uh so did that stuck seven years ago? The firefighter child's doing it that long. It's well, that's just the challenge. He would have these events. Uh, you know up there he put several building was like five million, The

mobile command post was seven hundred and fifty thousand. I got a call, I think it was a guy named Jimmy Brennan and a guy named Bobby Bobby Higgins who were working at the I can't remember it was then we called me but they put a flash over a simulator and they said, hey, Burke, what's up. I said whatever, and he goes, it's broke. It's broke. I said, what's broke? He goes the simulator and I said, so, what are you calling me for it? He goes,

uh, well, who has the service contract? Like I don't fucking know what. We had to go out and raise money too. We never nobody ever bought a service contract for the flash over simulator. But here again. Uh you know when Joe uh deepon auto uh passed away, Joey and you know, Chief deepon Auto calls me and he says, we'd like you to be the the celebrity. And I go, Chief, I tell you whatever. I tell everybody. If I'm your celebrity, you're already in fucking trouble.

And then I, you know, I had a further talk and I said, yeah, I'll see what I can do. So my instinct was to call Dennis and I said, listen, you gotta give these guys some money to start the foundation up. And it's firefighter Survival and Dennis is like, no, push off, you know, hes back. People give me money from my foundation, I don't give it a you like. So anyway, you know, Chief D wrote a grant for months and months, eighteen

months of grant writing. Because Dennis was not running his own foundation. It was being run by an outfit called Innovative Philanthropy, and he had it. You know, Chief D has to write a grant for these people. So Dennis actually decided, you know, he said, well, we've approved some money and I'm not gonna say what he is here, but it was substantial. So I tell chief you know, tell we're talking about it. And he said it's X amount every every year, each year for ten years.

And we were like my own whoa? You know, it was good. So the way I always describe it is, um, you know, Dennis has been instrumental in buying material uh you know, equipment, Uh you name it. Boats. We were stored fourteen to twenty two firehouses in New Orleans. I did five trips down there. Uh wow, I didn't know. Oh yeah, And um I brought my son. He was thirteen. They're like, how old is he? Because he had to be sixteen. I said, he's sixteen. His mother's on the phone. Is it moldy down

there? Allergy? Like? I put you my son. He's got the Uh, he's got the cutters. And we sent him out in the backyard with the cutters and he's he's breaking cinder blocks and I said, that'll keep him busy. And this guy, Kevin Parent, he was the commissioner of the Fire Service. He comes at the back. He's like, who are you any way? Uh so uh leary where he as he buys material? Uh. Chief DS Foundation has become the shock troops. You know what I

mean. You can have all the thermal images and all the you know, doors and tools your life, but unless you have uh guys teaching and instructing, and you know Chief D puts together. It's like learning you know, baseball from the Yankees and very effective. Uh and and and again another guy who didn't sit back, you know who could have ums no nonsense too, you know, yeah, no, there's very the I wrote this word down. The the friction coefficient is very fucking low. He's a great guy.

I can't tell you how much I admire that man. And you know, uh, that guy man he is. He lives and breathes it. Joey was kind of, I guess, helping out with the Suffolk County Fire Academy one night and I was over there and I was getting my classes and those things. You had to go to a different firehouse to get each of the the training, you know, So it was ropes, knots, and ladders one night and he me and this guy I was with, and he goes. Joey comes out. I don't know who he is, but I know

he's like an elite guy, just the way he's conducting himself. Swag. Yeah. And he goes, tie a halfitch tie, clowitch tie, a bowling tie, a Beckett Ben. Then I'm like killing it with my all my dyslexia. I'm sweating and I'm killing every knot and he goes, where are you from? I said, ocean beach, tying up fucking boats your whole life. So I was like, whoa, you know I got past

that guy. Well that's what he said, which is not true. I mean, I just knew those four knots, but I remember him specifically. And then when you know, after that particular Sunday, in that particular operation, uh, Dennis went to work and uh, you know, uh, they they had an evening honor in the fireman and who were involved in that day, and and and again. You know, uh you can lay back, you can sit back and do nothing, but uh, the Demon Auto

Foundation has exponentially increased the fantastic I mean fantastic. These guys don't have to you know, I mean you know, but it's so effective to training. And I said to Dennis Dennis a couple of years ago we were at the Rock and he goes, oh, we've trained eighteen hundred fireman. I said, no, you haven't. And I got my phone and got my calculator, said you're trained about eight hundred thousand. He's like, what are you

talking about? So you don't understand the fire service. If if two guys come to Chief D's seminar, they go back and train five five guys who trained five guys. And I said, so do the math And he's like, all right, never. So you know it's it's very guys are going home, I believe because of the deep in UNO foundation. Yeah, just get on the job, brot the job. I say this to Louie every year around nine to eleven, like everybody throws around the old you know,

never forget, never forget, never forget, you know. But it's guys like you and Dennis and Chief d and all these other guys who truly, you know, make those words count. And we can't tell you, like Louie and I, we lost nineteen guys from a firehouse. So that's something that's never gonna go away. So it's guys who actually put them money with

their mouth is really you know, it means a lot to us. And on top of that, if you're one of those guys, you're on the top floor and it gets crappy and you don't have a rope, you know, oh you know, you only got one shot at that, you know. And we practiced that. We practiced when we got the ropes back. Um, you know, we practiced all different ways. Right. It wasn't just you know, go back, you know the way the job taught you. It was go back, you know, to hear tie off. You

know you don't have that time, you know what I mean. It was put your tool in the corner, click clip in, roll out out the window. And we were out the window. You can have five guys go on one hook, you know, we practiced every scenario because yeah, you knew you weren't going to have the time to do that, so right.

But we really, like I said, Bob, we really appreciate guys like you Listen, it's a it's an honor like you talk about you know, sports, sports heroes are really um you know, uh, show business, Oh wow, that guy's you know, when I understood I started to interact with people in the in the fire service, not you know, PD, I don't really know, but the fire Service. It was just like it was amazing to me. You know, the skills, uh, the perishable

skills that you have to come you know, all of the tasks. I remember when Pat was studying for lieutenant and I'm like, what the And he had a pile about the books and I was like, so what are you What are you responsible for on the test? He said everything? And I was like, how are you gonna like get that amount of material into your head? And then there's captains and you know, all these tests. Um,

so you got to respect. You know, people want somebody knowledgeable and you know, uh, you dial nine one one in this country, somebody's coming. You don't want them to be a schnook. You want them to know what he's doing? Yeah, how did the how does Hollywood you know? I mean, I'm sure most of the people know that you're a five and right. How does that play out with them? Do they how do they react to that? DoD they say anything? Or was it? Uh?

Yeah, you know that's a hard question. And some just yes and no. You know what I mean. If they know, they know, if they want to ask something, they can ask. Um. There was a couple of mornings on different jobs where I went to work the night before, let's say, and you know, didn't get any sleep. So answer like the answer to the question is somebody and their money's worth that? At me? The next time? Uh, you know, on on rescue me.

A couple of times it's like you got a fireplace at home, you smell like shit and um uh there And you know it was inevitable my wife, something big would be coming up. I'd be leaving for Ireland, I'd believe, and we'd always get you know, banged out. Yea. And I remember once I came home from Africa. I was there for months and I didn't sleep. I'm gonna get turned around. I haven't been asleeping forty eight hours you know, boom, that's when you're gonna go. So uh

uh. But here it's very you know, it's it's modest, it's straightforward. Um. Uh, you're just doing for your community. Uh. We have very good, dedicated members in the Ocean Beach Fire Department. And you know, everybody I think tries their best. Uh. You're coming to a place where you're supposed to be vacationing and yet you're giving your time and your energy to doing this. And so it's that's impressive to me. How are you guys doing with getting new members? Like you got a lot of young

guys coming in. Yeah, it's tight right. Um. You know it's funny because we have one particular young man I'm thinking about. This guy is just a home run, you know, like I would send them to a truck company on you a job tomorrow. He's just one of those hits, Like he's a nineteen forties throwback. He just gets it and he doesn't really talk too much to me. Perfect he just out shut and get to work. I stepped aside his captain just to leave a spot, and he got

voted up. And so he's a great young guy. But the numbers are bad. And then it's not like you got to spoon feed them to keep them. But you shouldn't. You should talk nice to them. You know. It's like, um, it's a whole new you guys know, it's a whole world. And you know, I've decided I have adjectives. I don't have pronouns. I have adjectives. I smart, funny, as fucking

good. Look at that. That's a common denominator across the country. Though, that they're not getting to people, they're not getting I think a lot of it, too, is the fire training. A lot of it is. You know, Johnny doesn't want to go to college. He wants to stay in his town. He's going to be a mechanic. He's gonna make a good living. But now he's gonna go to a firefighter one. You know what I mean. It's a lot of classrooms. So he wasn't counting

on that, you know. And I think they lose a lot of guys. Uh. I think you should be trained for what your district holds, you know what I mean. And then some obviously, but and then osha fhi mahomeless and everybody's piling on if you break your fingernail, they're gonna send you for nine hours on how not to break your fingernail. You know. Um kind of fire service, Yeah, absolutely, the fire service, the

jettler kind of fire yes, yeah, kind of gentler. Yeah, how did you adapt to the firehouse kitchen table when you when you first went to the fire apart? They're because you know and that you have to realize that that doesn't translate to everyday people, right, So you have to leave that in the flyhouse, like with your other job. Because my wife tells me all the time you're not in the fly house, that that that's not funny here, you know. So yeah, I'm sure you have to leave that

in the firehouse. You can't bring that to you know, the Hollywood scene, right because they won't get it. Bro I'm a volley. I could bring it anywhere. I could pitch it moan like, you can't be believe um, you know with me, it's a funny thing because when I started, uh, we go on like benign you know, down power lines, order or gas this that the other and the homeowner to be looking at us coming in and be like that's the guy from special thing. You know you

don't talk. If you don't talk to them, then you're a shnook. You know, used to ye oh hello, yes, oh hello, you know, yes I live here and yes you know. So then you have FI him and other members going, you know, what are you back there? Your bullshit? And now we're twenty minutes. Guy said, well, you were the one who told them that that was me. So now we

have a thing. It's a kind of a goat to uh. You know, it's like, hey, this isn't that the guy from It's like noah, no, no, no, he looks like them, looks like brother. So I'm a good wrap it up. Yeah, God, let's look at some of those fire photos. This guy goes some fire out there. Bro, all right, we got this. This is a good one. Here. Give us a little description on this one, Bob. But I'm pretty sure that was a nor easter. There was sixty eight mile an hour

winds. We were called in as uh oh No, that was in our district. That was the east end uh in a town called Ocean Bay Park. It was a particularly bad fire because of the you know, we all had embers fall on our heads. But very rarely do I get them smacking me at fifty miles an hour. Uh So I was down when to that

one we held the exposure. Uh, we had shitty water because everybody north and up wind of the fire was killing it, you know, and I was asking for some of those elements to shut down that that would inform our pressure. They were thief and water. Right here was another one. That's the one that Monto gave you the heads up on right right binoculars. Um, yeah, that's one structure that the exposure is starting to uh to go. Uh. I had a two and a half in stretch. I responded

from my home to that fireground. I actually I used to do that back of the day. Nobody really bothered me. Um, but we've I've since curtailed that type. I had gear at home. Um so. Uh. That is in a town called Fair Harbor. We were coming as mutual aid actually Fair Hub. It's funny because my my family friend house burned down. I think the same picture. It almost burnt his house down was right next

stoor their housetown next store. Was crazy. Oh, I think that's the house that look it might be because like I tell you, when it goes here, it goes awfully goes. They have those big a problems. They have access problems there because it's a boardwalk that cuts through most of those houses and then you ain't getting yeah down there. So all right. I tried to implement last year was the minute man with two hundred or three hundred footloads

you just take off if you want it would call a deck bag. It's an inch of three quarter another bunch of lengths you can connect quick. Everything is speed speed speed speed. And at nighttime it's dark as hell out here. Lots of times you're operating in sand. Like I said, you're gonna get a large volume of fire for a good couple of minutes, and as they say, every fire eventually burns itself out. But you know, basically

it's uh relay operations. Should you have a bad hydrant or bad water and then quick water, short man, get it stretched, knock it down, um and exposure. How does the wife feel about you being a five? And like did she ever say and you're like, listen, no, we're good dude. You know you don't really got to do this. If somebody says something to her like meat turn and says, oh your fucking husband, you know, it's like then I'm like, then I have a problem.

You know. Um, I can't even say what she says. Um, No, she knows. She knows my relationship with Pat, she knows my fire service is all dedicated to his memory. Um, you know too, I about I. Uh, I don't know. I I it's a very hard thing to say. You know. It's like I got Uh. It seemed to me to be the next right thing to do. Do you know what I mean to take up? Because why should it be Jim and Joe? And you know why I'm here. I'm able bodied. Let it be.

It's the way our country started. Uh, sixty five seventy percent of the country of all these Uh. Guy said to me a couple of well, all firement of volumes, So just get paid. I'm like, okay, you but uh, but you know there's great truth in it. And you know, uh, sometimes you get frustrated with you know, people's level of commitment or or able bodiedness or but you know, listen, people turn out, they turn out. Everybody has their place, and you just hope

nobody gets hurt because that can happen. Then fire here can kill you just as quick as it doesn't. It's impervious. It doesn't care. And and here you just like if you push, Like, we had a fire, uh, you know, two different fires a block away from each other. One was extremely dangerous, but not a large body of fire. They went in the back of the house into the kitchen because they saw the smoke.

I go in the camera's work and there's a charge line ready. Everything in the kitchen is melted, the stove, the microwave, it's hot, and I go, there's no fire here, get the fun So we rededicate the line out the front door. Take the front door. The fire is underneath the stairway. It's been burning for hours. Apparently the Wayne Scott in this house was so thick that it was holding it. Yeah, it was holding

it. So it was burning enough three stories. We knocked the fire down at the bottom of the stairs and then we work we have good stairs. We work our way up the three stories and then we're pulling ceilings as we go. Um. So that was a dangerous fight. And then there was another fire was a large volume of fire. But we're outside. It's an exterior operation. It's like, just nobody get hurt, nobody tripped, nobody fall, nobody, You know, because you're not going into this thing.

You know there's there's nobody in the house. Um, yeah, absolutely, And you know what, that's all I say. Yeah, I'll tell you the first thing about Patty Brown h the first fire I ever pushed. I was a couple of months two things. I was a couple of months out of the School of the Training Academy and we got a call and it's it's really you know, it's a residential structure, a single family and uh,

but it's blown out a couple of windows. And he is Billy Goldfetter, who comes out here to vacation and he's like this, you know, and I'm telling you And I said, hey, chief, how are you doing it? And he was a seminar. The next day he goes, how are you doing? And I'm faking up the first line and uh, And I said to him, a little performance pressure. Under pressure goes, I'll get the funk out of here. If so, I don't think we have to back up. But it's really banking down. It's very hot. Now.

I'm like, twenty seconds later, I think maybe I won't push this. This is my first push. And I remember masking up and I remember thinking I didn't sign on for this, And then I remember Patty Brown's voice came with. He goes, this is exactly what you fucking signed on for. Yea, you know, and I thought, oh shit, So now down we go. We operate for maybe three four minutes, knocking down. It's it's all good, and you know, uh so yeah, golfing.

I was there at my first fire, and then the next day he gives the seminary very aggressive a tackle, you know, but it is what it is. You're doing for your community, and you're just hoping nobody gets home. And you know, again, the only thing I did at that far was what what I was trained to do. Do you know what I mean? Mask up properly, size up properly. I looked at a guy who

was a beautiful member of our department. He could fart and get your watered, this guy, and uh, and so we were ready to go. Now you just got to do what you were trained to do. And uh it's funny because you're an actor. You're like, how did I get here? But at the same time, uh, you know, then you get a little bit of the bug and you say to yourself, Okay, this can be done. Safely, you can be done assertively and um so then my wife says to me, why you do like what what I says?

Well, if I it and we didn't operate like that, we'd be putting out half to half to get better, to go to work for hard for a few minutes and see what you accomplished it is. I mean, you start doing it if you, like you said, if you get the mug. I mean, I was just gonna ask you I was doing it. I would do anything else. There's nothing else I would rather do it. And that's what I was just gonna ask you, other than doing it because you know Patty's you know influence. Do you enjoy doing it? Is that?

Do you? I like the training. I like drilling. I like learning new stuff. I like being successful. When I started the fire service training, I was forty one years old. I did not want to be unsuccessful at things. I'm tucking forty one, bro, I know how to do this. I didn't know how to do it, you know what I mean? And that was like a weird feeling, you know what I mean. I'm not a mechanical person. Um I'm six, I'll be sixty three

years old. They're like, well, you're gonna start, you know, being a show for them, Like you don't want me trying to get water? And I know my limitations. I'll try it. And if some of the guys are listening now, they have proof I said that while I'm still able bodied. You know, it's it's it's a weird thing. You can go to the Fire Academy and you're doing an evolution and somebody goes, hey Bob. One of the instructors, Hey Joe, and he says, why

don't you let the young guys take it? We are the young guys, you know. So, uh, you know, there's no doubt it's a young manager job. I often wonder, you know, you guys know you got on jobs where you're operating at eighty percent to your physical capacity and then the fire changes and it calls for one hundred percent. Now you gotta go one hundred percent, and then it costs for one hundred and ten percent, you know what I mean. And you're like, wait a minute, I'm

going to have a massive heart attack here if I just keep this. And um, so that's why that's another reason to stay in shape. You know, you definitely definitely have to be in shape. You know. You know what's so funny that you say that is because when I think back when I got on the job, Kevin got on the job twenty gonzol, twenty three years old. I got on the job. There was you could not stop me. Right, I would be the first guy in I was going to

be the first guy in the back room. I was going to be wherever nobody was going to be. Right. And then as time got you know, went on, you know, I ten years later, after nine to eleven, I saw guys die. We had the Father's Day fire, you know, you know, Kevin was at the Father's Day Fire. We go

through all the stuff. Guys are dying all over the place. And then I become a lieutenant and now I'm working one of the busiest companies on the job in New York City, in Brooklyn, and all of a sudden, now I'm like, no, no, no, no, hold on one second, let's not do that whole hold on a second. You know. Maybe, and I was still aggressive, but I found myself watching out more

for everybody else except myself. Right, And then towards the end of the career, I was coming up twenty six, twenty seven, years even for myself, like I felt like I was more concerned, not more concerned, but I was somewhat concerned about I don't want to die at the end, you know what I mean, I don't want you know, I was still aggressive and I was still doing the job definitely, since you know, my kids were older now like early on I had no kids, but now I

got a family. I got kids. But that's on a job. I was getting paid that I could leave. You're you're not in that, you know, I say all the time the volleys. You know, you're sixty three, You're still I'm not going to fires anymore, But you're still doing it and you still, like you said before, which was the key to the whole thing, it's a perishable you know idea. You cannot slow down,

you cannot stop learning. You cannot because that one time you don't do the right thing, it's gonna bite you in the s and you can get killed. Just like even when you do the right thing, you could still get killed. But if you're not learning and keeping up on it, you could still you're definitely gonna get killed. That was one of the quotes of Patti Brown. You can do this job. Absolutely right way still get killed.

Absolutely. There's a humility that comes with this job too. I I you know, to your point of being a boss, even you know that your member go home, Uh you know, I mean the responsibility, that's another skill. How do I you know, how do I go to sleep at night knowing that I have the responsibility to these members in my hands. Some people don't think them hout it. Yeah, some people just think to awake at night thinking about you know, uh, the building inspection and pre

plan and training and drilling tomorrow. You know, so you know, you have to finance it all and make it smooth and out here. It's like, because you never know who's gonna show up who you're making an assessment very quickly of what you think you can accompany. You might if you had you know, this member and that member and this member, you'd really be able to But maybe you don't have that member that night, and you know, so you have to make an assessment very quickly. It was I think I've

said this in the show. I think it was Dan Murphy, Big Murphy from Rescue two. He had said to me when I was first promoted, and he gave this analogy and it always stuck with me, he said. Becoming a boss in the fire service is like, first you're a fireman. So the first analogy is you're going to the beach with your friends, right, so everybody's kind of on their own, right. You bring your own food, your own beer, You got you cool or your chair. You

want to go into water, you go into water. You want to go to bathroom, You go to the bathroom. You want to go take a nap, You take a nap. When you get promoted to become a boss, that's like you going to the beach with your young kids. Now you're like, you got to look out for the look out for the ripe water into you need some Tannloh, she's burning. You need to get some tannlo And all of a sudden you're worried. Yeah, everything else you don't eat

the whole day. You get burnt because you put some tannotion on. You don't get a nap in, right, I mean, it's just how it is. And it's that was a perfect analogy. Like I think it was murpht and Rescue too. Yeah, that is that is plastic, bro. Yeah, that is so funny. Right, you know what about like from doing this show. I mean, Louis and I are are FDNY centric, but from doing this show for the last three years, we really have gained a lot of respect for volunteers because they do it with a hell of a

lot less and they're doing it on their own time. Like we go, there is the FDY and we'll beat it out with manpower, right, we'll just beat the shit out of this. I don't even know. Yeah, guys don't know who's showing up, how many guys are coming, you know what they're gonna get. It's I've got newfound respect for volunteers, and this country is volunteer you know. Yeah, Um, I'll never know what it's like to have seventy five guys out in the street, like if they've come

up, they're asking, um, but uh you know uh. Pat used to say it, you know Pat Brown when he when he live out here and he says, well, there you one thing about this place. He says, if this place gets going FDN, y ain't coming, you know, So yeah, I mean it is. I watched Base Show Fire Department the other day operate at a turnover, you know, and I'm telling you, I mean, you know, bang bang boom. Uh. It all depends on the leadership and the commitment, and a lot of times it's it's

absolutely extraordinary to have somebody from your job who's in your volunteer department. I know there's a lot of members from your job who are you know, and you exponentially get just such great instruction. We had a member from your job who was a chief of ours at one time. So you just you know, you want to conduct yourself as as you know, as professionally as possible and get the job done because again, you know, uh, you can't say well, you know, you know, uh, Jimmy's a florist in

real life. He didn't really know how to take a doy. Yeah, you can't expect him to take a doy. You know, it's like fu kidding me, you know what. I didn't want flowers. I wanted to do so anyway, I never thought about that. The chief person at Blockbuster the full time and now he's the chief, well that was like saying private Ryan, right, he was a teacher or something. He was the captain and the crew. I never thought about that. Yeah, I don't say if it don't be act, I can do it. Hey, the guy

with the nozzle. He was in the Yeah, yeah, he was a toomstone. He took a shot that I asked that robot copy. I've always been actually very grateful that I got to see this part of life and have this service. A lot of people, you know, they want to help and they want to do something. Nobody knows what to do, do, you know what I mean? And everybody talks a pretty good game, and

they had very good intentions. But to have come to that point in my life and be able body to be able to do it was really an honor. And I was very happy and and and it's never lost on me, you know what I mean. It was a wonderful saying I just saw recently. It says, you know, uh, the fire Service is one of the last honorable bastions in this country. One of us represents all of us. Act accordingly, and I you know, I I subscribe to that very

much, Act accordingly, you know what I mean? And um, and just knowing getting to know like again, baseball players, football, dinner, fucking nobody. Oh you're an actor, Oh yeah yeah, but meeting guys from you a job, it's just very strange. It's a different. Um, Uh, like a different context. You shake a guy's hand who went to work in the nineteen sixties and seventies, Oh my god, it's like, oh shit. You know, it's like this guy is saying at the

gym and eating granola, he fucking went to work. You know. He absolutely questioned like a bug. So that's fascinating to me, that type of Uh. We do this show because we get to talk to these guys. Listening. Listening to these guys, I can't even That's why I'm sitting there to my wife and I I'm like my stomach arts, and it's like, what's the matter, Like these guys want to talk to me. I might owe one of the money. I don't know why do want to? So said up, But no, I I take it. I take it seriously.

The fire service. I try not to take myself very seriously, but um, but I take I take it seriously. I do. And I would leave that for the other members to say about me, um and my service. Uh I hope. I I take it seriously and have been you know, good to the new members and always trying to you know, train them up as well as possible, and you know, I give them every edge you know because pre sued. You know, a lot of us age

out and it's a really hard thing. I don't even know how guys from your job, I you know when they say things like they taught me everything except had to retire, you know what I mean, I can I can understand the gap. The you know, people in the military say, but you know, he might have one tour or two tours. Uh, not even come into the life in that situations that you guys have. So it's

really just um uh again, like with the military. In the fire service, you know, you guys have that careers twenty thirty, you know, thirty nine, forty one years, you don't find. You might find. My brother just retired with forty five years five yeah, but retire out of it was a deputy chief in the forty eighth division. Yeah wow. And he has the same the same act. Accordingly, that's one of his biggest act. Like a professional, he says all the time. Just be a

professional. Drives me nuts. Yeah, you know, guy, opened up, guy, you know, not paying attention. You know, it's like a dog. You know, it's like you look at that where your box is, where your addresses. You never take your eyes off of it, and and but Burke, it's just an automatic fire on. It doesn't matter

because someday it won't be and you'll you'll you'll need that focus. So there's just these little things in the culture that are i think getting lost because if you start talking culture with people, they don't want to hear that part of that. But that's the glue. I think um that there's no doubt about that. Ye holds it together. And you know, I'm not a buff per se. I wouldn't say I'm a buff, but I'm fascinated by it and I'm very interested in it. You know, you see guys like Stockton

or Gary or Baltimore going to work. This is h I'm always uh pointing this out there. He's got, you know, Detroit, this one account on on and these guys are like I'll tell you, they're one pace and they're getting the job done. Nobody's running around like scream. You know, Uh, Bob, I saw a video. I think we've had a few

Detroit guys on that were absolutely incredible in their seventies incredible. There was a video of a guy and I've said this on the show where it's I think it's taken from a cross the street, like from the roof looking down, and it's a brick building. The whole this fire out every window. There's no buildings on the side of it. It's got to be eighty feet deep, the whole first floor. This fire out, ten windows on both sides.

The guy exactly what you said. He takes the line off. He gets up to the front door and there's like a you know, ap plywood there. He's by himself, Wow, by himself. The guy's coming around pumping you know, it comes the water, pries off to call the the plywood. You see him, you know, just test it, gets down, puts his mask on, like you said, a whole hump thing. All of a sudden, you see the first two windows, white smoke coming

out. Fire coming out there, white smoke coming out. The guy goes to eighty feet he goes all the way to the back like he was by himself. I mean, got another cup. But he shows up. You know, a couple guys get off and they get up on a line probably, but I mean to start out by yourself, like like you said. But that's a guy who's been doing that consistently. It speaks to the volume of work they're getting to do. Oh yeah, no doubt. I mean

no doubt. That's the other thing that freaks me out sometimes, you know, when you say things like you know, I'm not even gonna say it, but when you don't go to work a lot, you know, that can freak you out too. Yeah, freaks me. Yeah, it freaks me out because I'm always like in my head, that's why you need the old guys to talk about stuff, and you have to drill about stuff. And you know, you know, listen, that's like that in the FDNY

two. You know you're not goingifies every day either. So I love the concept and I use it in my life, the little things, you know what I mean, Like you know, your gear, your personal gear, and and and I try to explain, you know, you have to have your shit together because it's ten seconds here and fifteen seconds there and twenty seconds you're gonna need that forty five seconds later, you know what I mean? The you know, life saver, life saver. Absolutely, guys. I

wanted to talk about the helmet. If very anything, I don't want to make sure we talk about that. Throw it up there, got ontopotamus, it's it's coming, brother, yes, tell us about this. So um we uh we uh. So we found Pat Brown and we um as per Pat's wishes. He wanted to be cremated, he wanted his ashes spreading Central Park, and you know, the three truck guys, they took it a little farther. We went into Central Park one night, two o'clock in the

morning. We planted like a twenty eight foot maple tree and we had a headstone, like a stone it said, you know, Captain Patrick Brown and this and that and everything. And so anyway, the park, the parks, you know, the precinct called us next day, so get all the shit out of here. You can't play the trees in the middle of thin But I'll tell you we had. There was Dateline NBC with us and the poor night manager comes around and he sees twenty guys and he goes, can

I help you. I'm not kn't go. I still feel like I'm gonna get somebody in trouble. But they said, oh, you didn't get the memo. Yeah we got. We got permission to plant the tree here. And he goes, you know, he's it's like two o'clock in the morning and it's fine, and so anyway, he says to the date line NBC, guys, let me see the camera. I'd like to say congratulations and I love you farm. So we got him. Anyway, the precinct call

the next day. We had to get it out of it. So we went to this bar that three Trucks used to go to affinities on thirteenth Street, Third Avenue, and Mike Pat's brother reaches into his bag and he gives me Pat's helmet and I'm like what the He goes, oh, you helped with the family, blah blah blah, And I was like, I'm not taking this. Oh, yes you are. And it's like six o'clock in the morning. I'm like, okay, Michael, thank you guys. So anyway, I brought it back to three truck and we put it up on

the wall. And then like two weeks later, I get a box it's the helm, and again I sent it back. They sent it back to me. I says, I'm not taking it. I don't it's not no place in my house. But ultimately it wasn't my house for months until the nine to eleven Museum called and they said, we understand you have Pat Brown's helme and I said yes. So they said we'd like to display it with the three truck rig and I said, let me get back to you.

So I call I suppose Mike Moran was the senior man, and I said, uh, listen, they want this helmet next to the three truck rig. But I don't want to give it because I don't want to take thunder away from anybody else, you know. I goes, oh, no, no, there's gonna be this. There's gonna I said, are you sure? He says yeah. So I got downtown and I there was like a hundred pages, you know, on loan in perpetuity to the I says, take it. I don't have to sign anything. So they put it on

They put it on display there. I think it says something like from Robert Burkin family and from the Brown family. And that's how I was very happy, because that's where it should be. Yeah, yeah, no doubt happy that it found its way there. That's awesome. Uh. Cons Before we move any further, let's um do all the photos of the of the big celebrities that have come down to UH, and we'll talk about the h I thought, yeah, yeah, okay, ready, here you go. Good

yeah, we're starting with the good one. Oh she's not hot on the eyes. My my be my girlfriend on television. That's right, you're the i G guy. Right, you guys had an internal fairs guy and uh, a bunch of years ago, she said to me when she grabbed me by the face and she's like, look at the space, And I said, what are you doing? And she goes, You're gonna be my love interest? And I go, I'm the most hated character on the show. How is that? And she goes, no, it'll work, it'll work.

And so we think, you know, I think Iced Tea said something like that, it's gonna be a slow boat to turn around. But anyway, great line. Oh yeah, so anyway, yeah, they you know, uh Ed Tucker, the internal affairs guy, and uh you know Olivia Benson. Uh we became uh you know, boyfriend and girlfriend on the show. She's I can't say enough for this one. I mean she is just

she's the force of nature. Uh Murska Hargete And so they mother and father were Mickey Hargete and James Man. James Yeah, um um uh so. Uh so Dennis would invite her to the academy to the rock each year since he's been doing it, and the schedules and everything. But this year she showed up and uh she did everything. I think she pushed the line. She really propelled off the six stories. Um, you know, she was

cutting cause putting out car fire. So she had a ball. She was yeah, and she is like, you know, her right ankle is like ace hardware, right, I mean it's got like six or seven screws in there, and you know she's got But she did everything. She was she was all about it. So it was great to see her. Big boost to the guys, and yeah, it was. It was great for shore. Well she got here. Oh we know that guy. He was a fireman too, fifty five engine Yeah, I can never say that ship.

No God was a lieutenant in quant Oh no kay, Yeah, great guy. I saw him down at the side of the World Trade Center. We were going in with elements of three truck and I hear, hey, hey, hey, and and and and I go hey, how are you doing? And he goes good, how are you doing? I said good? And you kind of kept up with your group and uh he said to he went through Proby school with John Moran. Uh uh yeah. Uh so Mike Moran goes to He goes, SHEMI wants to know if you're a fucking actor

who became a fireman or a fireman who became an actor. Oh. I I wasn't a volley then at all. I was just uh went down with three trucks. He's a great guy that you're in touch with him still at the thing. At the thing, he's very involved with friends of firefighters, I believe. Yeah, sh how did I get on here anyway? To tell you the truth? How did you get on? Yeh? When I was in Indianapolis, you had cheats, gave well, he wouldn't give me

your number. He said he was from fire Island, so as uh so Robert Park He goes, yeah, he goes, I can't give him you on you know, I can't give you his number. Yeah, but I can give me your number. And he gave you. He just gave Jeremy the number right before you. And then yeah, he's on his game tonight, bro get out of their coops. I was that guy. Jeff Bezos. His brother Mark was actually honored by the FDNY Foundation. Uh, these guys, are you have no idea? How generously on to f D n

Y and the FDNY Foundation. Uh, Mark is a is a captain in Scarsdale. Uh, say what you want. The guy gets out of bed the middle of knife with strangers as a volley. Um, Jeff came. Uh, dudes in fantastic shape. Nothing seemed to bother him. Pushed lines. Uh uh you know, brought bundles up. A couple of them went to work. Uh so yeah, quiet hot? Did he bring any hot babes? They just got engaged. They was saying, right, yeah, I think somebody's mentioned that to Mike. Was saying, oh, Mike said

that right? Good good? Yeah, so guy, you'd good good? You want got that one? Good for you? Yeah, guy, I don't think I have that one doing back then my face, hurch you got another one? I got one more. I got this last guy right here? Who is that guy? Did no commissioner in the NFL. Another guy all about it, suited up, geared up, push lines. Did every test that was presented to him. I think this was last year. Uh two thousand and twenty two said he was a real deal too, right,

He wasn't no real deal, no bullshit, made no fuss. Um. Yeah, and you know, here's the thing. Showed up. You know what I mean, it's like, oh, you're gonna be fire fighting. Has no idea what he's gonna be doing, and nobody you know, he's hanging off a rope. Like you said before, he doesn't have to do that. You didn't have to do it. And I'm sure you know, Uh, he was very generous in other respects. I think they have to pay X amount of money to even well maybe some are invited, but there

are other corporations that pay. You know, I don't even know which corporations. Forward I know sends a contingent of people. Uh. Other corporations send the executives. They pay money that these executives come and and and join in in the day. It happens every year in May fifth or the first Friday of May. So you just you just just recently what we had Marishka Hargetell, we had um Steve Bishemy, Billy krut Up, Rachel Ray makes the breakfast, makes the lunch, makes them. Yeah, forget about it.

I have video tape of her, you know, uh, going off the roof, you know, even being lower down. I said it was one of my guys from my department. I bring a couple of my members with me. Um, and I said, whatever you do. If I mean, don't drop her, I'll please Jesus. But uh so anyway, Yeah, she was great and m John Slattery um, uh, Julianna Margali's uh. Michael J. Fox, Um, Michael J. Fox real, l J. Fox. Yeah, you know Uh, Adam Ferrara, Uh,

Lenny Clark, John Skurty, Wow. A lot of a lot of a lot of you know, um, some heavy hitters Nis Leary's crew show up to support, and you know, a lot a lot of times I think they get a little intimidated. They don't want to show. You know. It's like, well, can't I just write a check and get a drink and some more dirvs? Not today? Yeah, it's great. It's talk about it all the time, like all guys. I've heard a lot about

that. Yeah, And I get to see guys on your job that I've known over the years, and it's always nice to catch up with people. And um, who else out dan who you got? Oh? Well, there was a great friend of mine. I'll tell you a story. Dennis Leary calls me once. Uh he Uh, he's across the street from my house on the Upper West Side and he goes, I'm having dinner with some fireman. Come over. I come over. There's some guy looking at me the whole dinner. He looks like a pirate. I'm like, and he

goes to me. You go by, Bobby? I said yeah. He goes, you got a twin brother, Billy. I said, yeah, you as your parents are from. What are you writing a fucking book? And he goes, it's me Eddie And I go Eddie. He goes Eddie me and he was a lieutenant the twenty two truck. And I said, oh shit, Eddie, how are you? And uh, I've heard that. Larry goes, Uh. He goes, do you know every fireman?

And this I said, no, this guy I grew up with. So anyway, his he went moved back to Ireland for years and then he came back to America, went on your job and and I hadn't seen the guy and since I was, you know, twelve years old, and so anyway he was. He was a storied guy, very competent, uh fireman and uh uh so he was he was out there. Uh. We used to joke nobody could say tactical like Eddie. Me and I'm at a black and Back. I go, yeah, so, uh so he was there,

he loved it there. He retired out of twenty two truck I believe. And uh so he passed away. Um uh yeah, yeah, his son is on the job now, actually Emmett and uh who was at the uh Tommy McGoldrick. You know him. He's a great guy. He was in charge of burns out there. Uh there's a bunch of guys. Uh yeah, Um, there's a bunch of guys. Uh Um. I'm trying to think now. Chief Lama said he knew you. Oh you know who I'm

buddies with. And I have my children who can attest to this. I could be in Lows, I could be in home depot back in Low Johnny la Famina. When Johnny, what are you doing? I was getting pitched. He goes, what are you doing? I said, I'm just looking. But we would always laugh. We'd always see each other, all of those guys you see all the time. He moved to Myrtle Beach. But just a great guy. And I was at a seminar once and some captain

was talking about being at rescue three and who was his mentor? The guy who was always buttoned up, the guy who was always turtled up, the guy who was always he was always right there, right, ready to go to work, right, just a ten percent, John la Femina, And I remember calling John says, why you're becoming more famous than me? So anyway, a great guy? Uh yeah, so uh, different guys, um, and then then I see different guys with with Chief Debonado's uh foundation.

Kevin Jos was the one I heard of him, never heard of him, Oh you know him? Um. And he was the one who said perishable skills that you know, I remember when he used that. He used that expression. Don't get many credits, don't get a lot of these guys. You guys put up the thing that I was gonna be on tonight. My phone blew up. Oh hey, bro, you're gonna be mad. I hope you're all having a good laugh. You're gonna be on with those assholes tonight. Jeremy texture come on, I'm good one. I said,

no, I got nothings. Both guys who were watching the show texted you, you're an ass. I can't I gotta say, what day, Bob? Uh? For a guy who's a Hollywood actor, you sound more like a fireman than you do a Hollywood actor. Well, you know, I can drop in and drop out, do you know what I mean? That's not that's not phony, bro, that's not acting like the way. Just your knowledge of the fire service and how you talk you sound like a fireman. Well, it all depends on how you want to play the game,

that's all. You know what I mean. I'm smart enough. My job is to hold a mirror up. Do you know what I mean? When you're standing around playing the head of the first Marine division who actually lived and it's revered by marines, and like, I'm pissing my pants, I'm like, what i want I'm going to do here? So it's it's when, like, like I said, my first job that I ever pushed, I'm like, this is you know, this is the real thing, and it

depends on what you want to bring to it. And I've been awfully lucky by virtue of the guys who have trained me and continue to train me and the members I work with, the people in the whole uh Fire Service. It's it's very honorable in this day and age. Everybody's at each other's throats, and you know, if these tones go I don't ask gender, race,

create, don't you never you know what I mean. It's like that, it's it's a very pure endeavor to be a part of in this day and age, because everybody's whacking each other, and so I feel very grateful and privileged to be a part of that and to uh to have had that experience in a million years, I can tell you, a gentleman that I would never in a million years thought I would ever be uh doing this. I just never occurred to me, never occurred to me. And by virtue

of Patty is this is I keep. This is his uh, this was his uh you know, yeah, it was yeah and and and uh you know when you're looking at that guy looking back at I mean, uh, everything is in his uh you know. His brother used to say he would have gotten an awful kick up, Patti, you like talking fire service. And I remember how he'd be saying something like, oh, good job, and I'm like what job? He goes, Oh the job we had in Harlem, And I was like, good job, I said, I'm watching

the news. Ten families lost their houses. How is that a good job. I didn't make any connection to the to the speak to anything. He goes, well, we put the fire out, nobody got hurt, and I'm like, okay, but um, you know, but there were certain things that he did say about Vietnam, about his training, about his experience there, about uh, you know, having to go to work with the

fire patrol before he became you know that. Yeah, and and and so you know, and then okay, the politics on the job, you know what I mean. And you know, I'd listened to him and I'd say, your job sounds worse than the fucking mafia, I swear to guy. And everybody's like got like the Night of the Long Knives, you know, and uh, well not just the just the way different people out. This guy hates me. This guy really hates me. This guy really really hates

me. Uh you know. But he was very dedicated to the job I I you know, and he was a guy I believe, uh uh who really really took the job very seriously, lost people, lost friends, and just was sick and tired of that. If he thought it didn't have to happen, if guys operated you know, asserative lead but safely uh you know, their job decent people, Um, you know, Uh, he was a wonderful uh mentor to have in my memory. Do you know what I

mean? Because he informs my fire service. Now just in terms of the way, yeah, yeah, you know you you you're told, you're shown, you're taught how it's supposed to be done. Hey, I got an idea, why don't you do it that way? Um? Because you know,

just the little things that sometimes that that piss you off. And again, you're a volley, you're a seasonal, you're understaffed, you know, uh, you're not doing you know, there's a lot of operation believe Yeah, yeah, going on seventeen in a row or e ms also that comes with that absolutely. So yeah, I mean my my Lieutenant Patty Lee, he was in one twenty fourth truck in the seventies when Bushwick was burning. That's where one twenty fourth the Tacco truck he's in. The Chatty said,

you see how good the show is when you have an irishman on. Ah, it's my birth right. I heard a story about Patty Um, Patty Brown, uh that he was close with John Drennan, the guy who and that. Uh. I don't know if this is true enough, but what I had heard was that after he was in the hospital for so long that that Patty had said to him, you can go, you can go, like it was actually on date line and the actually have him telling Pat in his own words, said that yeah, right right, and not to me.

It's like, dude, that gets me every time, bro, because he said he was gonna they were gonna take care of take care of his kids, take care of your kids. It's okay, okay, it's okay. Yeah. It was a weird thing because Pat wasn't in that house. He was up at sixty nine Engine at the time, and there was something

that happened. Whereas Pat was a bachelor, didn't have a family, he could be assigned to Viena Drennan, uh you know, uh and and and the company heard of the burn unit and expedite things because people kind of knew who Pat was. Let's say, I believe he was a captain at the time, so he could expedite things for the family through the department. I think there was some consternation about him not having been what was it, four truck I can't remember, it was five truck truck rather, I'm sorry,

m but that kind of went by the way. And so, yeah, he did very well by the Drenning family and uh, you know, Veena would tell you to this day. I believe that he was a complete gentleman and expedited anything and really cared for John. Uh. And again he didn't have to go home to a wife or kids or anything. He could be there a lot. And so yeah, that's the other part of your duty on your job that you know. You know, pushing aligness is a lot

easier sometimes than than being by a man's bedside forty days. It's like biblical that he would survive. Uh. I listened to you a podcast to a fireman who was at that fire Watt Street, and you know, yeah, so uh you know, uh, what can I say? It's just uh uh yeah he said those words to John because he relayed those in an interview himself. It's just an amazing testament to what we'll do for each other, what we do, you know, the brotherhood. Really people don't understand how

strong it really is. It's just it can be and I've seen it with my own eyes. Um, we had a fire here October. Uh. We went all night. It was a semi large volume of fire. Uh. And then uh, you know, we took up and cleaned up and at six thirty in the morning, we were all in a van at seven thirty for a member's funeral, you know what I mean. And you know we turned out. Everybody turned out for that funeral. Um, these types of h uh mare's and and and actions are they're going by the wayside.

That kind of honor, that kind of dignity, that kind of respect for each other and and for for a job or a vocation. Everything's getting like water dumped on and getting deluded, right, And so to be a part of service like that in this day and age is uh, you know, it's it's it's a privilege. No, it's good. I'm glad to hear it. I talked to guys, you had to have been missing it on like to miss a funeral, a funeral or I mean, you had to

have there was really no excuse almost really. So yeah, we went up to that young man, Jared Lloyd, Lieutenant Jared Lloyd up in Spring Valley and uh, you know it was a cold day and uh you know his little two little boys that he left behind. You know. The pastor pointed up to the stands. It was out doors at a at a baseball state and he said look at these men. These are your family. Now, I've seen it. I've seen it time and time again. I've seen it.

Also, people fall by the wayside in terms of mission fatigue, I call it sometimes. And but with most families, if you're close to them, you know. And there's other members who I was close to over the years whose family I stay in touch with. I'm not going to mention them now, but yeah, it's honorable, you know what I mean. It's like, it's you know, not to get all you know, touchy feeling,

but I believe it's why we're here to help each other. And you know that day, yeah, that was my fire department did a warrior appreciation event. For many years we would we would have thirty to sixty veterans come out. It was great. It was a great event. I remember one year we voted to put cash, like we've given them knapsacks with golf balls and all sorts of ships. One said, fuck that, let's just give

them, well, you know, a little party. It was one year we voted to give them money like this, So we put the money in the naps back and guys like yeah, I said no, no, no, no, like this. So they look in and they're like, okay, you know. So it was a wonderful event and it was very well attended the community here. Um, two lieutenants who are friends of mine from

your job came out one year and uh, they were very impressed. And we still do it on a on a very modified you know, like this summer, I had twelve veterans families come out just for the day for lunch.

We buy them lunch, We go to the beach, We buy kids their kids, uh, you know, gifts and toys and ice cream, just to show that we're still plugged in with the veteran community, even though again, you know, people are like, oh, you know, I'm not going to give as much, but this department still turns out for veterans. Good by. You said nah about this guy? Said no, I like this guy. You said no, no, no, no no. When you saw that he was on NFL, you like, we got to

get rid of this guy. Out of what I can't we talking about? Are you talking about me? You said to me your exact words, where we can't be sloppy seconds. I don't know what that means. Oh, I did not say that. You said that. I said, no. Lube I thought, oh, binging ging bing shit stars, you know what did you want to talk about? A couple of the foundations and stuff?

Throw them up there. Guns got this one well with Joey Foundation, Joey d Bnardo Foundation, Chief Debonado, He's got to just just the most unbelievable guys. I've learned from how to conduct yourself as a man, how to keep your word, how to raise money for other firefighters who don't have anything. No, a guy in Baltimore just told me that he got bailout gear last year. I'm like, wait a minute, Baltimore. He goes, yeah, we don't have bailic here. I'm like, you don't have bailic

gear in Baltimore. These guys have gone to four or five jobs while we've been talking, you know, and they don't have bail out gear. I was shocked. If you wanted to buy it yourself, and so uh not only that is how do you deploy it, how do you use it, how do you train up in it? And so Chief d with his UM foundation is entirely effective. I remember one year we were out of East at some firehouse and they were having a seminar and and guys from Hawaii and I'm

like, where are you guys from. They're like Hawaii. I'm like you you know, I was like, you're even the most dedicated fireman. You got the best wives in the world. And we asked them where do you staying. They're like, oh, we have a hotel in South Jamaica. I'm like, oh, everybody who wanted like a gift that night gave it to the Hawaii guys. U but Chief d you didn't stop there. He turned it into a day of hands on training. And uh so, you

know, two days of hands on training he could just give. He could just give you and you can give you the rope, and that's that's not what's happening. And so guys are getting trained up the Suffolk County Fire Academy. All of the instructors turn out like everybody comes in on the day off on their nickel on there, you know, And I mean it's extensive. You got I can't remember that the actual numbers, but you've got hundreds of

guys getting trained, hundreds of guys going home and training. So again, you could either be on the job, into the job. You can talk about all the fire service and or you can actually be you know, uh going out there and training up guys. It's funny this year I missed the Long Island Uh no, no, no, the the Joey D thing out East a right after three years. I called Chief and I says, listen, I can't come. He goes, what's wrong? And I said, I got fucking COVID. He goes, oh yeah, and I go yeah.

He goes, how Betty, see, I don't want to get anybody sick, you know. Um. I was at a convention and my wife goes, how was the convention? It was one of these active conventions they never went to in my life. And uh, she said, how was it? They said, if I don't get COVID from this thing, I'm never againting. Well, I got it, you know, so I couldn't go to the Chief D thing. And they had another semin odd down in Texas. Guys. Guys want to learn, you know, especially from you

guys. You know, you guys are the New York Yankees teaching baseball. You know it's uh and and you know, to a man, I really never met an instructor, not one who wasn't an absolute gentleman, you know what I mean, absolute professional choir professional and you know, each and their own expertise. Um you know, and and that's admirable me to me. Um so uh so. Yeah, the Joe D. Banaro Foundation and Dennis Leary you know, kind of got them going. Uh Leary Firefighter dot org.

So Leary has bought boats for New Orleans. We went down there. We did I don't even know how many trips we brought the New York City District Council of Carpenters, the Carpenters Union. We said, we'll give you, we'll fly you down, we'll fly you home, we'll put you up, we'll give you one meal. You come down, and you restore these firehouses after Katrina. Well not only did they restore the firehouses, but they were running, you know why, they were sweat and pipe. They would

do whatever. And the funny thing about New Orleans, it's like, you know, we were like, don't you need a code like you know, and they're like, oh no, that's Uncle Jimmy. He's they were letting us do put the place back together fantastically, and you know, frigid air and would give us stuff and Nautilus and we're like, you want to wait room here or workout room. Yeah, you know, so it was unbelievable.

I still when I go down to New Orleans, I just you know, it's it's unbelievable what he did for the New Orleans, the city, Ray Nagan, I'll never forget. I said it would take ten years and ten million, and Leary put fourteen firehouses back into operation in twenty months for less than two million dollars. And that's a lot of time on the phone, a lot of pleading with people. Um and for your job command post.

Um. Uh. You know I was mentioning before high rise you guys didn't have a high rise simulator apparently, Um, we did not you know flash over um uh that building has the rollover yeah upstairs. Yeah, the Liz Hopper. It's dedicated to this one Liz Hopper, who used to run all of the administrative for Dennis Leary. She was like a workhorse. She passed away of a heart attack. Um yeah, so he's um And for Worcester. You know, on the grounds of the Worcester Cold Storage fire,

Dennis built it's the most massive firehouse you have ever seen. And it's like, you know, rescue two trucks, three engines, ambulances chief. But I mean there's so it's massive. You gotta like walks like you're in a airport. It's so big. And that's a testimony to his devotion to the

fire service. Again, you know, somebody can give lip service and said, oh I'm gonna I'm gonna have a fifty fifty for the fireman and whole shit that he built this massive, multimillion dollars and they built a training facility,

you know, like a real brick and mortar training facility. You got this guy, Steve Sandal Lagucci. I can't remember what the men affordable affordable towers that guy with the yeah, yeah, so he's we're trying to get him on board with with Dennis because it's very effective training from municipalities that don't have a lot of money. So yeah, Leary Firefighter. Uh you know, supplementing the Debernardo Foundation. Uh, you know, I think Dennis has

to come on this show to talk about all those things. Problem just I'm just like he doesn't toot his horn a lot. I'll tell him, I said, you know these are the guys, tell me, did you well come listen, come on the show and toot your own all you want bro too. Well, yeah, yeah, listen. I always let him speak from you guys. Very similar personality too, Like you guys are pretty similar.

Like when I sat down with him, it's the same thing. Like his mother's father were from County Kerry and and and my parents were from County Galway. And the first time I met his mother, I was dressed in my class as I went up to Metal Day and um Boston with him, and he thrown me to his family, like to run into ference, you'll keep them busy. And his mother goes, hey, mom, this is Bobby Burke. Uh and she says hello in her Irish accent. He goes,

Bobby, where's your family from? I said, Goalway. She goes, oh, yeah, carry's better. And he's like we were brought here was a pretty smilar personnel. It's that old Irish you might score around and somebody else's watched, but you're not scoring around on mine kind of upbringing. Uh yeah, we get we get along very well. Uh. There are certain things, uh that in our upbringing that we talk about that nobody else would understand. It'd be like bringing up you know, Italian Polish. Yeah.

I was listening to a guy tell a story. Uh, he was cooking for a chief or rather Captain Downey at the time, and he put sugar in the pasta in the sauce. Uh. You know, only two Italians, would you know? Uh, you know know about something like that. We use catch up of course everything on a Friday night when you couldn't eat meat, you know. So so yeah, Dennis, I can't say

enough about the guy. He put food on my table. And with the acting world, he you know continually uh carries the flag, picked the flag up and continue to carry the flag for the Fire Service. And there's no I can't think of another actor who does that. Who does that? You know, they're all everybody wants to do something, but you know, but I never forget it's just a slogan unless you do something about it. Bro. You know. Yeah, it's a misconception because people think that taxes and

everything pay for the fire Service, and they don't. He understands that you can supplement these things through his foundation and stuff like that. You guys are doing a great job. And I want to mention the vet Hack. Okay, you have to go to the vet Hack vet haack dot org. Now they do things like I can't even remember the name of it. Like when a guy's missing a limb and they put on a limb, that's automatically. It's bionics they do for for veterans. The part of it I'm involved with

is they do rock marches. So we'll meet at fifty ninth Street, two hundred veterans from all services, air, you know, Marines, Army maybe, and they get together and it's it's kind of just fellowship. It's like, hey, how are you doing all? I haven't seen you in the year. Getting a line on a job somewhere? Maybe we march up you know, Central Park around we go to somebody's motor pool at some precincts somewhere host us and it's just the day a guy's hanging out together, uh veterans.

Yeah, so that's a great thing. Yeah, And it's no more less. He does these events and it's always promoting veteran uh uh employment, you know, and and making sure guys are hooked in with each other. If you get a job through his organization, you are obliged and to go and help another veteran who's obliged. Beating forward and grassroots, nobody gets nobody's getting any um salary in this uns can we put those uh in the description chat Yeah, I can. We can do that for sure, Thanks for

king. We also have the fire Family Transport if you want to touch on it or I don't really work with them anymore. They called me a couple of times, you know, to go to the Bernie cantor uh cantor Fitzgerald.

So they have the big I forget the name of it. They used to do it around nine to eleven, um, and you go up there and you're the celebrity for them, and uh so I did that and it was Fire Family Transporter is uh pretty much run by the the form of football team is the way I looked at it, because these guys are like, hey, jelly monster. Uh. But they do great work. I mean

it's unbelievably effective. Um. Another part of the fire service that you don't even consider until you have to consider ortunately they are always going to treatment, guys going for you know, so they do tremendously effective work. And you know whatever they asked me to do, I would do. Um. Uh yeah, so I told you they gave me a crystal like plaque, but they forgot to invite me to the dinner to wow son of them. But then the next year when they invited me to the dinner, I was telling

you I won the fifty fifty. I remember. I think Danny Prince uh picked he picked the telephone number out and he goes, I was sitting with uh, commission Nigro, Joe Dum, Patty Brown's sister, all this table and he goes, the name is Burk, and everybody at my table goes, WHOA like this? And Danny or Patty kind of somebody goes, You're not the only bark in this room is nine one seven six. Fore I'm

the only one with that rock. And then I said right away, I go I give it right back to the house, and ten truckies like I'll read your ticket, and I go, oh, you know, we will not take the money back. So I was like one am I doing? You know, it was like eight thousand dolls. I'm like, one am I doing? And I did. Commissioner and I go. Nigro was next to me. He goes, boy, but you feel like shit, And I was like, I do you know. I'm like, I don't want

this money. So I gave it to where it did most good and Yeah, that was a funny night. Uh, I go to It was at Anton's or Russo's on the Bay. It's like a thousand guys there. Yeah, on the bay. I was you know, I can't eat eggplant. I'll tell you it's a good meal. Sorry, my wife invited me. My wife is Italian. Her grandfather worked at a place called Murray's Cheese Shop. And little literally my first date, she gives me me eggplant and I said, oh you know what, eight I stuck getting red. My throat

is closed, and I'm like dying. That night, she goes, would you like some more in the egg plan? Yeah? Sure, my tongue is swollen. I'm like, oh god. She had me lunch. This is the God's honest. And the next day she had screen blunt. She goes, there's a little bit left. Somebody said, I don't know what the ship I never had in my life, but it's fucking killing me, you know. And and and that was, Uh, that was June of like May of of in nineteen eighty forty eighty Yeah, forty but line in

my coffee, Charlie. Wow, he had a day game on them, bro. He didn't care what he would happen to him. Yeah, a phylactic shock. Still I did it was we never had a plan. I could nobody. You know, you put some meat in the pop boiler out of its boiler boiler top. My mother was She was a wonderful woman. She was like a druid. She was very religious. But no cook. We have the whole pack. After every meal. My father would look at it us like, we go, God, spare you the health that you

should make another meal like this. We're like, oh jeez, I saw my kids last time. We used to stick the rustle sprats in the corner of the table so we wouldn't have to eat them. You know, everything said. I married my wife just so I had got a good meal out of it. There you go, bro, Now he's got you know, he's got the meat balls. He's got. Now he's going like this. Now he's walking. Put a little sugar in there. Put a little Yeah, I got a big tree in my back yard. Don't even you got

your back. I'm telling you, no more use for this guy. All right? Like an awesome job, bro job, really a lot of much. It was enjoyable. I was a little nervous. I'm still a little nervous. I'm always in all of you guys and your commitment, your service. Um, you know so uh you're not doing all right, you know, to living, not that what you're helping, what you're doing, what you're doing again? Thank you said, it's easy to write a check you

walking the walk. I always say, if if a dopey actor can do it, there's no excuse you can do it too, So I say, dopey fineman, So here we go the same thing. Yeah right, you got any shout outs? Bro? No? So jan what about you kid? I actually I do. I was gonna wish a little happy birthday to my old lady. She's uh oh birthdays today, So yeah, very good around the room a little while I wish birthday last night, oh bom. But other than that, I appreciate that. Yeah, all right, Well

you want to play the ending of the show there? What do you got? Yeah? Sure, that's go ahead. Well, actually, does did Bob you have any more shoutouts that you have? No? You were good? Right, I'm I'm tap out. All right, here we go. Let me go ahead and do our out show stand by for a few Well, thank you first and foremost for tuning in to another episode of The Getting

Salty Experience. Thank we're out a good content, far from it. If you want to find us on the audio side, you can do so on All the players were available on Yes, I said that correctly, all the players Spotify, Apple, wherever you get your podcasts, that's where we are. And if you're here tonight, congratulations you found us on The Getting Salty Experience, which if you're not already subscribed, please do so. It's free, cost you nothing. You can also like and share, which also costs

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experience. Accellent one last one, all right, guys. Also one more shout out. We Louis and I will be at the New York State Chiefs Association one hundred and seventeenth Annual June fourteenth through June seventeenth. Come on down and see me. Roofie and Bobby Burke will be there, and Rista Hoggits. It'll just be me and Roofie. He's like, this just crash and that Michael does a very nice job. That's him, right, yeah,

well paid for that. Well whoa whoa with the hoo paid Hold on minute, alrightel uh, mister Burke, thank you so much, Thank you for everything you do for the so much appreciate it really is real honor to be here. More than I can say, roof anything that's its baby. Alright, guys, we'll see you on Thursday night. We might have a guy I think Wolfe's morning. He's on it. He's working on something. Until then, guys, uh, stay low and go all right, everybody,

we'll see it. The big one al right, guys, good any one