GETTIN' SALTY EXPERIENCE PODCAST Ep. 191 | SAN FRANCISCO FD BATTALION CHIEF ANTHONY SMERDEL

Disclaimer. We'd like to know before the start of this interview that the opinions about to be expressed by the guest of tonight's Getting Salty Experience Podcast are that of the guest and do not directly or necessarily reflect the views of the host of the Getting Salty Experience Podcast. You're listening to the Getting Salty Experience podcast. Hello Load Darren van E. I shadowed them out, he said, good morning. So I'm like, where the fuck is this guy from Darren

van Morning? Look aback, Get Salty Experience podcast, the one that brings the fire outs, gets your table to you even Roofie with a flashlight because he has no power. But that's the kind of guy he is. Bro, He's he's he's dedicated, his dedicated guy. He's got his phone and the flashlight and the light is just shining on those drapes. It makes him look even more beautiful. I got no every every gods every morning I called it. Picks up the phone. I'm like, I'm just glad you picked

up today, little buddy. Welcome back to the greatest podcast first respond to podcast ever featuring Gowns with the Good Hair, No Power coming coming to you live from the dungeon, coming to you live. He's got no you got no heat either. Nothing. I just pulled out the generator. Tom, I just I said, I told my wife, what do you think you know? Usually I don't wait, I don't. I don't stop pulling out the thing until then I'm like, she's like blue and she's shivering. Then

you pull it out. Well, it's like, well the fire is going, you know, the fires going. But the man that would be out about an hour and a half. But then she called her cousin up the road, and cousin said that there's a transformer out, and the guy said that it's probably gonna be a while. So then I started calling out the generator. I started it up. It was running great. Get cocked out. I checked the gas. It looked a little shitty. I changed the

gas. Now I can't get it started against. Oh my goodness, that's not like you, bro. I know, I'm not happy you're slacking. Yeah, I usually you're on top of ship like that. And uh so my wife just said to me, oh, I don't want I don't want to repeat what you It must be the heart, don't you know? You got to say it don't stress me now, I got that. Don't don't get any take it easy. I could go, oh god, that's scary.

That's scary. See right right up his nose nostrils. Man, if you're in the cave there just about Oh, you got a lord charge from the left coast today. Bro, this guy looks like a tough guy and he brought like a hard charge and he kills and he kills stuff, which Louis likes. Both of you guys like this guy. This guy working out. Where do you get this guy from Sarah Goose, oh Tony Sarah Ghost to gaming? Yeah matteract. He said, this would be the only guy

who's gonna recommend me. Really, this guy is the guys. And by the pictures he showed me, he's got some uh crazy he was only in the rescue for twenty two years. That's all just a couple I want to

he supposedly got trapped right. Oh, that's that's early on. You know, he had a couple of pictures that had in the back of my neck was standing up, was like, oh, look at this scary video to the video and you know, it sounds a little bit like hole cold and if you close your eyes when he hey brother, brother, Pip dodge brother and I hoisted tie over my head. Brother, give me give me again. Let me tell you something on top of the game today. All you

okay, you're frozen for a second there. Let's get to the commercials. Yeah. And I love to call him chief. I gotta call him Tony, Tony blog blog. Here we go. Listen to our boy, Vince called Tony. Give me the blooney. That's what I'm not gonna fall for. The banana, the tailpipe. You're not alright. Here we go. We gotta hump Armor to firehouse flooring was recently installed in Station number seven,

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coll Vin's for a floor. But don't ask them to take you off a dinner because you got out here around I roof, you did it a little long time. We're gonna get him. We're gonna get him in India though paid last time, didn't pay last time? Yeah, but I wasn't there paid. And then I got into an argument with at the tables. Right, there's a little tightly when we got guns tonight. That's it. That's it because you have your normal two on Thursday. Brother, at least that's

what you told me, all right, So roough with your flashlight? Do you think bring him in here the whole Colgan on the West Coast? Are you ready? Guns ump suck? Yeah, bro, I hope I pronounced his last name right. Coming to the stage, Beka Chee Chief Tony Smurdell. There you go. Let me wait, well, let me tell you. Did you do that for me? Let me see how it goes. Let me tell you you can do it. Got the pipe of the twenty four pythons. Alright, let's let's get patriotic before we get too far and

getting silly with ourselves. Here we go. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic, for which it stands, One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all that. That's kind of world. Yeah, Louis doesn't have power. Still the best country in the world. All right, let's go back. We gotta go back pretty far. This guy got on back in the seventies, before most of you young Whipp's snappers were even born. I can tell you that not

that Gods, of course, he's an old man. But uh, I would ask you how you got interested in the fire show, but the business. But you told the story that your dad was a Hart Charger, Right, he got on a nineteen sixty fourth. So let's go back. Let's turn back the clock to the early days of Tony Smurdell. Where'd you grow up? We know your dad got you involved, But give us your first

take on. Yeah. No, I grew up in San Francisco, and it was really excited growing up in the sixties and seventies in the city. You know, my mom would bring us down to the firehouse to visit Dad down there. She bring all the neighborhood kids down there, and he cooked lunch for us, hot dogs and beanies and weenies and ice cream, and all the kids in the neighborhood looked up to my dad. My dad was big Terry, my little brother was little Terry. But it's pretty interesting growing

up and getting the firehouse life. So I got a big taste of it from from early on, and I just knew that's where I wanted to be man having fun and fighting fires man. I know from the Jump Street. Then I did. I did, And it was very love firehouse right everything about it. And it was very lucky to get an apartment back in the seventies and eighty because there'd be like six seven, eight thousand people testing to get in for a couple hundred jobs. So how big is that the pub

there's about two thousand people. There's about three hundred on duty every day right now. I've been out for twelve years, so things have changed a little bit with the medics coming in everything. But yeah, they still use wooden ladders there, still use wooden ladder. That's why I wore the shirts and I feel, oh, let's see that iron men and wooden ladders. Baby,

oh that's right there, fella. Yeah, you got the fifty foot three hundred and sixty five foot fifty foot ladder and the thirty five Oh they're all woods. You know, engines got the aluminiums on them. But bussy oh waesome, I mean yeah, so it was really cool, you know,

growing up as kids. And then we used to go to summer picnics at the firehouse and and you know, talk a little bit about the guys that I worked with younger, but we've turned out that we were at the same picnics together because our parents are ads all worked in the fire department. I told you when I first got the station seven, there were six of us that were unassigned kids there, and five out of those six were fireman's kids. Wow, and sitting down around talking bullshit in one night, remember

that you were there? Yeah, I was there, were you there? It's like and it's a small degree of separation in San Francisco. Man, you know, you tell I'm from San France, I'm from San Francisco where, well, actually I'm from the East Bay, or you don't know I'm from now if you're from the city, it's a small degree of separation. The first question anybody asked, what high school did you go to? From the high school? You got the three Catholic schools and the public schools,

and Tuesday that what high school? What year? And then it's off to the race. You know that guy his sister, I married a sister of blah blah blah, and on and on and on. Yeah, so it's pretty guns pulled up few pictures of his dad's don Man, Well, did your father push you towards that or that you just you were already there? No, no, no, My dad had thirteen years in when he died. He died in nineteen seveneven that was two years before I came in.

But he was a tough guy. Me and my brother, we were powerlifters. We powerlifted for years. And one afternoon, hey, dad, once you come down to the gym and work out with this. He's got a cocktail and one hand and a mall bro and the other goes hee you an f you your little punks, I'll drag you down a smoky hallway and you'll puke your guts out and die rotten. And we look at a shut up

old man. Had no idea what he was talking about until I got in and worked with the men that my dad worked with, and then I realized what he's saying about puking your guts out in a hallway because I got to work with a lot of guys that my dad worked with, so it was pretty cool. That was cool. So you take the test? What you take the test? I took the test probably in nineteen seventy seven, seventy six, so he knew you took the test. He knew that was the

direction you were going in. I did. I did well. You know when I ran the family business when my dad in seventy seven we took over to the family business. I always wanted to be fire. I took the test, but that didn't come to fruition until seventy nine when I got hired. What was the family business? Like? Were you collecting? What are you doing? It was eggs bro, not that exciting eggs My dad was the eggman, so he he would take he would have trucks come up from

the valley bring eggs and he sold them all. He had clients throughout San Francisco and what not. Like the old days, they didn't make a lot of money. Fireman did not. A lot of guys had second jobs, hobby job, just to make ends. Me. You know, mom didn't work. We had three kids, so most firemen had jobs to make ends. Me. My dad was an eggman, so when he passed in seventy seven, me and my brother took over and ran the family business for a

number of years after that. But I hit the lotto, dude in seventy nine, man June, And you know, I tell these young kids, I go bro Getting into the fire service is better than winning the lotto. Yeah, people who win the lot of and in a couple of years they're broke, divorced and disarray. You know. In the fire service, Holy shit, man, they pay you for thirty years. If you're lucky. A lot of our brothers are not. They'll pay you another thirty years.

But beyond that, man, you you the best of friends, the best friends you'll have. And I got lifelong friends for forty years that I started day one within the fire department. So it's it's it's truly a blessing. Yeah. I mean I think about it now and how excited they is to think about when it was time to go back to work, and like, holy shit, I can't leave to go to work. Man. One of the job is like that. There is no other job like that. You know, when we started, we had four days, you know, you

had three days off, four days off. The guys at stationed two in my first house loved me because I was working trades, because I didn't want to be away from the firehouse. You know, I didn't want to miss any fires or or or or any the fund, the for volity, the stupidness of the firehouse. Again. Yeah, and it's like, you know, I tell you, I tell you know what, is there any union

guys? There's probably some union guys out there. So a cover year ears for a second, but I tell him, Hey, if the city came and said we're out of money, we can only pay you half your wage, I would still go to work every day at half my wage. And then and then if they came back and said, hey, we're really out of money, we can't even pay you. I would super free, bro is. I would probably pay every day to get on that goddamn fire engine and go to the firehouse every day. That's how much I love my job.

Man, it was great. I used to pay forty bucks to go to work every day forgot that was right, Yeah, oh yes, and tolls. Yeah, that was the entertainment text. I used to say. You can't write this stuff, man, it's just crazy, crazy stuff. Yeah. I mean we have a little niche he So everybody who watches the show knows what that is. But people outside of our bubble, they really sees in the supermarket, you know this sees going to fires or whatever.

They have no clues what it's like to be in that firehouse with these guys. Man, so much fun. But when that bell hits, man ship turns around. Yeah yeah it's on. But you know what, after the job, you go right back to the same thing, man, And that's the fascinating popper. You go right back to break with each other's bulls, you know, getting on this guy, getting on that guy. And when a business man, that guy you're trusting that guy that I trust you.

It's it's serious, is you know a heart attack, bro, And you come back from real stupid, really glory stuff whatever, and you're right back there having dinner talking people. How did you do that? The guy said, was just exploding pretty good? Yeah, yeah, passing other people. Yeah, that looks like his eye didn't that look like his eyes alight?

Don't mention heart attack? All right? Please? Sorry, roughly, I'm sorry, bro, Okay, don't get to it excited, Keep it down, keep it down, keep it back, deep press, deep bass, talking to my guy all wrong? You get called in seventy nine? How long is Proby school or the academy? There? Academy was like ruling six weeks. It was six weeks, six weeks of training and then a week of driving and then they sent you on your way. You know, you

got two prob houses. And just to back up for a second, when my dad passed, you know, Tony Sako, who was a vice president of union, he arranged it so I got my dad's badge, and I wore my dad's baths as a firefighter. And when my brother came in, I gave it to him, so he wore my dad's bats my dad's badge also, but I also wore turnouts. Every day. I wore his helmet and I still had it hanging up. I got newspaper stuffed in the lining. You know. I wore no, it's over here, that's anod N.

You know, six when I got my dad. So it's beat up, dude. I mean it's all rotted out. It's just all totally beat up. But I wore it every day untill I got promoted to the tiny chief job and in his turnouts, you know. But it was six weeks of training and then you go to your pro b house and that's where you really learned. I mean in the school, they touch had a coupleans together,

and how to lift the ladder and tie whatever. When you got out in the field, it's it's the men that were there as your officers back then, and they were like men of fire man. I'm so so blessed work with so many great firefighters who are mentors to me and and helped me along with my career. So you can have a lot of like Vietnam guys there or Korean War guys consider you know, not so much because you know, they stopped the draft. I think in seventy two or seventy three.

I graduated in seventy four. You know, my dad marched me down when I turned eighteen. Man, he stopped in front of mccallis street. Walk upstairs, kid, you're you're signing up for the draft, just like that. Man. So I didn't. There wasn't There wasn't a whole lot. When I came in Vietnam, vets for sure. In the job Korean where that was in Korea, Korean and I worked at some pretty badass World War two bets, and there was asking that, yeah, those guys pretty impressive.

That nothing face right, nothing, relax, kid, we got its right. What's that broa those guys? Yeah exactly, Oh no, no, no, yeah, so that's pretty good. So you do a six weeks of training, you know, get out of there. Luckily it was pretty funny, is one of my training officers, and they're pretty strict. You know. Okay, boys, is how we did. Then the night after it's like, wow, let's go kids. Tony Stefani, who wound up being that Captain of Rescue one, he pulls me aside and goes,

kid, your dad broke me in. Your dad showed me how to be a firefighter. He was approbe at my dad's house. So it's kind of like passing it on a little bit. Y very very excited about that. How many how many guys were in your class? We started with thirty two and we wound up with twenty eight of us graduated. Yeah. Yeah. So then after that you get split up and you get assigned to either a truck or an engine for six months. So my first assignment was truck two

in Chinatown. And I told you guys earlier, I worked Watched for Watch with six pack Jack Conway, and he named Deserbedly and he was a driver, you know. I learned to drive the back of that steer, the back of that tiller box in Chinatown, man. And there was you know, red light, so let's see how that go. Green light means go, orange light means go fast, and red light means run really fast. There was no assemblings. People were all over those streets. I mean narrow,

narrow streets and ladders strength. I'm not a truckman, I'll see this right now. I mean a lot of truckies out there. I very very limited experience on truck. My proby house and during my two years floating around before I went to Station seven, you know, I spent a little bit of time my truck won a little bit of truck. Truck thirteen was in the financials, so they don't throw any ladders. There's just small, big buildings there. So I've never really really been a fan of truck work.

I mean I just kind of you and the rescue for twenty two years engine for sure, and then I'll tell you how I got to that rescue squad. Just happens stance, for sure. So I did rough roofy happenstance that you Okay, I was gonna stay. How did how did you get the two truck? Once you get the two truck? How did I get the two truck? Was it a busy house? House? It's a great house. Yeah. They were gonna send me in a fifteen truck, they all

did. And the officers know that kid. He'll fit in the station too. That's like there's like this, that's Terry Smurdell's kids. Send them over to send me the two trucks live. Yeah. So I did my six months there and no big fires. You know. A couple of my thoughts going to Chinatown, you know, tightly packed lots of wood buildings that'd be burnt nothing six and those Asians don't burn that ship down that that Uh, everybody's awake, you know. When they do well, they try to put

it out themselves because when they do, it's usually a riper. Yeah when they do yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. So then I finished up at two and they sent me to station forty three in Crocker Amazon And that's kind of where I hung out, Crocker Amazon Park, and I was telling telling cubes earlier. The firehouse is right across the street from the park with the stands where we used to go over there and participate in libations as kids, drinking beers or whatever. So I felt like I was right back at home.

And sure enough, there's still kids drinking in those stands, you know. So I went back to the neighborhood worked at forty three engine for six months. George, Uh, well, jeez, I'm drawing a blank on. I was gonna do my captain's name, horrible, terrible chief. You are can't believe it'll come to, It'll come to. It'll kiell me tonight. I'll call you guys back later. George. George NEA's great man athlete, a gymnast, you know. But I went through all my engine stuff

with him. Never caught a fire there at forty three in my next four months there until I got detailed out to one of the slowest houses in the city at three o'clock in the morning, got a rip in third alarm. First doing on a third alarm on San Fernando Way. I'm going, wow, this is it, man, Yeah, get the line out, go up to the front door, trying to shove that front door and opens up and there's a lady laying there and she's burnt really bad. So we pull

her out and the lieutenant goes work on her. You're an empt or, work on her. I missed the whole goddamn fire. I'm doing CPR thing with this lady right here. When I missed the whole goddamn fire. My first I just watched it all so and he won't giving a mouth to mouth? Will you out the mouth? Yeah? Yeah, this is back. I did a couple of times, did mount the mouth man. I'll tell you. I'll tell you a story later on about al capy. Damma.

I felt very, very obligated to do Mountain Mouth because should have jump out of the third floor window instead of trying to save his life. So anyway, I finished up at forty three. Was great working with great guys out there, and then you started your tour. You know that you're unassigned, and they they moving around from station to station where they need it. So I spent a little bit of time at truck one. Like I said,

I wasn't a truckman, a little bit of time at truck thirteen. I went to station twenty five for a little bit, Station thirty eight up on California to where the rescue squad was, So that's about my four house. How many rescues do they have? There's two rescues. Rescue squad one which used to be on California Street above the Marina. I was there the night of the I wasn't working that day, but I went up to night at

the little Maprieta so there on top. And then they moved back to station seven where I got to go back home, and and the other one rescue one downtown they were in the alley the Alley Cats. Then they moved to Third Street. But there was always that competition between the squads man always and when I when I was a cap, lucky enough to be the captain of the squad for a number of years. One of my best buddies, Pat Garner, was the captain of Rescue one, and we grew up together.

We paid pal football together. We're six years old in the neighborhood. So we always had had this labor. I came in maybe a year or two ahead of him, so he made lieutenant, lieutenant, captain, captain chief chief. So we're falling each other. Did we'd have fist fights in the hallways. Yeah, So two squads in the city was pretty much. How do they ride, chief? How do the engines of the truck riding with the manpower? How many guys have engines? Who were one in three?

So one officer with three men, and then the trucks were one and they used to be one and five and now they're one and four and the and the squads are one officer and your three firefighters on there. Yeah, and back back in the old days before before nineteenth ninety eight, the rescue squads just got dispatched in their first alarm area. So everybody's got their little districts

right here. So if the fires in Rescue ones district or Rescue two's district, they would go and The only time they went outside of their district was one if there were special calls for something by a chief or when they struck a second alarm, and then we went and yeah, two rescues on the box on the side. Long. No, no, just outside your area,

outside your although it's a fine line. Once we moved back to station seven in the in the mission district, there'd be a number of times when both squads would show up and the chief would just shake his head, you know, all right, go to work, boys, you know. But prior to that, because I did a little short I'd get ahead of myself maybe a little bit, but I did a stint in special ops, and

that's we started really putting training on for the firefighters and the squads. No, when I went to the squad in eighty five, there was no training. You know. They were all firemen. They put fires out, you know, And now would they operate as a truck and engine? What would they how would they operate the rescue? Can rescue bro at a fire?

They just go in. Their job was going and search and rescue. And the old back then, dude, you couldn't get a line because these guys that we ran with at thirty eight where I was the rescue two was you know you're running with forty one engine, three engine, five engine. These guys were all tough, dude, and you got a line, they ain't giving it up. Yeah, you know that's there. Today it's a little bit different, you know. Would you like to tell Yeah, I'll take

that from me. So you go, you go for after you I must, I will, yeah. But part of that we just stayed in our little bubble. Right, there's special call. So when I had this gig at Special Ops, I go, you know what, we got to get out the bubble man. So I started petitioning the chiefs. Let us go on all the boxes and there, no, we need to have you guys in the service. So I said, how about this. Let's try a little see if this works. So we split. They call the cards.

Everybody knows where they're going. You've got a big box of a big drawer full of all box cards. Every corner has a street box and it's got numbers on them. So anyway, I said, how about this. If a box comes in an engine seven is do first rescue Squad two goes with them and it's a report of fire. They go code too, and then if smoke showing or or it's a working fire, then they could pick it up. So that was pretty cool. Then rescue won the same thing.

If a boss comes in, they go code too. What its CO two? Not lights and sirens not lights because the chiefs were worried, you know the squad, Well, that lasted about thirteen minutes, bro, and it was code for me the whole The rest of the time it was on. Yeah. So after that, after ninety eight, the squads went to everything.

So we split the city and half we were doing like one hundred and seventy five eighty ninety working fires from rescue to a year, man, because we had the whole half of the city and that's one of the two days more. Yeah, it was. It was pretty good, man. We got a lot of fires. Yeah. Yeah, well you get that, but we're a little ahead of ourselves. Yeah, man, I'm just rambling, bro, that's fine. Where do you eat, like Roofie, we

heard this, I think we heard this guy have the copy. You have to bid spots, right, yeah, how much time you have with something? Every year, they have a vacancy list, so everybody would put in for the spots that they want to make you know, and there's some good houses, maybe some not so desirable houses. But if the captain of the house like your crew. And there were six of us at Station seven and the captains buried us, they moved us at seven between the engine, the

truck and the host tender. So I had six years in the job before I made a permanent assignment. So they would move you around. But the caveat was if you were the highest guy. Once all the assignments got put out, and you were the highest guys unassigned that didn't make a house, they sent you out to Boonville. Man, you had to go west of the people. Why is that? Like you have the most time, and because you don't get a spot, they're gonna send you off to They send

you to camm Center. Me and Mike Murphy, another Chiefs kid, we went to forty engine, which ran like one two calls a day, and we're running, you know, twenty plus calls a day in the engine and the truck down there. So a lot of guys cried. They told you, guys really cried and complained about, oh man, this is bullshit. I don't want to here. So and we're calculating, dude, fire me. You know, we got a lot of time on our hands in the firehouse for a Cakay. This guy's here, this guy's here, this guy's

here. So I figured I'm good. I'm going to stay another year at Station seven. This comes out, I'm going to forty Engine. I go, that can't be. That's not right. So check it. Well, there was a kid ahead of me who should have gone to forty engine. But he's a paramedic and he was at Rescue one, Station one, Rescue one, and you know he's a ParaMed so they kept him down there and and I guess because he was a medic, but also to oh yeah, Mike Sullivan was his uncle and he was a captain of the engine. So

they buried him. So I went to forty. So rather than fight it, I signed up for John Adams EMT School. I got an empt certificate, finished that up in four months. I made an appointment to go down and see the deputy Charles Cressey. Didn't know who he was. Walked in. I got my class ason looking good, Chief, I have a seat there. What could I do for you? I go, you know,

I want to get out of forty engine. You know, you got Bobby Xes down and rescue one right then he should be there because he's a paramedic. And you know at that time the the squads will run a lot of medical calls, going yeah, yeah, what do you want? Yeah, well, here's my AMT certificate and I'd really like to go back to station seven, please, And he looks at me a little bit and he goes, yeah, okay. He takes in his sound to the side. I'll

get back to you. And so I stand up and I give him a salute ad buy sir, And he puts his hand out to him and he grabs my hand. I shake his hand. He goes, I loved your dad. Your dad was one of the best firemen I ever worked, But he was the latest. Two weeks later, I was at rescue two. There you go, squad. Yeah. And one of the funny things when I first made the rescue squad is after the fire was out, the squads

were going home. There was no overhauling, no clean up. There you rapp is, they're packing hose nothing, bro I mean that changed over the years, man, we started sticking around. But when I first did that, what do you mean we're leaving, We're out of here. Yeah, so that's how. That's how I got to the rescue squad in nineteen eighty five, and then the next year at eighty six, I made the spot as a firefighter at the rescue too. So that's it. Yeah, what

did you say you hit? You hit the lot of right there, Bro, Well, you hit the lot of when you got on the jump, but hit the lotto then, and then I hit a lot of going to the squad and then I tested pot the lieutenant and I did my six month little tour thing there as a lieutenant, and then got back to the rescue squad as lieutenant four years later. I pointed to the captain, just spot opened up and I came back. So it was just stars, moons were all. So wow, before before you get too far, we talk about

the job. But you only had a short time on when he almost bro Yeah, yeah, So what's that man? You see? That's Brian Leon. He's a forty one engine falling out of the third floor right there. I was a young kid. I had the night watch at Station thirty eight Rescue to squat you was thirty eight, and I never slept when I had the night watch. I stayed up and did stuff and uh, the chiefs

operator, Jimmy Cook, he was keeping me company. And at three o'clock in the morning stand by for the box box three two one two poured it out just Larkin Street and three engine shows and he goes, that's a bad box. And we're up there. All of a sudden working fire, second alarm, bam, the lights go on. So we go as the engine goes, and then the squad went down there. We pulled up the thing.

It was five or six stories fire from top to bottom. Remember going in the elevator shaft is one of those old ones with a you and the engine of the truck chief. I was on the engine, I was on the fire. I was on. We made a lead in there and it was like a blow torch all the way up the elevator shaft. The lightwells were just lit up. I mean every floor had fire, and I'm going, yeah, so we're in there. We did two or three We did two or three bottle exchanges and you know, fifth all on fire. There's

shit everywhere. The service squad that fills your bottle well the third, second or third bottle change, I lost my crew. I didn't know where they was, so I got a fresh bottle. No, I got it, I'm going back in. So I go back in and this was like a totally free burning fire man. It was everywhere. I'm making my way back to the third floor and there's a crew working on the third floor. It's forty one inchined. Jimmy Lynch was the boss. Captain lynchd lieutenant the time,

Brian Leong and I don't recall who last kid is. So I hook up with them. Yeah yeah, So I'm on the back and we're going and bushing doors in ding ding ding ding ding. The bell goes off again, so I tap them on my shoulder, which was totally wrong to do. I left my crew, you know, totally inexperienced, stupid. I'm going to go down and change my bottle. I'll be right back. So I go from the third floor and big round stairways. I went from the

third floor to the second floor. It was a freaking gates of hell. Bro there was no second floor, just fire. So I go back up and I'm pounding Jim Lynch on his back because yeah, yeah, yeah, all of a sudden it got black. It went right down to the ground.

So we're in this long haul. When I knew that the windows were down the end of the hallway, my bell was ringing ding ding, and those old two a's, the lower they got, the slower, the bell went ding ding ding ding ding, And I'm almost and they're backing out. I'm backing out with them and I and all of a sudden, I take my last breath, sucking face. Just as I get to the window, I bust the window and I get out on the little fire escape. Oh

yeah, I made it cool. And then I put a ladder up and get me and uh, the second floor blew out and I was like on a habachi man. I just had to go back inside. Was getting cooked on the fire escape. I went back in. They were at the third floor window. Lynch. They were getting lynch out of the out of the window, know, and I can't breathe. I got my nose is on the on the dirty rug in there, and I'm just looking and dying. And then and then my dad's helmet fell off, and I prized my dad's

helmet so much. My dad's helmet fell up, and I remember saying to myself, smurdell, don't lose your dad's helmet. And I went to reach it and I go, fuck the helmet, dude, You're gonna die. And I went to sleep. I went to sleep, out out, I went to sleep. If I never woke up, it was easy, man. I was out. And so they pulled They pulled Lynch out. Brian Leeong he saw him coming down backwards, flying out of the third floor of the scot Did he get hurt, Yeah, he got hurt. Five Mosen

went to the hall. I spent ten days in smoking elation in the hospital. They send him back up. They say, hey, Smurdell is still on there. There's somebody on that third floor. So three guys went up on that lad. If you fish back to that picture, who was that Dave Haberlin. Dave haber is the guy in the top, Captain Haberlin who retired as a division chief. The guy in the middle is Ted corporand he was on rescue one. And the other guy is Jimmy Cook, who I

was up with talking with at Station thirty eight. The other oh yeah, yeah. So they they pulled me out and got me out of there, and I went to the hospital. Chief. So Chief, somebody saw you at the window, saw you go back in the window, and then said he never came back to the window. He's right there, He's right because I ran back into those guys because they were trying to come out of the

other window. I was in a window in like a room and they were in the window of a hallway and and and they go, hey, somebody's up there, you know, because that wasn't my crew. I was at the crew of thirty eight, which I left behind. Just stupid inexperience on my part for sure. And Captain Haperlin goes, I thought you were a dead dog when I kicked you on the floor. I mean it was black

down to this. So they pulled me out and went to the hospital, and all's well, that entered what's the first thing you remember, like when you came back? When you when you embarrassed? And I was so freaking where why are you? Were you already out? Were you? Were you at the hospital? When did you finally come to Oh in the back of the end. I started waking up. I started coughing and waking They did six broncostumis in the hospital. The guy, the doctor kid you ever smoking

and smoke you You've been smoking for twenty years. You got lungs smoking. Yeah. But those three men right there, I got a couple of pictures more of them. They saved my life. Man there. Jimmy Cook right there, the operator were chit chatting at three in the morning when that box come in. And then uh, the next there's Dave Haberlin, who was a captain of Badass five truck right there. Man's man right there. And unfortunately Dave Haberlin and Jimmy Cook died of cancer. And this is Teddy Corporandi

right here. I know Tom Sarah Goosha talked about him starting fired, and I was just, well, if it wasn't for them, dude, I'd be dead, you know. And I didn't talk about this earlier, but both my my my dad and my brother died in the light of duty. So they're they're both their names are wretched on the wall at in Colorado Springs with at the fallen firefighters. I would have beat him to it, man, but you might. That's my brother Terry right here. Man. He

got a job. He got a job in ninety ninety, nineteen ninety, yeah, yeah, he got a job in nineteen ninety. I got to put pitting Dad's badge on him. He wore that until he promoted through the ranks. So that's a third alarm fire out in industrial aarry because he was unassigned or wherever. And I bought him on the squad one day and so we got to work together. We got a pretty good ripping third alarm there. And yeah, that's us. We're except we're like twins man. We

did everything together. We fished, we hunt, we worked out, we competed, and like two years, two months and twenty two years, two months and two years, two mouch and twenty two days between us. Man, but we we did everything together. That's great. Shore. And he was working at Station two, Battalion one as a battalion chief and he was having a little indigestion during the day and his operator, Mike Degree, goes, hey, you know, why don't you get it's okay taking some rolades

and one of the guys made a really spicy lunch or something. I'm okay. You know. They had a bunch of calls throughout the night, went to bed, and in the morning, everybody's downstairs. He's my brother is always on the floor. Six thirty seven, Have a cup of coffee or whatever, and they go, we're smirt now and they h, I don't know. So Mike Degree goes up beginning in the bed. So they started

CPR and him and didn't make it. Man, didn't make it. So yeah, yeah, yeah, So both their names are etched on opposite walls at the Wall of Falling Firefighters in Colorado Spring, So I have to see that. Yeah. So, I mean, there's a couple of pictures. The biggest funeral I've ever seen, man, he said there was over two thousand people, right, it was crazy. Over two thousand people, man,

and so many people from across everywhere. Man. There's the pitch of all the rigs that came in from across the Bay area and just fill in backfill and all these firefighters. Pretty impressive. That's the holding area down by Station four. Down there, we had all the rigs set up. So it was Yeah, so what I would have been on the Wall of Zero's not the Wall of Heroes for sure. From my Yeah, what ye did?

Pardon me? Your brother pass September tenth, twenty and seventeen, you know, for for sixteen years, September eleventh, the Saturs Day in my life. No now I got two sad days. September eleventh, my brother passed. Yeah, tell a story about how you found out, because that shows to me what what the brotherhoods all about. Man, amazing, man amazing. This is Task four three, which I very fortunately be a member

of for seven seven years until I it's really a young man's job. I've been retired for you know, retired in seven years after that I did this. So we deployed. We sent out all of our our equipment was about eight or ten hours ahead of us. And then we had two bus loads, forty guys in each bus, plus a dog. We had two drivers and each bus a bed in the back, so we never stopped. The only time the bus is pulled over let the dogs out and pee. So

we're traveling all night and h in the morning. Saturday morning, the tenth h we pulled into some little town somewhere in Texas somewhere and knew how those USAR deployments are. The logistics are amazing. We got they got coffee and everything set up. I'm in the back of the bus so I'm I'm great to get off of my phone rings and my good buddy Tommy Jay wish he was a manager, a rescue team manager, and he was on with all the equipment, and he goes, hey, call the firehouse, sums up

and what do you mean. It's just call the firehouse and they know it's Floyd Rawlins, and guys from my union call him and what the hell is going on? So he tell me, hey, man, looks like your brother had a heart attack and passed away. What gitting with a baseball baton? Man? So I'm by myself in the back of the bus. Everybody's gone, They're coffee fueling up and everything, and I'm just sitting there going, oh, what can't be true. And I looked up and the next

picture you'll show is Mike Shaffer. He was our task force leader. He was at the front of the bus and I looked up at him. He looks at me, and we walked towards the other the middle of the bus. Gave me a big hug. We're taking you home, Mike. We've been Code three to earn my man to Florida. Just pulled my bags off. I'll get home you. No, We're gonna take you home, man.

So they got everybody back on the bus. They turned that Cara Brown around and went sixty miles out of their way and took me to Dallas Airport. They got me to the airport. I'm getting off the bus and everybody's hugging me, kissing me. Hey, sorry, bro, bro, And one of our champions school guys, Eli Payton, who Eli Thomas is a running his dog. So he gets off and me and my brother and he gives me a big hug. Dude, I'm so sorry. And he goes here and he reaches out and he hands me a lot of cash, a

huge wad of cash. I go, what are you doing? He goes, hey, there's nothing we could do for you. Get yourself a first tast first class ticket and get home to your family. Dude, No, no, no. So we're tossling back and forth and Mike goes, hey, your bag's out, let's go. So he takes the money and shoved it into my blouse jacket right here and whatever I go in. I go, okay, Mike, I got it. He goes, no, I'm with you. Man goes to I felt like a little kid, you know.

He goes with me to the counter, gets my ticket and he comes back and I got this money in my hand. He goes, what's that. I go, Eli gave me this, He goes, why, he goes, he told me to get a first class ticket. The dude give it back to him and have beers on my brother. When you guys can't, I will. Here's your first class ticket home four hours later. Enough about the San Francisco Fire Department, Joane Hayes White, the Union, how

they took care of me, my brother's family through this whole event. Man, very traumatic. You guys know, you guys lost brothers in the line of duty for sure, So you know that's that's how I found my brother passed. How many kids did your brother have, toy, He had two kids and he just had a grandson. He just yeah, yeah, so now now his son just had another son, and so the Smurgelle name lives on great uncle of little Stephan, Stephan Terry Schmurdelle. So very proud you

get them on the job. I was just gonna say, Chief, is any of any other kids going to towards the job at all? Do you feel? No? No, no, no. His daughter lives in in Boise, Idaho, and they're happy there. He's got two girls and they have two girls and a boy. Back there. So I think I was the end of the line right there. We were then the line and let's little Stefan who knows you never know, brom down in the firehouse and the young kids taking for a ride for sure. Just see, it's the brotherhood

that we share that makes this job. You know, I said a million you can win a million bucks and it ain't worth nothing. It's the friends and the camaraderie that we have in this job. It just fills you with so much everything. Man. I mean, I've only been face to face with you for like an hour and a half, and I think I know you are ready. I feel like I know, you know, I feel

like my brother's already. You know. It's it's crazy. Well you know that's where firemen are, bro, that's hey, hold on, hold on, cheers brother, thank you, I blessom. Yeah. Wow, So

I'll have you know the dream about this. I want to yeah, I wanted to ask you something, uh, just to get back to when when you you know, we've all had a couple of those times where you know, hopefully not too many of those times, but a few of those times where you think you're getting it right, you think you're this is it right? And when when you were in that spot you said, you know it was pretty Uh. I was thinking about it because the way you described it

was you were you were breathing the dirty rug. Right. So these are like things that just like such a detail that you think about when you're in like this, the worst spot in your life, right, I mean for the most part. Right, Oh yeah, yeah, go ahead, go ahead. No, yeah, you're you know, for one minute thought I'm gonna die. Next minute, I'm on on the balcony, I'm gonna be

saved. Next minute, I'm back in that room and the carpet. I remember, I got my face buried in the dirty freaking tenderloin of apartment house. Cart man. I don't know, I don't know where that goes wrong. But yeah, but once again, thank you. When you when you were unconscious, you didn't you don't remember anything. You just went unconscious. You don't remember that you saw that left noodle on the aerial man, I was out. They were banging me down that area, they said, yeah,

I was, I was. They got you into Stokes, right, yeah, no, no stokes. Oh that's just a stretcher. Sorry. I took a bit so that that's one of those clip of park stretches. They got scoop stretcher. Yeah, ten ten days in the hospital, man with boncosta me six. Yeah, so anyway, But but didn't tell you from going to five after that, did it? No? Man? I love its greatest, the greatest high when you smell it, you know, then all of a sudden you turned the corner that whole third floor smelling.

I was looking at your pictures before. I was like sitting there like, oh my god, it is good. We got some work to do. Boys. Where are some of those pictures? Where are they at? Gone? So I think if you go back, you have the wonder Station seven, the picture of the trucks. Maybe they talked about that. But this is what though. I just pulled this one off the internet. Is this what you're talking about? I have, I have the truck. I have

read that squad too. Yeah yeah, but I have an old school I don't know if the stool service or whatnot, But no, no, that's not not I was working the day that went in the service. That's how long. And that's in front of the hazmat unit right there, that's Station thirty six, right there on Oak Street. Yeah, we used to have an old open air one that was great, so the guys could just be in the back wide open. Yeah, so what is it? What is the new one? Go back to the new one. God, that's not

a walk through, that's just that's a walk inside. Yeah it is inside, okay. Yeah, but we had some old ones there were just the cab and then an opened their box on the bat right. Yeah. But you know what you asked me about, you know Station seven. Maybe I had a couple of pictures on there, dude, that's where I learned to

be a fireman. That's really my my love house for station seven. I know we used to have talked about it, but that's where these guys right here, Yeah, I mean these guys on the left there, there's Captain Jimmy Miles, Captain Rus Edwards, Lieutenant Roy Bowen, the guy third from the left. I guess we're looking at as Frank Circos. He was a lieutenant there. He's the guy who really really took me under his wing and

taught me how to be a fireman. Man. We went to a lot of fires, and all those guys on the bottom bottom portion of all officers there and the chief of Paul Tobacco who became chief Department, Bill Murray, who was one of the greatest truck officers, his dad was chief of department. But not only officers, you know, I learned a law from officers, but I learned so much from the men they they you know what, you don't have to be an officer to be a good firefighter, you know,

or to teach, because I learned so much from these guys. And then the guys at the very top are unassigned guys and those who are the sixth guy who were there that they loved us. And every station had that. No, let me back up. It's like guys like st Station one, Station five, Station three, Station thirty six, they had a group like we had at seven and the Captain dig Doug your act. They kept

you there and so we were still all great friends. Today. As a matter of fact, today we just scheduled on old Timer's our old Timers luncheon. It'll be the first week of June. I think with all these guys and it's it was really a learning experience. Lots of fires there, man m yeah. And then this is the new crew that some of us old timers are out in front right here. But I got to work with so many young kids on the squad. Who who wound up being just great fireman?

You know, Vic Wirsch, young kid on the squad. He retired as a deputy chief. Mark Hayes retired as the chief. So the kid, Tommy Maguire, whose dad I worked with, he was on the truck. I said, dude, you got to come to the squad. And I begged and begged and begged, and he finally came over. And he worked on the squad for a number of years and he became a boss, came the captain of Rescue one, and then just retired as a chief.

Matter of fact, we're all back in New York. Two weeks ago, thirteen of us were back in New York a Rangers game and we watched the Warriors beat the Knicks and went to scorely's uh farh's number of bars out. You have another reason to come back to New York because we do a boat ride in August. We have a fireboat that we that we get we go around the Statue of Liberty with all our past guests of the year. So now whoa, I'm here. There you go, bro, New York.

She's in the East village. Well, and you go stay with her and you can come second see the first second weekend of August. We have a boat, fireboat, an old fire but we go around. Yes, love to do that. It's a great, great time, man, great time. Yeah. And like this guy's at Station seven. Man. There were some great firemen. Man, they were there. This one guy in the engine, John Dobsinsky. He's kind of weird of the total weirdo dude,

but he was one of the toughest firemen I've ever seen. You couldn't get a line from him. Man, He's so quick off the back tailboard and you couldn't take a line from him. We come back from fire one day and we're all dirty, we're taking our off and he reaches in. He pulls out this big bag, plastic bag with a pull string on it. I go, what's that for? He goes, Hey, if I can't get out of that building, I'm putting that bag over my head there on

my Daddy's great. I looked at him. I know you were a weirdo dude. Really now confirmed you're a fucking wind on mansky man. Yeah, But there was guys like Frank, arbon Roney, Jerry have just great guys that you know, took us young kids under our wings and taught us under

their wings and taught us the job. Man. This isn't that funny that no matter where you go, not even in the country, in the world, there's the same group of different Like we have a shirt that's the same circus, different clowns, but all the same group of fucking guys in every fire department. Right, you got the same type of guys in every fire department and they all kind of congregate together. Thirteen guys back in New York City ripping it up in your town. Man, it was great. Yeah.

So this guy right here, Gary Tushima, like I told you, Franks took me under his wing, Andrew. And this man right here was a fireman's fireman, Gary Tushima. He spent years on the squad and like I said, he took me under his wing to fire. He's been packed out more fires than I have. I've been taken out of a couple of fires. That man falls to the wall and fires. And like I told you earlier, when I got up to the squad in eighty five, there was no rescue training man, no three to one, five to one,

no exit, first cliff rescue. It was a five to one mechanical of vanas what does that mean? So they pulled the old Manila hemp rope out. The guy did a guys lower him down, pick off. Now you five guys pull right, yeah, five to one? Yeah you need bro Yeah yeah. So there was really when I got there. I mean, we got to a lot of fires and they were firemen. You know that rescue whole rescue world with technical rescue that I got into. It wasn't happening

yet. Has Matt with Gary Tishma. We get a call up to UCSF one night for a leak. So we show up on the rescue squad. The heroes are here, will take care of it. I don't know what I'm doing. And this room is just white, just clouds. He goes, all right, get you grab your scotch. We got our turnouts on and he grabs this jar of vasolene. He what's up? And he scoops it and he starts spreading all over my neck and over my back. What

are you doing? He goes, We're gonna part your net. Kid, put a scott on and with all this vasolene to protect you from what I don't know. Hold on coat tails and this guy didn't even see him. It was all white, but he knew where to go and how to plug that leak up. And there till today. I might die someday from this ship. I don't know. Who was the kind of guy that you would

just follow and do anything with me? You know? And you guys, is just so blessed and so fortunate to work with these men that you know, and and hopefully be able to pass some of the stuff that I learned, not from these guys onto the newer kids. So who doesn't I think stupid? So we got has Matt one is that engine thirty six and they do the has mat. So when I was running the special ops for two years, we got some federal funding and we put all the we put all

of our rectie squads, made him has Mat specialist. A lot of guys weren't really happy with me man, because it was six weeks of training they all had to go through. They got paid, they gotta, but it certainly bolstered our has some material responses. Before you only have four guys. An officer of three guys was your haz math Now they had eight more guys

on duty every day, and then we started doing the rescue training. I mean, chief, you're you're you're in training there, so I mean rescue systems one systems, two CS one cs c S two ZB numbers they give them all now. But you know, we were really up the game for the San Francisco fire, but especially our rescue squad. They all were hazmat text. They were all all divers, open water divers, black mass divers, all had to be searched, trench qualified, you know, high angle

qualified. So we spent a lot of time doing that. So pretty police the way things kind of worked out for all that there you go, Yeah, do you know Raydda? I know Ray Dido. I bought a wedding ring from Raydido actually my my first marriage, many many many years ago. My mistake. Hoops, I'm continuing on. Yeah, he worked the station one. You know, keep Nicole, keep Nicolelo sent me a text he was asking if you know him. He's a good friend of us. He's

thirty truck one. There's two butters, there's Ray and Ray Dido. And he had a brother in department. Also, there's two brothers. Listen, you only married twice, right, this is the second time. I love my wife. Yes. Some guys are on three, some guys are on the third. It happens, you know what I mean. You know, I gave away a house and a pension. I gave away two houses. It's okay, bro, Yeah, thanks you what happens? So that Bronzo says, you know when I went to he's keeping me in line here because

I just did. Oh no, I wasn't. I was putting a keV question. This guy's no, not this guy. Where's the other guy? This guy's been asking the question. Hold, yeah, well, sir, answer answer the forum. Ask him about cistern systems. They have it there in San Francisco. I don't know know who systems are. They are cylinders tanks in the middle of an intersection, and you could tell by the marketing on the hydrant and then the bricks, big round bricks in the middle of

an intersection, and it's full of water. So in the event that we're our hydrants are out of service, like in Loma Prieta. You know, I was. I worked two days down on Loma Creator after that earthquake there because thirty eight was right on top of that. So cisterns are just big vats, concrete vats in the middle of an intersection where we could pump water out of if need be there. You go, absolutelyful. Yeah, let's talk about the earthquake. I want to talk about that. Yeah. Well,

I was working at thirty eight. That was October thirteenth, nineteen eighty nine. October seventeenth, eighty nine. I wasn't working that day. I was getting ready for the ball game. Giants were playing the A's and at my house I had a little barbecue set up. My neighbors all were getting ready to go to the party. It's all great, and boom the earthquake kit Man, and it was big. I'm twenty miles off of the down

out of San Francisco, and I watched telephone poles just do this. You knew what it was though right away, like this an earthquake and her car is bouncing up. Okay, yeah, just oh. So once everything got squared away home, I'm going to work. I went up there areas hat but went up there, grabbed my gear and went down to the marina and that fire burning on the visitor. Oh thank god, there was no wind that day, we would have lost the whole city. The hydrants were broken,

the water mats were broken, so there's no water. And if you ever look back to those to the pictures from Loma Prieta, that fire was just burning straight up in the evening like this. We're typically always off that bay. We got a big, strong wind coming into the city. But whatever reason, that night it didn't. Otherwise we would have lost blocks rather than just one block. So we went down there and again there was no

rescue training, no shoring, building shoring. If you look at if you look at the some of the there's two by fours and four by fours, you know, just propped up holding the buildings for tipping over. I remember one of the weirdest things. I mean, we went to a building and no search markings. We none of us had training back in eighty nine search markings like we do now for FEMA or regional teams. And I remember looking at this building, what's really weird. Why is the fire escape on the

ground, Well, that soft story just collapsed. And now the fire escape that was on the second floor on the street. The buildings were all racked, you know. And again we've come a long way since then in our search and whatnot. But I spent two days. Now there Jerry Shannon, you probably know that name. He he was a hero of the whole thing. He stayed like, I don't know, eighteen so I don't know what a long long time with this lady. Well, they cut her out.

We weren't part of that rescue, but Jerry Shannon work held her hand through all this and got her out and they remain friends until today. There you go, Man's that's what I'm talking about. Wow. And it was like block on block on block, and again, you know, we just went through every house looking for people and trying to find void spaces. And again this is before any of us had really any type of specialized rescue training.

I went to my first rescue training in like February of nineteen ninety, a couple months after the love preated earthquake. And then I continued on because then I got into the rescue world. I totally dug it and that's what I did the rest of my career. But yeah, it was pretty well waiting for the next one that we're way overdue. Oh man, I don't sell you. How long did it take to the city to get back on its feet after that, like normal. It was a while because it was devastated

throughout the city. Man, they lost they lost a couple of people on Bloxom Street across from eight eight Truck eight Engine Station eight because a lot of brick facades and all the brick facades came down and fell along people. It was it was quite a while before the city got up there. I think of Earth quick. I think of the highway, right, I think of the bridge that collapsed, and I think of the highway that pancake down on itself, right that the Nimmu's Highway there, nimm It's Freeway. And I

had buddies working over as medics in Oakland and they go. It was gruesome, man, because they were in there and they bought specialized guys and they do extrications and actually had to cut people out out of the car. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. And it was Buck Helms is a guy who lived like he was under there for days and they finally pulled buck Helms out. I mean that was a big there watching the rescue trying to cut them out. But he was in there for I don't know, five six,

seven, eight days. I don't remember that number was. He finally died his subscrub to to his injuries, but they pulled him out. I remember him waving coming out of the stove, stretching. Yeah, I remember that. I remember that. Yeah, the cypress man. Yeah wow. And then the Bay Bridge, the Bay Bridge took a dump. He actually scored the car go off right thea that the car was just hanging on there. So we got to go up there and play on the bridge after this

was all going on. So because the bridgers out of service, and that's how we made kind of or anyway with the bridge guys, and so we used that bridge many times for our high angle work over there. But yeah, that little more creating that was there for two days and it was did did any firehouses get red? So? But you know what, family members came into station thirty eight and cooked because everybody was coming in off. Dude,

everybody was working. And I remember there was wives and kids and whatnot at our fire I was thirty eight cooking and taking care of stuff for us. Yeah yeah, I know pretty well. Yeah right, So you know it's like and a little kind of funny story and the rest again, we had zero training all right. So I'm doing water rescue. Now here's a what suit kid, and I go out for my first open water rescue and I swim out. I got a Peterson bowie with me and I'm swimming out.

I'm gonna save this guy's life. I swim up to him, no training, and what does the guy do? Boy, he never expected to get socked in the face once. That dude so hard man, So I finally got it. So ever since I got miss Booey and swam back in. But ever since then, I always took two booies out, one for him and one for you. Super great swim man. I spink a lot, you know. But yeah, and then I do. Have you ever heard of the Mitchell brothers. The Mitchell brothers had an adult what is the

word I'm looking for or a cabaret, did the adult videos. They did adult club, adult club you so. So Jimmy Mitchell and Artie Mitchell were at the beach with their kids. The kids get in trouble out there, so the two old porn star guys and there weren't porns, I just man everything. They go out there, then they get in trouble, so we show up. I pulled in Artie Mitchell and another guy gets Jimmy Mitchell in. We take him to the hospital and they were so thankful we saved their

lives. Their kids all got in. They put a shrine in this in this adult club to rescue squad too. Oh, I mean huge, huge, as soon as you walk in, you pay your thirty bucks to get it. How do I know? How did you know it's in there? Bro? Well? That that's really young. Pictures of those guys man Aarty already killed Jim already killed his brother. No, already killed his brother, shot his brother. Yeah, they there were no so dysfunctional man that the

whole thing. But I came friends with already as we downer and hangout, and they put this whole glass shrine and then every year they donated ten thousand dollars to our water rescue team for training that I could have used. There's somebody that's good. Hey, Gods with the picture of the guy with the legs underneath the van, what was that? I saw? Those That was some of the training that he did in different That was just a training thing

down at NASA. Because we did we did, I mean I worked with a bunch of great guys and down in NASA, they have the Ames Dart Team down there. Every year we would put on six six days of super intense training from Guy Minnesota all over all over the United States, Canada. We had guys come up from Brazil. Firefighter from Brazilia come up and and do this type of training and and then we got invited down to train with these guys. So this is the military down there, and the firefighters are

part of the military. So myself, Tom Wish, Arthur Belton, and my good buddy on the East Coast. So with you guys, oh Tom Billy, We've been down there five six times. Maybe they don't pay us, they flew us down, they put up up with ship hotels, but we got to work with. This is their this is their special ops team right there. And then they have firefighters that are all carry guns. Imagine that all the firemen in Brazil carry guns guns. Yeah, I love it.

Yeah, We're going out to lunch and they all got automatic weapons down there back. Oh, I love it. Go to Super Bowls for the meal. Can you imagine going We're sitting there and having you know, their all their meat, meat dinners and whatnot, all got their empty fives or whatever they got on the man, you're crazy. Yeah, well we got to go down there five or six times and work with them down there and

again passing on a little bit of knowledge or whatever down there. So having fun, drink and you've got you were more or less instrumental in bringing all the training to the rescues. I was. I did. I did a lot of that, you know, because I see because I got into the rescue world and I saw what was happening outside of San Francisco a lot of times San Francisco in this bubble and don't bother us, you know what I mean. Once I got started training back in nineteen ninety when I took my

first class, this kid, Jerry Coleman from San Jose Fire. He took me under his wing and really taught me the ropes. And then I started taking classes and training, and I've been training. I've been instructors since nineteen ninety four, doing all the different disciplines. We started a company in two thousand and eight, right after nine to eleven, you know, all that federal money started coming into departments to start training up and whatnot. And then

so we were doing at Treasure Island our training facility. We were doing two classes a week, like a confined space, the systems one, Systems two whatever. It was for like six or seven years, and then all of a sudden, the federal dollars stopped and the department, I go, we got to keep training. We don't have any money. So there was five of us. We started a company, Norcow Rescue Training, and we just took over with the department stop and we've been I sold. We sold the

company in twenty and eighteen. But I'm an employee. I just show up on Monday morning. Hey boss, what do you want me to do? But I love training, and I love being able to work with these young kids. And most of these kids that come and take these classes, they're motivated, they want to learn. You know, they're expensive classes. Some guys pay on their own, some guys, you know, federal dollars pay for it. But it's nice working with firefighters who want to learn. Because

I did. We did a ton of training for the department. Like I said, every month we did two one week's classes, and some guys just didn't want to be There was a pain in the ass. This is some highline telfer type shit. We're doing here one of those things. So, yeah, kick, What did you think about that guy in uh in what was it Louisville? Or he went off the bridge? That was good?

What was that? Remind me? That was just the last week. The tractor tra tyler was hanging off the bridge and they set up a high point. I guess it looked like I don't know if it was a towel ladder, maybe guns knows more. The truck was hanging off the bridge like this, and the the cab of the truck was hanging and the guy was still in the cab. Yeah, yeah, yeah, girl a woman, okay, you got you gotta check it out. It was uh, it was pretty incredible. Guys. How did they set up? Did they set up

with a crane the high point? What did they do? M I think they put it. I think they tied off to the bridge, But I'm gonna find out for sure how they did it. The only picture I have is I'm gonna pull one up for you. Yes, because it looked like they they didn't. I don't think they had. Yeah, because the high point they had to put out over they used the Yeah, they use the area like look at it now. I got a little short video that they're

plane. Yeah, they extended the the aerial and then they were piled down from the area. Oh so they weren't even touching the trucks, just aer all up and coming down. They get the lady out of the cab and pull it up. Yeah, they pulled it. It was it was a stroke the Yeah there is work man, Yeah doing it. So do you still do the training I do I do for you? He's still in it. Yeah, you know what. I enjoy it. You know, I get to work with guys the firement from all over the Bay Area because now

the company's expanded, so they're all rescue cats. And then we again get to pass that information onto these young kids. And that's what I really think about you asked me. We'll talk later on about thought of the day or whatever. But our job is so perishable, you know. I mean there's not as many fires as you go to. And you guys in technical rescue, I mean truly there are a few and far between full on technical rescues.

You know, you got to practice every day in some discipline, so you're so you're ready to say you have to be so proficient because when that day comes, Bro. There is no stucond guessing, There is no fumblings. No, yes, oh there you go. Oh that's badass. Yeah, you want to beat in that line, man, that's a rescue of rescues right there. Man, you trained for ship like this all the time and it just came in. This was this. They did it. They did a good job. But that guy, that guy in and the line,

that's the easy part. It's the other guys on the backside that they're doing all the work. The guy who came up with that plan of how to get the hide and the regular that's the guy. Yeah. It looks like a shared system that they're running right there is what it looks like. Yeah, so they got probably some friction device PD or theyre using a clutch. Clutch is a new way to go with the bro. That's it. You guys remember the old r p ms. Yeah, RPMs we were teaching.

I have one old time guy, that's what he likes to teacher, trying to get him up to the new wave of stuff. Great guy, he's too small for his own good looking at our gam What is this thing? Man? It's like, so when you go on the rescue squad in San Francisco. They'll take you and they'll send you for the training. No. So now, now what it is is you have to have your classes. So you have to have five years on the job even to apply. You have to experience even to apply for a rescue. And then you have

to be a diver. You got to be an EMT. We say, all are you have to have your confined space training. You have to be a hasthmat specialist. So they they provide you have to have those certifications when you apply to become a you got to get them on your own. Then you got to get them on your own. Sometimes the departments provide those because through the federal dollars that happens, you know, but it's all on you

when you put your request in to go to that squad. You have to have that whole list of things, and they provide the ongoing training certainly after you get on the sit. That's a that's a big commitment that you know, those guys really want to be there. They coming in there with those certifications already. Man, the only place to be brother. It's a great because we were hands off the chiefs. We pull up to a fire, you know most Engine three reporting in cheap. When I showed what, they

put the fire out. Tell me what's happening. Yeah, usually I'm gonna buy like that. Oh yeah, Chief got it, got the you know what, and I got to work with the greatest kids to rescue too. Man, they're just still today. It's happening today for both squads. See if you had you had a couple other fires there that you had listed on. I saw your timeline. What was uh one of them, I'll tell you about. I'll tell you about one of them. That the the L Cappy Tan Hotel. That was the one. Yeah, the L Cappy Tan,

Tom Shirk Goosey with Division Chief that night. Uh, it was a warmth. It was. It was Saint Patrick's night. We're in the back, remember the Station seven were playing cards, smoking cigars and then uh that right there is cap Street fire. That okay, but the the let's go back. I'll let's talk about that one right there, the Captain, the scary one. I'll tell you, bro I have been that was like that. When we pulled up. I had been to a lot of fires,

and by far, this was the hottest fire I've ever been into. And it was wide open, three stories going up, kind of Romeo type thing. And the arsonist he he put mattresses in the hallways and down the stairs and then doused them with gasoline. So this this video was taken by neighbors across the street. You can see how it's rolling. It took it and the front door is down on the bottom here. So me and my partner, I sput the squad. I said, two guys in the back,

we're going to go through the front. And I get to the front door and the front door looked like that on the top right there. This is going to take. So I looked back. The injured company pulled up and they were having a little bit of trouble deploying that their ready line. So me and my squad partner we pulled a ready line up and had to douse the first floor in order to get to the second floor and then to the third floor, which is totally burnt away. But I timed this. I

never seen this video until two days ago. Tom Sarah Goosa sent it to me, And I mean five or six or third degree burns. We got burnt like shit. Man, our legs, our back of our legs, my hand, I got thirty degree burns I got I got a seven hundred dollars Calosia fine for not wearing the right gloves at that fire and the vesseline didn't help here then huh right here? Oh yeah, but yeah, so that so what As soon as I showed up, we were the first riks

on. This was a block of two blocks from the firehouse at three o'clock in the morning. And that's the way it looked. When we showed up. Man lady jumped out of the just like boom. I looked in at the lady laying right there. The medics were right behind us, so they took care of her. We made our way up. It took a set

and I timed it on here. It was seven minutes from the time the engine showed up until we had water pumping out the front window, out of that window right there, and it was like a tiazzo concrete floors and stairs that were just so hot from the gasoline and the mattresses. When the crews behind us were spraying water and we were first up those stairs, all that steam came up. The crew behind us got all burnt their legs, their knees right above, right above their their turnout boots. That was a hot

two people dyed. We actually kind of grotesque, but we crawled over. Didn't know there were bodies. I mean they were just kind of they were melting on the floor right there. So but my buddies on the back of there's a lot of good rescues that night made. Unfortunately three people were in that fire, but it's gonna Yeah. That was a pretty good window. You could see you could see the line coming through the windows. And I timed it, I want, because when you're in the fire, you don't

know, you know, time just kind of stand still. So I really, yeah, seven minutes up to to get water out that front window there. Yeah, we're eight fifty five. Yeah, that's pretty good. Yeah, that was a burner, bro That was a good one. And the other one I was going to tell you about was the L Capy Tan fire. And it was an old hotel on Mission Street. We're in the backyard playing cards at night and I was say, smell that something burning. I was saying, box, you know, boom. We pull up and L

Capy Tan is on fire. So the address is on Mission Street and and we're coming up behind the building. I see the back flying. We pull into the parking lot and there's a guy hanging out of the third floor and who should I'm doing this? Stop stop, stop stop, We'll get you, you know. And there's smoke all around. And for whatever reason, that day, I had a proby on the rig, you know, rarely, rarely, rarely, I think somebody's not assigned. But I had a

prob with me that day. And it was a wild ride. So and I always pride to myself and knowing where I'm at in the building, right turn left, turn right, turn and get out, you know. So we go down. I got this kid with me, and that's black and it's shitty as hell. So we go into the room, get in there, and the guy's out the window. We go, okay, we're gonna take him out. You know, we're gonna drag him through that smoke. We're gonna get him out. We get him, go back to the door

and the door's closed. I don't know where the door's at, and the guy is choking. So he dragged him back across the room, put his head out the window, and I tell the probe he stay with him right here. I'll find the door. We have one little spring hinges on it. So we went in and closed the hinge, you know. So, okay, go back. Where's the guy? Now he's on the ground, passed out, all right, So now we're dragging in the hallway. I got the proby on my back. We're dragging out and okay, turn,

we're out of here. All of a sudden in a wall. Oh no, uh no, there was never a wall here, dude. And I'm thinking to myself, where the hell am I don't taking my mind, you know. And this guy he's half naked because we're dragging him. It was an old theater and they had those pins that melted and closed the door. The lead the lead, the lead fuser or whatever they used to call out right, so it was boom. So now I got brought me on my back, dragging this cat with us. Man if he's you know, now,

he's not coughing much anymore. Find our way to another door. I hit the panic door and eleven truck is trying to get through. It's a big steel door. They go what and all the smoke piles out and we pulled the guy out and he wasn't breathing, so he asked mem about doing mouth them out, So then I felt responsible. I should have just pushed the guy out the window or let him jump. He might have broken an

arm or broken and now I killed the guy. So he did mouth the mouth on this balcony and met it come up and I'm looking at this guy and he looks just like my dad. I'm looking my dad. He looked just like my dad. I'm doing mouth them out and he lived. The guy the I was in back in the hospital. But that was that was a pretty just knowing where you're at. You knew when you get those fires man, you know, make a right, make a right, make a right, make left, make a left, get out of there. But

all of a sudden something different. So anyway, that's a hairy job. Yeah, So let me tell you some of our finest rescues were hawk rings. What I've had a couple of those. You had a couple of those. We quite a few of the San Francisco bro you know, it looks like an all shapes and sizes. One of the best was a three quarter

inch plumber's elbow. There was laws right in the middle, so depending which way you looked, it made a hard ride or all hard lid and Jerry Coughlin was on the squads of that day and he goes looks like a red delicious. We're in an operating room and doctor, please keep the jokes down. Guys walk We walk in the nurses holding the head of his penis and the doctor's got to hacks up relaxed. We get the drum all too while, but they call us. You know, we got a call one day,

they called the firehouse fort Hey. We got a ring. It's a it's a plate. It's a workout plate. And my first question is is it a standard or Olympic plate? It was just crazy, man, so many of those stupid I was trying to find it. Well, here I go on to my wallet, hop home cock ring and that what it's said on rescue patch rescue to hold the cock ring? Did the Afford method. We had a guy right up this whole scenario. How to remove you know,

you get the dicktor pressor and somebody's got to handle the luggage. So you and your man, you're luggage, got the luggage program, you're the luggage man. So what's the other pictures? What's the other pictures? We got down though? Do we have all the fires on it, I think folloween from the so you know what I threw that in there show you got

you notice those aerial ladders are just going up. This was Halloween Nights sixteenth and Sharon I was on Engine seven that they worked with Jack Skidmore and another classmate of mine, Stevie Farat. Yeah, we show up and this thing is just blowing like this from the get go. You know, these old wooden buildings down there, they're like match boxes there. So that that was

a pretty good fire that night. And luckily there was a a grocery store down below with a lot of waters and cokes and sodas down there, so we got Thursday. After fighting that far we fresh ourselves down. One of those looked like typical San Francisco buildings. What are those cold? Just just wood frame type five. You know, that's a three story over over a four story total over a store down there. When these get going, man, they're all so close together, you know, I mean we've lost blocks.

I mean, we do a pretty good I think we do a pretty good job of stopping those. But when you show up and it's going like this, all right, a lot of pipes maybe who knows, Yeah, but you know that was that was a pretty And the other picture I showed you there was the furniture mark. It was like top four fire and and and again it was just another one of those fifth along fires we went to. But I marked thing too. Yeah it was on that one. Yeah

yeah, I mean that's not a really great picture of the fire. But I was telling a gonzo or no cubes we uh, me and the officer from station third six. We got a forty five minute time out at this fire by the Chief of Department and deputy chief because we were on the fire escape and we got a ladder. I mean, we got a bundle, two bundles. We're hooked up to the wide down below, and we're going

to go in or we're putting this fire out. And they're screaming at us on the radio cruise on the fire escape, Evacuate, get out, get out, get out. I look at him, We're gonna go and put this fire out. Man. So he reaches oms and he turns my radio off. We turned our radios off. We're going in, we're putting this fire. We're not listening to anybody. Stupid, stupid. Next thing I know, I get this flushing blow on my back. It was. It was one of the one of the battalion chiefs smashing me to the ground.

Come on, kid, you guys are all getting at her. So we had to sit there and time out. So yeah, in the corner. Yeah, we didn't poke them all. You look very scary in that fuck him where? Oh yeah, I know. Yeah, man, that's creepy. We gotta throw back photo. That's what I started working at. That's cy Cursey pee wee in the chat just sent this to us. Thanks. Yeah, that's the one of the rigs you guys were talking about earlier. Pei. That's Nelly Bell. They called that Nelly Bell. Was a V

twelve rig. Fast man, that rig double cluestion, that thing, man, nothing flew. I was a rescue rig, was it? There was a rescue rig. Yeah, yeah, we're going to go down the street waving the moms and little kids. Hey fireman. Yeah, now that's that's that's old school, were you and uh, there's Rescue two in the district where all those hills are in San Francisco, your hills everywhere? Y How

was that? Yeah? Well rescue too before it moved down. So Rescue two was up on the top of the hill over the marina where the earthquake was. Then in ninety three they moved the squad back down to Station seven. So I love seven. I went back home. So in ninety three the squad came back to seven. I went back there, and I stayed there until two thousand and eight, from ninety three to two thousand and eight, until I got a point of count chief. They were down there.

So we talked about this before. So you were the fireman there and then he became you got promoted lieutenant, and you got back there as lieutenant. Right, I got back as lieutenant. Yeah, how many years you worked there as lieutenant? Then oh, probably five or six years, then four years as a captain or eight years of the captain, four years of lieutenant, and then eight years of the captain. And I'll tell you a real quick story. I'm not a truckman by any means. I got a point

in lieutenant, and I get my assignments. I'm going to engine one great twenty five to thirty calls a day, got it. Then my next shift is the fireboat as the fireboat, and then my third watch is the truck eight. I walk in the truck eight. There's five guys on that rig with one hundred and thirty five years of experience. Hi, guys, what

can I do for you today? Tell me what you guys, There's no way I'm Boston these cats around and it was a very humbling experience, you know, because I've and I told guys, you know, you've got to be proficient across the board. And I certainly am not a great truck person by any any extent of the word. Because you see those hills and you know, working in the mission history, working in in the Noe Valley, they're throwing thirty five foot wooden ladders three hundred sixty five pounds on a hill

to these peak victorians. You know, if you're a truckman or an officer's skillman. Yeah, it's like art, dude, you know, it's it's just it's amazing watching some of these men, how they operate. And women too. We got a lot of chicks in the apartment now, so I'm kind of why do they refuse to go to uh why did they stay with the wooden lines history or what's the history? I gress? Yeah, yeah, we've burnt a lot of those up men. I've seen a lot of

pull that out of that window. It's smoking right now. Yeah, so when when you how do you get the call to come back to rescue too? Then as a lieutenant, like what happens? Oh, I did for it. So I went out and I did my six months, you know, at engine one, fireboat one, and then at truck truck eight. Just hello, you guys, gotta bless you guys, take care of me. And then they had the next vacancy list and I put in and I made it. You know. It was like the stars and the moons were

all lined up. And I got back on the squad. I worked there, I took the captain's test, I got promoted once again. Everything was lined up, you know, and everything's lining up for this guy a lot. I don't know that. Sometimes you know, very lucky, when very very lucky, when you're good, you're good. I every day I thank God for my career. One that I didn't die to It didn't kill anybody,

you know what I mean. So it's well, you almost did the guy that you dragged out, you know, push out the window, man out the window. Brother, They away from the light, little body. Yeah, so you're in a perfect spot. You're a capital rescue too. Why do you study to become chief? What do you think? Why you know? I don't know, man, I you know what I talk. I hate chiefs and I worked some of the greatest chiefs in the world. And guys, go, aren't you a chief? I hate myself? Okay,

I went. I went from the greatest group of guys that do their ship and you know, we get to a fire or to a rescue. Very few words were spoken because we trained with so many fires. And then I became a battalion chief and I'm babysitting five companies and these guys are you know? You know so? But I don't know. It was the best years on the rescue squad man. And there's guys Adam Wood. I mentioned his name. He's just retiring right now as a firefighter with twenty eight years

on rescue squad too. Did some fires, bro Oh yeah, yeah, guys go to the squad. They don't leave, manunless you get promoted. It's the greatest job, is I would or city wide? I could go anywhere. Do any of they want in the city, do anything you want, just show up when they call you. Well, I think William flowery keeps turning down, Chief, Captain rescue too down, Chief, it's good for retirement. I guess. I don't know. At some point you did all the work to study, you got to take it. At some point

you know, well, you know what, don't study? There you go. I never had a prob. I never had one prob because I was on the squad my whole life, my whole career, and programs except that one day they don't get a signed prob's and guys on the squad. I never did a report in my career. If you did a medical, the paramedics did it. If we went out, a chief did it. So I never did a report. Very rarely did I have to fill about what's

so funny about that Louis was supposed to do. Yeah. So when it game time for the report writing section and the battalion chief's death, I was lost. Man, I'm going to my buddies, Hey, what about this? Never get a report? And then when I got appointed, I had an operator and he did the reports. So I was a slug dude. He stood. You live in the dream pretty much. Very blessed. Once

again, I'll tell you, very very freaking bless man. Yeah, working the day there was two line of duty June June second, twenty eleven. We worked for the two line of duty deaths. Oh yeah, yeah, No, I wasn't working that day. That was Benny Perez and Tony Balio. Yeah. They were in a up in our Diamond Heights area and the houses are big and they go down the big side of a hill and they were inside and the fire blew up and just came up the back of the

building and and very sad. Yeah, Tony Balerio and uh and we called him the creature ben to Perez. He was at seventh for a long time. Everybody's got a nickname in them, you know how it is. Everybody's got nick Yeah, I got got rest their souls man. Yeah, Tony Sarah Guza, I'm Tom sorry. In the chat says it was his job. That's that duty. And he was instrumental to my brother pass too. Totally instrumental and very helpful. He's a good guy. I like that,

Sarah. Guy. His name is Tom. Try to answering you questions. Best time in your Korea sitting around the dinner table, yucking it up, the best where what point in your career at rescue as a firefighter, lieutenant of captain, I got it. I totally enjoyed my job as a firefighter. You know what I mean, just you just you just did your job, got to go to a lot of fires. I really enjoyed beat the captain of the squad because I had time in and trying to help these newer

firefighters. Instilled the importance of training, Instill the importance of loving your job. I tell you that you got to be Those who are good firefighters are passionate about their job. We get today it's generational. The kids are coming in now, it's different. You know. It's passion that makes you a good fire fighter's passion that makes you a good a good officer. And those

guys who have it are good firefighters and good officers. And so you know what, being the captain for eight years, you know I got to run the show, if you will. But again, I always talk to my crew, what do you guys want to do today? What do you want to train them? What do you guys need to do today? Take care of your crew, you know? And yeah, that's really and here's another question for you. Who does more work rescue? Want to rescue? Too

well. Rescue one used to get a lot of work before those guys in fire prevention and inspection put all the sprinklers. Downtown Rescue Squad two does all the fires. Okay, Gardner, if you're listening. Next Capital Rescue one, they call us the other squad. Well, the other squad got all the fire because we're in the mission district burning, still burning today, and we go out to Hunter's Point, we go into the poor section out to

Visitation Valley. Older homes out there would frame home. So right now, Rescue two heads and heels over. Rescue one for fires, for sure. But in the old days, back to the sixties, seventies, early eighties, maybe they got a lot of fires until they started ret retrofitting all the downtown tenements with sprinklers, which fire prevention I hate them, man, I mean, along these fires, it was just amazing. Sunday morning seemed like a good day for fire. Sunday morning, eight am in the morning,

the Concordion vans sift alarm cross the street. Another Sunday morning, eight am, Jack Tar Hotel completely five alarm fires. But you know, and many, many many of those down in the tenderline. But once they sprinkler rooming contents at best, you know, all got out in the hallway a little bit, okay, not like those far as you see how at that Marvel Hotel and that was one of the first big ones that I see and my

eyes were like, whoa. There's another question if you could do anything over in your career, if you could, not saying that you would, what would you do over? I don't know, you know what, I don't think I would really do anything different. I feel so lucky and so blessed in my the way my career went. I mean, like I said, I didn't know what this rescue squad crap was until I walked into with my EMT certificate to the Deputy Chief Rescue. I want to go back to Engine

seven. That's where I love working. No, I don't think I would change anything. Man. You know, I got to tell you, when you talk about fighters in the fire service, you light your whole face lights up. Bro. You're like, is it very flushed? Its high? You know I've been high before, but this is the greatest. It is no adrenaline rush. It's just the absolutely like me of who was the chief from Chicago not too long ago? Was that mo Yeah, another guy,

that guy. Yeah, you could tell those guys are just crazy because you love love love job. And you know, it's like when I learned, these guys took me and I shipped myself many times. Man, what are we doing here? You know? Talk about hang on kid? Yeah? It was hang on kid, you know, And that's how you learn, you know. And and I wouldn't change anything. I'm very blessed, very lucky. What does this say, Tony? What does that say? The question I got modest? Sorry I got Tony. Were you on the rescue

when they had the American La France rig? Are here? People always ship talking of alf No? They were my favorite looking rigs. Yeah, I think if I remember correctly, they were the old open cab rigs, the old Americans of France. And the driver and the officer in the cab in front, and then we're on the back, standing on the back. And in those days we never wore seatbelts. You know, we'd be on the on a fire rage and five or six are on the truck. You know,

nobody had seatbelts. A you go around corner, guys are kind of off the rig. They're going around the corner. Yeah, they were all there. They were pretty cool. Old race. They had the old Ward LaFrance, the American La France. Yeah, I have let me see. This is what I have. I got another courtesy of Pee Wee again. He's zombie name tonight pro hooking me up. This is what he said. So that that is one of the original rescue squads right there. So the

first one you showed was Nelly Bell, the very first one. That's that's a museum each night now. But this is where I worked on for years right here, Yeah, okay, And we stood on the back of Hey, where do you guys? Where do you guys standing there? Right in the back? It's open in the back. They get the little covers right here. We had a great view of the city and you could tell us because the officer and the driver in the front. But we got a three

sixty up on top and if we see that working. Yeah, spent many, many, many many watches on that ridge. Wrap on the window guns. We have headsets so everybody could look forward. So it's kind of like, hey, yeah, we have the David Cluk headsets. So it was just better than wrapping on the window job. That's those those days. Unfortunately, question as a lieutenant, did you ever do that? You guys are

bringing back great memories there it is right there. That's at Station thirty eight, right there, man, Yeah, yeah, that's when it was up in the Marina. Look at that old Pieza. What's crazy. That's a good old GMC, hard working truck right there, but a lot of fires on that rig and you could see look at how my space there's not much room for equipment. Okayly zero equipment like they carry on the squad today. I tell you we were pretty bare bones for sure. But you know what,

the old cats got the job done. Three to one or five to one. I don't know what we're pulling. How many guys are on that line? Done? Man? This is great with the three cord of tweet, yea turns on a dying man. Not so much the windows of room. What's that? I did? You did? I did a few times? Yeah, good for you? Did? I still do that in San Francisco, bang on the window and is a job oh on the top.

Well in the old days, yeah, because on the wards and the American of Francis, we all stood up on the back over the cab and the officer and driver on there, so it would be banging on there. They knew. Hey, we could see the smoke boom. Everybody's get all pumped up. Cool, great metories. Man. I want to go back to work one day and catch a fire. I am so ready, doesn't everybody? Bro? You know it? You got it. Let me ask you a question. When you're retired, did you ever have the dream that you

got to run you couldn't find your bunk gear? No, a lot of five and have that dream, dude. I can't tell you how many retired guys I talked to say they have the same dream. The back of the fire house. They get a run, but they can't find me a gear. It's going your boxers. It's all good, bro, We're good. I'm here. Yeah. Yeah. No. If my body wasn't so beat up, I would think about it, man, but I would I would just absolutely crave going into another fire. What ye, you're retired? Chief

for you did you retire? I retired in twenty twelve, twenty two years in. I retired the same day I started. I started on December tenth. I retired on December tenth. That's funny. I started on October fifteenth, I Talktoba fifteen. How many years did you do? I only didn't almost nineteen two nights? Not enough. I don't know, I know, I mean I missed the heck out of the job. What I miss is going to fires and the dinner table everything else. Ruffy, what did you

do? Thirty twenty seven? Twenty seven, twenty seven? I was thinking about trucks and squads having different colored helmets. Is that's it they do? Yeah? The truckmen are red and white and the squads are black and white, and then the injury guys are all black. Oh shit, I didn't know that. Yeah, hold on, hold on one second, hold on one hurry up, back he scroob. I'm down to five percent. So I'm just gonna run it out. This is this is my dad's helmet right

here. Man. Oh yeah, hold on a minute. Oh man, I'll show your mind, contest. The back is all rotted out. We know you're sticking out. We know a guy that could fix that. Hey see, perfect, Let's see what you got. Bumps? Oh god, you man, you have too many. That was great. I should have did that, my head. We still good times, good times, all right? I think it might be that time. My face are left stop. I'm not being that time, dons. I think it is that time.

What time is it? I think it's time for thirty nine. I'm watching the clock like old school tip of the day of the day, day day. All right. I don't know how much of an old school chip this really is, but it is for all the guys that are still working that will be old timers one day, or maybe old timers right now. You guys really really have to pass on the knowledge. The skills and knowledge

we have are so perishable. And if you guys don't take these new kids under your wing, if you don't teach them the art of truck work, the art of engine work, whether it's dragging a line down through a smoky hallway to see the fire. We talked about throwing a you know, a fifty foot ladder on a hill at three o'clock in the morning flames blown out of Victorian, or doing some crazy rescue like off a bridge with a truck

hanging over. You know, it won't happen. So it's up to the guys that are working right now and gals who are working right now to take the knowledge we have that you learn from the old timers and continue to pass it on. So that's my tip of the day. Excellent, amen. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to your stories and your career. You guys are awesome. Man, it's so much fun. Man. What's that? Man? Yeah? Wait for the boat ride? Well, you better get your ask.

I only hear no excuses, Sarah. You gotta show him the one picture of the so and he's going to be on the twenty ninth of Bapril. Man, I'm definitely tuning in from that. Yeah. Yeah, which which other pictures you women to share? Oh? The duck pictures? Hurry up before, dude, that's a duck hut, bro, look at that. So hey, Lou, you got an open invitation, bro, duck season October through January season season season. Yes, that's the wonder quiet.

I'm hunting weapons. What's the dog's name? Teeth? Wonder match? Yeah, right there, that is my passion. I got forty one days in a duck line this year. I'm I'm a duck hunting full and Lou, I understand, huh Yeah. I got hooked on the ducks maybe about I don't know, seven eight years ago. I go down to a friend of mine, a fireman down and he lives in Mississippi. But we go out to Arkansas. I go out in January February with him too, same thing.

It's just coops can't understand. I'm showing the videos of you know, us in the boat breaking ice and you know, he's like, what the hell are you doing so much timbers? What's that? Were you hunting in the timbers? Yeah, we had some timber timber halls, and then we go out in the fields in the afternoon. Yeah, yeah, nice. Well you've got an open invitation, brother, come on out to California to kill some California ducks. I'll do it. We'll do it. Maybe you

guys can go duck hunting. I'll hang out and do something else. How about that, I'll hang out. Yeah, I watched this ready. Oh we got one shout out tonight? Where is it? Yes, this is a buddy of a friend of mine mine who's a little under the weather wishing the best tonight. That would be Ned Jensen. He's a he's a Long Island firefighter. I sent you another pictures, you get it? I do there he is there, he is. He's the best Page firefighter out there

with the Patso brothers. I gotta tell you. I look at him and I see quick here. Oh man, he doesn't my quick see a little quicken. He looks like oh Johnny two as well. Yeah, so Ned, we wish you the best bro from the the Salty getting Salty brothers to you. I don't know how the little guy is, but he's awful cut. Yeah future mother nice dash nice, really enjoyed you. Man, We'll be looking for you. It's either the first of the second an invitation.

It comes out in an evite, comes in an evite. So I'm in. I'm in, count me in. Yes, they're push it out. Maybe you need come. You can come with him this time, so maybe I'll bring him out. He was a little scared to come, but his daughter was in New York too. I think my daughter too. Man. Yeah, there you got a part of that's a home run. You stay with me because God stays with me. I got room here. Don't worry about it. We'll put you up. I used to have the people in

here. I like random Filipinos all the time living with me, so it doesn't matter, you know. Yeah, my wife's Filipino. I got about eight of them coming in in May. So I'm used to having a lot of people, so you're more than welcome. Nice. Yeah, that's good. All right. Well, hold, we got on Monday, rough Monday. I think we still have opened. I know we got a bunch of new guys. I just got I don't know, uh on the calendar I looked, but we're here Thursday, though, we have Thursday. We have

Chris. How you pronounce Chris? Thursday? Thursday? He got on the seventies. He was actually in the picture of carrying out for the judge. He was at Telephone Company five. He was at twenty third Street collapse. He was at the First ball Trades in him on me. So, this guy's got some great stories. We have pictures. Do me a favor. We're having Vinnie Done on the show. We're doing a Q and A with

him. I got three questions, do you guys not want to ask Vinnie dun chief Done questions one of the greatest iconic guys in the f d N Y And I got three guy damn questions from you guys. So sending questions to Coubs Podcast gmail dot com. When Vinnie Dune's on in two or three weeks from now. That's where you're gonna send it. Send it all right, that's it. That's all I got. Chief, keep it up, great count in the eye, and keep killing ducks. Keep doing what you're

doing. Work man, it's awesome. Man. Can't wait to crack open a couple of you on a boat in August. We'll have a good time. We'll do a couple for sure. All right, cheer, Have you got anything rough than anything? Any shout outs? Hope you get your power back really soon. I'm gonna go work on the generator right now, only to get teen grand generak. He goes on by itself. Come on, go there it is. The light makes it look like you get a wig on with a little piece of hairstick. And I got Friday's. I got

a couple of feathers, all like guns. We'll see you guys on Monday. Until then, sturdy long ago. Oh Thursday, alright, we'll see you Thursday, whatever, Yeah, Thursday, Thursday, alright, guys, settle up. Sounds like have a good night one