GETTIN' SALTY EXPERIENCE PODCAST Ep.221 : FDNY FIRE MARSHAL MIKE O'NEILL

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, Hello, and we are back. Welcome back to the Salty Experience Podcast. It's the only one that brings the fire house kitchen table to you. We got a real kitchen table guy tonight. Bro, will you know sult to the good dude tonight? We got coming on? Bro? You know, I don't sorry you're still roff. What seems like we haven't been here for a while, Bro, you know what I means like we haven't been back here? We're back. I don't understand.

What's the that's the the handy talking when it used to run out of battery.

Oh really, that's what That's how He's kind of like leave an l off the marshall.

You know what I mean?

What Dick would do that?

Bro?

You think a chief took all those tests? Would No? I mean, come on, what are you talking about.

He's actually out there commanding people, and you don't know how to spell Marshall.

He yelled at him earlier in the day.

Rattled, who the fuck are we talking about? I don't talk about the guy who like, we've had Mike's pictures maybe for about two months, and today at about.

Two months, your your ass two months.

When Mike comes in, we'll ask him when the pictures came.

It was it was about a month and a half.

It had to be about a month. And now at three o'clock, I'm sing maybe later I'm eating dinner, it was the pictures? Did he send the pictures six o'clock?

I think it was you.

I came through his hands, a little mess.

Sometimes you gotta do what.

We got to tighten the bolts, even the chiefs, even the chiefs loosening the balls up.

I guess I don't know.

I don't know what he's doing.

I still don't know who he's talking.

You know what I mean? When you when you're constantly at the overtime openings and you're not paying attention to the show.

That was female deppointment somewhere.

Out wait yeah, wait, wait wait wait, that deserves a that deserves one of my new ones.

Yeah, that's a new one.

Actually actually got the real voice done all the time.

So all right, so everything set now for the show.

We don't have to get who the fuck knows something? I'll make something work, you know. I improvised, adapt and overcome, and that's how that's the way we go.

You got all the pictures. He didn't even have Mike. I don't have his email address.

What I'm like, well, for.

Your sense to two months ago, I'm looking for something recent.

Yesterday I forwarded, Oh.

Yesterday, we had two months ago. But you guys are hitting me up yesterday.

Well, it's better than six o'clock on the night before the show.

You know what.

In the end, it's here, it's done. It's all good for you.

It's good for you.

Gone sucking my dicke.

He's throwing the D word around.

Well, I don't know who you know what happened to get away from the show for a couple of weeks and he comes back like old Lucy Goosey. I don't know what's a.

I'm gonna have to tighten the bolt up, tighten them up.

Hey, talking to my guy, all wrong, it's wrong.

Tone.

Do it again?

A stab in her face with a soddering eye.

Are you coming up for the eleventh?

He's not coming. You know who's coming? Is my man, Jose. Jose's coming.

I was gonna say.

Yeah, And I don't know Tank's coming up. But I know somebody that's not coming up. I won't say his name.

Man.

It might be a guy who didn't load pictures in tonight, but I don't know. It could be m hm, could you play the d so he can get mic on here because he left the seat maybe one.

Oh no, he's good, he's good, he's fine. Alright, we're gonna go. We're gonna we're coming at you hot with a nice new one, hot, nice and hot.

Here we go.

We're gonna run a photo kite.

Oh the new h.

Nice nice. That's all played the new Vince.

We got the new Vince commercial that we Oh no, we don't get that one. I'm happy with that too.

Right, we're still on vacation.

Somebody dropped the ball on that one again, so you have to listen to the same old amed Tech commercial because we're all tough.

But we'll.

Play Vince is commercial crying out loud or whatever you made a player.

Armor Tough firehouse flooring was recently installed in Station number seven, the newest of the Dacab County fire stations in Decatur, Georgia. Meeting Deputy Chief Smith of Support Services, Vince explained that Armor Tough interlocking flooring is the only floor that is tough enough to withstand the abuse of fire apparatus along with fire personnel at a very busy station. Chief Smith explained the flooring in all of our stations over the

Noel's has come to the fire house in nine to eleven. Darren Phillips, yep, oh he's a regular. Yeah it's not coming. I let's say all right, come on let's get him in rough all right, my fellow Proby school mate, I didn't know that we were there from the beginning in Prob School together, probably hated me. I don't know, we'll find out.

We're gonna find out here to check.

Coming to the stage f d N y five Marshall without the l Mike O'Neill.

I don't think you hated being Prob school, right.

Nobody hated anybody in that Prob class.

It was awesome, except for maybe big Vin Vinnie and the other big guy.

I knew him since the fourth grade. Bro, he's a year younger than me. Yeah, I went to high school with him. Who video Brady. I went to ground I grew up, lived on the block from him, I grew up. We went to the same grammar school, same high school. He went to college. I went to the police department and then in Proby School together. And then if you remember, remember the day before we got our assignments.

They had the secret meta in the room.

He comes out of the room. He goes, Bro, we'll going to the same place.

And I was like, we're going to and I'll say I won't say the company, but I thought he was going somewhere else.

He goes.

Now, I'm like, that's fucking great.

Where is that?

But then I drove to twoity three that day, and you know, through the neighborhood which I had never been in before. And uh I got home to my parents' house, which I found out was fifty minutes away, which is interesting. And I said to my father, I go, uh, I never bet the war, but uh, what's what that?

There's no how can we have fired? There's no billis left brumbled.

It looks like it's terrible, the end of the human race?

Yeah, briefs. He went to one thirty two we after the rotation right away, so oh he did. He's been there ever since. I loved the guy, still loves Still a big presence.

A big dude. Football player, wasn't he.

Oh big yeah? Football player, yep? A rugby player? Is Davia?

Some breaker?

Oh some breaker?

Oh well, you know Flapper Sheeran. He was a little rough for all of us.

Let's get patriotic before we go on and talk about my career.

Here we go, do it.

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.

There is Richie Bag saying there's my proby.

It's not my bag baby.

It's not my bag baby. All right, so let's go back. We know your dad is what got into the fight uponment, right, Yeah, when'd you grow up?

Yeah? I grew up Marine Park. My dad was a fine I start at Garratton Beach. Then we got a house in Marine Park, you know, like Beverly Hills back then, you know, or it was in a Bungo and Garretton Beach.

Yeah.

He was a fireman and seven engine. He got laid off and he was laid up for six months. He was a veteran, say, hided him back pretty quick. He ended up in thirty seven engine briefly and switched with a guy you know, come to Brooklyn. He ended up being a fireman in two thirty four for a long time, and then he transferred to one fifty nine truck to be close to the home. We were all like, you know, kind of in the commuting days as kids going to school.

So he went there. He enjoyed, you know, being close to home and stuff.

And they got promoted and lieutenant in one twenty one truck. Remember the school wh Jimmy Wiams passed away? Yep, yes, so that was it. That was an interesting thing.

And then he ended up being the.

Capital one fifty eight. But Jimmy Wayne, I don't know if you remember the Jimmy Williams thing.

So he dies.

He was my father's boy, and that was late in our class. And my father tells me, doesn't ask me, doesn't whatever. He goes, you're going with the company to this thing. I'm like, oh, all right, that's gonna go over a while.

So I went to Billy Burke. Remember Billy Yeah, Kirk Yeah.

So I go to him. He was nice.

I said, listen, he's asked me.

He goes, all right, I'll ask the cheap upstairs Sakamano.

Yeah.

So two hours later he comes over. He goes, listen, the chief said, you can't do it.

Just come with us. It's got no problem. So I went to the pay phone. Remember that pay phone, Yeah, prob I called him. He goes, oh, really all right? He hangs up. I knew right away. I'm like, here we go. So an hour later, Billy goes, okay, listening, you're gonna go up to see Sacon Monto. He's gonna scream his head off, don't say a word, which is amazing,

So what did he say? He's gonna step on your cop? That was his big word, big severals.

Yeah, like cop. It wasn't like I was a kid out of high school. I was a cop for six years. This guy is screaming at me, a little old guy. I'm like, nothing uphing, bro. If I put you in, he's no one going. I care to go back to the cop like that, Just go back to the cops. I didn't give a fuck whatever.

So was that you in that picture with your father? That's you little Yes?

Yes, yes, that's me right there with the blonde hair.

Do you do you remember going to the fire houses when you were younger?

Oh yeah, I was in two thirty four more times than he can remember. What a place, what a great bunch of guys. Chief Glbum was there. I remember him, I remember his kids. Jack Toomi also passed away. That was my father's best friend. He passed away eighty seven. It was and yeah, I mean that was a great place. We owned all the picnics and stuff. It was just a real good bunch of dudes. Is your pop still around? Yeah,

That's pretty cool.

Now you got a brother that's on too, I do.

He's a chief.

Now we did all that we did. My father's left put together as a captain. That was interesting too.

Work on his list too.

Yeah, So we made a deal, like my father was gonna come to one fifty nine truck and be the captain for the night. You know, did a free mutral for the guy. My brother worked at one at the time, and I did a few free mutral for a guy. So I remember Chief as Posito, as my brother. I remember Chief as Posito. Jimmy telling us I know him, Yeah, he tells me.

In the fifteenth he goes to you, my father, Well, my father, everybody liked my father.

He was an guy not like me. But uh he s he says, he goes, Mike, just do me a favor, don't get hurt. Okay. So we go to the firehouse that my father's got old, you know, all the friend from Garrett to Beach Marine Park. There's a good night Steaks, the whole bit. We watched the Sopranos. My brother, the cop stops by, you know, for a half hour, and he's gone for a half hour. We get the one and only run of the night first two job on Clinton Road. It was my father was fast and he's like,

Huh go to the front ship. This is the window of firelight. So it goes perfectly.

No, it couldn't couldn't have been any easier. Now now we're overhul he thinks this is for real. He's like, he's like, oh, Michael, who just pull this steel in here? I go, hold on a minute, bright come here. That whole I think that's it bigger. I'll be hotside. I rescued the hamster pet hamster. That was my big claim for the one run. Unfortunately, one guy did actually get hurt. He got three quarters for that, but he fantastic guy.

He went out with a bagne.

Where's your brother? Where's your brother work?

Uh?

He was the he was ten one sixty five truck for ten years.

He was a Yeah he comes.

We see him at the show all the time. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm pretty sure. Yeah he works.

He works with Gil Frank out in Long Island doing some teaching or something. So he's always around doing something. I'm pretty sure the side job, right, but yeah, he just got qu a few a little while back. He's covering the fifteen. Allegedly he's been all.

Over the place like everybody else.

Yeah, you know, he loves it and my follows a captain.

You could I think if that's him. He loves the job, man, that guy. Oh he loves the job.

Yeah, he definitely does.

He's so he got on PETE. He got on p D first. Had you taken the Fire Department test score.

I took the test and eighty seven I think it was or eighty eight, the.

One of the eighty seven. I took that test.

They stopped the test and they bring us back for it was a white course of pink cour there was colored courses. They tell you not to eat, don't don't do anything, just show up and hope you don't die. You know, they didn't mention it, don't do cocaine, but whatever. So I'm sitting on the course waiting to go next and the cop. So now it's an hour forty fixed the clock. I haven't eaten, I didn't drink anything. The bottom line is I missed getting one hundred by four seconds.

Actually that's true.

Yeah, that pretty what you got.

Any cops walk up and we could talk about yeah, all of them.

Uh there's some funny ones and then uh that aren't going to get anybody arrested.

Or killed hopefully.

Yeah, we had.

We had a good time in the step. I saw it in the two five.

I was there for a period of time where like we were rookies. It's like having a bunch of probies together. See you're like a man power deal. But me and this one guy, Steve Morel, we were like into it, like we were like cops and Robbins deal. We locked up everybody, and I kept getting in trouble for resting PEOPLECAUSEY didn't want to rest anybody. So I keep getting

The homicide squad and he looked and he was all over me.

He's like yo, I like the young guys. I'm twenty one years old. So the sergeant sends me and a guy who came over from Transit to Queens to get an R and P pick up front of shops.

I was told very directly this this guy was like a veteran a transit.

So he rolled over. He goes, I want you to go to the shops, get the car and bring it back. We have to go to detail, don't fucking do anything in between. So I tell this guy showing my Gowan a great guy. I was like, showing this is whatever.

He's not problem.

We're driving over to Traboro Bridge and its livery car is trying to fucking hit me. I'm like, what the fucking and finally keybones in front of me sha him on the breaks. The driver does fucking the one hundred your death down, the driver pointing you, guy's got a gun. Sure enough, I go to the care the guy's got a gun. I great. McGowan's like, oh, it's a great kid. I'm like, no, there's a fucking dead This guy's gonna kill me.

I can't come back. So we go to the Traveler Bridge a little preaching there.

I called the two five. He's I get the good sergeant on the phony, no problem, bring it in, bring it in. Go to the death sergeant who's a seventies guy, like look like Fred Quinstone. He's like, good for you, kid, Go to back, said, I go in the back.

Guys sitting there, I'm doing the paperwork. And this sergeant his name is Rohan.

I don't like him anyway. So that's matter, big batman, fucking big, you know, tall, imposing guy. I'm fucking telling you you're a fucking trouble maker and no one's gonna own crazy.

And he leaves.

The old time sergeant in goes Okay, I'm just gonna tell you right now that guy's a dick. He's been at dick as whole Korea.

He doesn't want to do anything, so just keep the.

Only doing is that the picture of the car that we had.

No, that's a seven.

That's right. Wait wait, he's got to get up. You got to get up the hall on Yet there's.

One more thing about hall that's another car dasy And he's he fucking hated me because I just caused problems.

He was in the house mouse what a gonna call him?

So it comes down for assignments, right, and I knew my mother's friend was an inspector and I knew himself as a kid.

And he's like, you're going to this, You're going to the seven hours.

Okay.

So I walk into his Assholds office.

He goes, ah, thank god, I could finally get rid of you tomorrow. You're going to the three two. I was like, okay, great, no problem.

I went home.

Now obviously they got a phone course. I came in the morning, my hockey big. I was never gonna set foot net place again. I knew it.

I'm packing my ship. He calls me only.

I'm get in here. I'm like, fuck, here we go.

He's like, I don't know who you fucking cried to or what the.

Whole big fucking show. I'm like, are you done?

I said the good news, Louise, You'll never see me again.

Because I'm not coming to Manhattan whatever again. To my stit went to the seven O and that was the end of that. Thank god. That was experience.

Where is the seven O on what street? Don Lawrence Avenue?

But it covers like it's it's like a cutout where the priests is Ocean popet but it covers flappers like uh, West flappers, like just flappers in general.

But yeah, it goes from lower neighborhoods.

Jewish, Russian, you know whatever, and then once you get north, it's it's a little more.

It's a little more.

Church Avenue.

No, it's like Church Avenue, like the big apartment building with a lot of people in them. You know.

It was not the greatest part of the preason, but there was.

There was a lot of good people at there, but we never saw them. So yeah, the car, the car stories that pull up, the car, bro it's coming, it's coming.

Yeah, not that car, not that car, that car, the car.

Oh, my bed, my bed, holl are you doing? I forgot we were on the p D stories.

That young baby taste too.

Man, this is I think it's ninety one. I had been there over a year. I was working with a guy just for the night and uh, there was a car jacking earlier in the night HOUNDAI.

Imagine call jacking ady nowadays.

But anyway, so the forest gump that I am of the boat jobs, we drive past this car.

I wasn't driving the guys, I said, that's the fucking car.

He loops around now We were following the car for a while and they ended up making a left down of Debt.

It's a full on pursuit.

We're driving, He's driving world driving idiots, and they turned out a dead end. I'm I got perfect, this is it. Stupid is good. So they get they get to the dead end. Now they back up and I'm like, you know, we're a good distance, but I'm like, at some point you have to stop going forward. So he decided he wanted to avoid hitting them. When I say avoid hitting him, avoid hitting hits out of the car. I got my gun out. Everything we didn't wear seabelt in the police ever.

So yeah, he swerves to my side.

Now on purpose. He mights be a good guy, but hits the fuck. I mean, this thing got rocked, so the gun falls on the floor. Now I know that these guys were armed earlier in the tour, but they just bolted. One went that way, one went that way, So Mike went that way. We caught them, but after a week of medically, we came back and took a nice picked it with the car.

They weren't happy we ruined the car, but it's the way it.

Goes, so he said, yeah, you have had to pull your weapon out. You have to pull Yeah.

Yeah, in the seven oer comes out of a hole and too, it comes out a lot. People say, oh, I didn't pulled my gun, And I don't know where you work bro pulling in and shooting in or two to things, But yeah, it comes out a lot around.

I'll be walking around like this the whole day.

You have to let the off. You haven't squeezing the off.

So yeah, we had. I was working with a guy. We were an anti crime. Plain closes.

It's pouring rain. I was going upstate that night. It's probably about eleven fifteen. We're almost done and robbery comes over in the junction. Everybody's in the junctions, very flabishing ocean. So it is fucking pouring rain and we're driving and I see the two guys. Like I said, I struck that's them. He turns the car onmark call, but yeah, unmark my ass fucking screen police car.

So the guy sees it.

So one guy runs, turns around, runs backwards, and the other guy runs into the alley. So I run in the guy on the alley he gets over the fence before I get back there. So now he jumps out. He points a gun at me from the other side of the fence. So I think I got out shoot and I fall in the water. The chuck comes running around, he's like he shot him, Like, no, I'm not shot. Get that fucking guy. Meanwhile, the people were wanted to help us get into a car accident right front of

The ground guys are in the wind.

So much. I actually worked out.

So let me ask you a question because this has come up not too often because we don't usually talk about the police stuff. But what would like if you ask me? People always ask how the hell are you run at the Burnham buildings, right? And I always say because I would never run and follow some guy into a dark alley after he has about ten steps on me and I don't know where the hell he is, right Like, by the time you get to the corner and look down there, it's like yeah.

But again the mentality, Remember I got hired and I was twenty years old, and I did go. I told you guys before I had gone to college to do radio, that was my dream or whatever. In the des I'm ass.

I never liked how it's done, but I'm as the old time is.

Like, I like that stuff.

So I was gonna do that obviously back then, that's.

That's a one in a million shots. So I took the police test. I got hard. I always want to be a cop. I mean I watched Hill Street Blues and that was sold. I think this is this is what, this is awesome, the perfect for this. I don't you know, I gotta I could talk obviously, you know, I can work it out. I end up talking myself, you know, talking people in the cuffs a lot more than having the sports on them. But it is a little but it's it's very exciting, like fires are exciting. It's exciting,

I take it open the stairs without something.

Horrible running down the block after a guy bro especially, I recommend it for everybody.

My back was hurt when he said that he shot and he slipped in the wall.

Got him like, no, I'm not shot him, Charlie Brown.

There's some other pictures in there, bro what some pictures of him as a cop. Let's get through them before h Oh, we.

Can bang those that quick.

Those are quick stories.

I remember them all you muted.

This is okay.

So that guy on with the shotgun in his hand, which thankfully is unloaded. He's working with his partner and they're what we considered to be old timers. They had about five years more than we did, but they got on like eighty forty five, so they were like the season guys. These guys never called for help for anything, right. So me and my partner are sitting up on Beverly

Did you collect two hundred bucks?

No, he did not do that. But the fact that, like these two guys, they didn't want the arrest. I'm like, I just like, no, you're gonna have it. I'm like, okay, whatever.

They were great. Those two guys were the best.

They were.

They were such characters. That guy is a complete character.

Is he still around?

That guy? He looks like he's retired.

He's a sergeant. He was a sergeant.

He retired. He lives in Florida. He's a good due parts in Breezy Point. I mean, two of the best dudes. They were so cool. Nothing bothered them, you know, dude.

Go back to that picture. He looks like Jack Nicholson.

Who me or the other guy?

You? Oh, nobody ever told you that.

No, you don't look like him? You think no. I was looking at the cash, to be honest with.

You, I didn't see anything else in that picture but the scut all over? Here go the money?

That was it? Yeah?

Nother one? God's will? I think there was an.

Idea we have another run here?

Oh yeah, all right, So that's my partner, Joe. Joe and I grew up kind of group, knew each other from the neighborhood. His father was the captain of three twenty one UH for a period of time. So Joe and I are driving down Flatfish Avenue. I'm driving was in his the lighted avenue d and flappish. It's dark. I look to my left and I see this guy running across sheet and he starts pulling a gun up and he puts it right in his old guy's feak.

He just got his Chinese food.

So Joe's idea was, he goes, we'll put the lights on turning the corner. I said, Joe, if I put the lights on, he's gonna blow his head off. I said, he doesn't even see us. He's so stupid. So we'll let him, you know, So we let him get away from him. Now we turn the corner. Now Joe is gonna run. Now. I love Joe. He's one of my best friends. I still told him to this day. Actually Tilba' exactly same. But Joe's gon a runners running after this guy, young young guy. I'm on the radio giving

So I hit him with the car, tossed him.

Over the fence. And I was always plaint. That's all he cared about, is like he kept telling my lieuten yo, he.

Be with the car. He's like, he hit him with the car.

I'm like, yeah, with the car, Why do you think Joe can run? So the guys, the guy who got robbed, Katchamovids, this old guy. We went back to him to get the statement and everything. The guy was hugging us. He was like a Ukrainian immigrant or something. Old guy. All he was doing is getting Chinese food and his motherfucker's trying to rob him. And the kid like he was a kid. He turned Okay, he was the gun's fake.

Have liked to do that, maybe for like a couple of weeks, you know, just.

It's gotta be. It sounds like fun, bro, I mean.

But it would have to be in the eighties. It couldn't be now. To go on the time I'd have to go on the time machine with the fat motorola.

You know, you know, anybody on the job now, Mike, it's gotta be way different that I said. You know, anybody on the job now, it's gotta be way different.

My my brother just retired with twenty seven years and he had a good career too.

He uh he ended up being cheap Patrol's office, which was really good. But he was an active compist. He was in the UH seven seven as a cop No. Six mes A Cops seven seven as a soergeant and the six hours lieutenant, all high profile stuff, anti crime stuff.

He's got medals that have metals.

He's good.

But now you're tired.

So the job ain't the same now, right, can't.

It's a little different.

We work a lout with the cops like UH with the NYPD, with the marshals like it's a lot of interaction with the auction explosion tactives and stuff. And even if the you know, pro cops, we deal with them all the time. They you know, they're all great guys and guys, but it is different for them, you know. It's the body camera has done them a lot of good things. Actually, if you ever I'm sure there's a YouTube channel for the something. Go watch body camp for like an hour.

Oh actually had a TV show and Discovery one of those things that I just told they were showing with those body can.

Yeah, body cams are great.

So when you get the call for the fire department, was there any hesitation you think that you might not take it?

Or no? So I was an anti crime which is great. That's what I wanted to do. I want to be the tech was or my way to it's detective. That was the goal.

And uh so I caught mem and Monte Prada. Wait, Mike, best to get a girl?

Mike, you want to be a Sorry I mean, but didn't you want to be a Did you want.

To be an actor?

The lord own a guy or something like that? Before we get to the fire story right in here, it's kind of a cap story a.

Couple of different TV shows with this group. This is all rock guys. They come to the rock, they want the rig to take a couple of guys. We were just background guys. We didn't do much but everywhere I don't know what shows were great. Then you got the rescue makeup going.

I was gonna say, he's got the fu.

Yeah they did that to us.

We didn't do it. Yeah, you know, well Mike's got it.

On, you know, come on, all right, sorry, go ahead, you which is totally railroad to your conversation.

Oh yeah, we get So.

I called Margie Proud because I was a copper Larry your son who was jimmified.

And I said to her, I was six twenty eight on the list, six twenty eight. I call her. I go, so I'll be in like the January class.

Right, she goes, January, you just miss getting July. Bro, you're gonna be in like October. My fuck, because we were.

We were in the championships at a stadium with the the presint and.

I didn't really tell anybody, but you know, my partner knew, but want you tell somebody's the end of it.

So my inspector, Patty Brennan, God rests what a great.

Man he was. Uh, he said, yeakeet, and we win the championship. I walk over with the trophy. I go inspector for you. Did you know whatever? By the way, I'm leaving next week. He goes, I know how the fuck this guy? Now?

That guy was great man.

I got a civilian complaint from Norman Segul, the actual head of a CLU, and I had got a lot of SAVIN complaints.

But you know whatever, I walk into the prest. He's in his office.

He has a bro heasy.

He goes, Mike, come in here a second, shut the door.

I got a fuck.

I knew what happened, knew what he did. He goes, I can't believe you got a civilian complaint from fucking Norman Siegel.

That's fucking amazing. I was like, well, he didn't move. I actually the move three times. I knew who he was, and then he got cross checked.

Were gonna do the top of the broken leg? He was gonna run over him? You can't have that.

So he took care of the sweat it all the way. But that guy was the best I got to work.

Uh my anti crite details to the last day before I left, and the only way day fucked me. Was that made me buy a dark blue shirt for one day because I hadn't like flue shirts, but I bought the one.

Shirt to my brother, What did you did your dad tell you like, this is no brain. You gotta take the job.

Bro.

No, he didn't care.

He knew.

I was like, I didn't care.

He didn't.

There was not even for a second. You're like, yeah, maybe I'll stay.

He was no. No, I was gone.

Like I said, you know, I've been divorced.

I felt, you know, everything was not It was okay, but it wasn't.

It could be better.

He's got a LifeWise, So I made the right move. I have no regrets.

I you know, he was talking.

About the fire now, I mean I can it is. It's just so many you meet on both jobs. When you're on both jobs, you meet so many good people and did of course there are, but you would know that they're not coming to your house and I call him on the phone, you know, but whatever, it's mostly good people. And it's everybody's a team. Games PD, you got your partner or a team. Fire department speaks for itself. Everybody's the team. No one's an individual.

It's good well there are, but we got hired actually as provisional firefighters, right yeah, because they were uh sue in the city or something. The guys from Long Island was suing the at that point, right five attend that five points for city residents, right yeah, yeah, And so.

Yeah, my father said, once he goes, once you're on, you'll be all right at the very least, I'll just settle and hire them too. All right, good class, A lot.

Of fun we did. We had some characters, and we were talking about Vinnie before and I remember a graduation bro. He he had faith teeth because he was a boxer too, right, most teeth, Yeah yeah, So he's taking him out and fun around all the time. So at graduation he loses them. He's not a half on my teeth. I looked down on my shoe and his teeth are on my shoe.

Yeah, he was, Oh my god, he's He's a character. That whole class was bro. Neil from Boston was like I ended up living with Neil and three other guys from both He was living in Staten Island, right yeah. The one guy moved out, so he's like, oh I got I got you know, got a room and I knew I hung out with old him. I'm like, I got my rent in half and I get to live with three guys who had an absolute ball with you know, it was like good in the fire hoss. It was great,

Right, that's Yankee ship everywhere. But you know that's okay.

Oh yeah, behind I won't hold it against I won't me at all times.

I won't hold it against either. You see my ship behind me?

Sorry?

Oh sorry?

Yeah? Who are there anybody from my class can go to two thirty four.

Uh yeah, corkorand Jimmy Pockets.

I got a lot of a lot of the chief sons in there. Bro a lot of chief We had fe hand Son in there.

Yeah, Dahm was there.

Yeah, I helped, he was there.

All was a big and rescue two we I mean for chief sons. We had good guys.

Listen to Waity three wasn't too shabbly, you know what I mean?

All right, Oh, we definitely did all right single lend you been nice.

Although when I got there one twenty and was in with us with the four to four, and I didn't know any better because I got there they were there already, I quickly found out that they really didn't get along.

Who to Waity three and went twenty.

Yeah real time. Yeah, well there was.

I liked all of them because their character. I love characters. One twenty he had characters. They were great. There were characters. But yeah, I came to learn that you know, when you're single, you don't want to get a forced marriage. That's what I got out.

Yeah, exactly right.

No, it's just a matter of like different like when they had the meal we.

Had like eleven o'clock or twelve o'clock or whatever. We when we did it, it was like eat thirty nine o'clock. That was apparently a big deal. I didn't really give a I'm happy to eat, you know.

I mean, that's a big firehouse for just one engine there, right, I mean?

And then yeah, yeah, my dad said, when they built it, they had designs on.

Putting the squad was there, squat for yeah, the.

Ambulance was there, and then they were gonna put a truck there, and then never happened because the budget cuts and everything else. So yeah, it's.

Not as big as you.

I'm sure you've been in there, but like when you go upstairs, it's a locker room, a division and then it's just now. Yeah, yeah, it was a little tough. It was all right.

I dealt with it.

Who is who is the captain some of the forces?

Daddy? Remember who was when I first got there was Charlie Williams. He was a rescue to fireman. My my dad was finding Garretts, the beach guy. Charlie was. He looked like Wilfrid Brimley in this much smaller version, but uh, tough his nails man.

That guy was he was a nice guy, a nice Uh. Then we had Rocker.

Ronaldi came in after that. He's, I mean that guy is except for the far but he whispers, yeah, kitchen table, the Tasmanian Devil, fire out, three windows full. Everybody's everybody's like, what are we going in here?

Or feast behind you?

When you get into an accident and you'd say, chief, I'm gonna take care of that, and he says, what are you talking about?

I have no idea.

Why don't we keep getting that? Why did that keep coming up? I don't understand why I didn't.

I didn't say anything about that you were driving. I didn't said was that we got into an accident? Anything about you?

And always comes up on the shout. I'm constantly give you.

I'll give you guys a minute. Figured it out all right, But uh then we had so nine to eleven happened, and like they promoted so many people.

Rocker got voted and we got Jack Burke and there Jack.

Was there for I think what twenty is? Uh yeah, and then you know like what I got there was Gary and Bennedict.

It was uh how to beat that?

Right?

Sorry?

Yeah, no song was he was built with the building.

He stayed there.

He got there when the building.

I'm surprised he's got in the chat tonight man he is, but well, you guys know him, right, So baby, I don't know if he told you this, And I'm gonna tell the secret because he's been busting My area is right in the middle.

Oh that's that's actually a good story.

Hit this one. So this is my first job as a show. If it was cool, it's what my pants on. So I said, Rutland Plaza. Anybody playing with the area knows where the plasa is. Nobody ever wants to go there for a fire. First job is a show. But I'm driving like I stole it because you don't drive fast over they fire. So I get out there, I pull in. I'm like, oh perfect. Once he pull cuts the gate, I pull in. I know there's a hydrant there. You know what's not in there?

That stampipe up?

Fuck?

But somebody was coming out. So I grabbed the door, chopped it with the bag. I go in.

I did the whole thing for the first floor.

Everything went fine, you know, miss it there was it was actually a missing fireman at the time. You know, may day the whole bed and he walked right past me, and I grew up with him. I knew who he was. I'm like, yo, bro, they're looking for you. Oh yeah, that's the side of the point. Donald comes out and goes you looked up to the first floor. Great job of a h couldn't couldn't have been nicer about it that the fire off the go. He's just so you know,

There he is. I knew he'd be in there, yes I am, but he just plugged in the great my dad, I tell him, he reminds me of my father.

For some reason.

He looks he talks like my father.

He don't really like the job that much now he is a job.

No hates it right.

He said it was a good job too. Son said it was really good.

That was yeah, I mean there was you know yeah, I mean I got lost and get turned around.

I mean it worked out okay.

But his boss wasn't too happy, obviously missing a guy for a bit.

Who were some of the guys when you first got there that you're you you remember like kind of like taking they were taking you on the under their wings.

So first guy, the first guy, that John News John he was you know, he was one of seeing you guys there, real soft, brooking guy kind of talks. I ended up calling him the Duke because he walk like John Wayne, but like not in a dead.

Way, like just that's just the way.

He was very very easy, even keeled the way he talked, carried the rag in his pocket. So then he tells me about this other guy Flint John Flynt, and oh he's a funny guy who's a cop.

You'll get along with him. Whatever.

So he was out on vacation whenever I got there. So but you know the other guys are telling me, like Daryl Adone him and Fleaster all the time that I was like, yo, you's got a big mount. He's gonna break them by. I get all these descriptions of Flynn. So I come into work one day and I walked through the door and the house watch is dark.

It's like, you know, I got that like three thirty. So I go to put my keys in there.

He goes, hey, how you doing? That's all.

Here?

You getting me? Bro? I said, oh, you must be Flynn. He goes, how do you know that? I said, they said you be on your back and you had a big mouth. Great right there, then he's probably know what to do it himself. He loved it. That was tough, Bro, for a single legend. Change your tours. Man, if the right guys are in that kitchen, you had to go in there, like you almost stop the door. You're like, all right, I'm ready, Vid, you could be forget it

But yeah, how was it for you being a cop for so many years and then coming in there.

You know, that's always like a little fine for me.

I was not paid full vacation, but that they you fucking cops, This fucking cops.

I'm like, bro whatever. Man don't hate to play. They hate the game.

Yeah, but they it was funny because the cop time is the cop time, Maple Cup pop time forget I got crushed all of it all.

Right, pop time too. Yeah.

So the tian needs the need to go to provy school to teach right, has to be a first grade fireman. Well, guess who was the first grade fire mid All of a sudden, this guy. They're like, oh, he's first grade.

Send him.

So Gil Frank was achieved in a five. We played hockey together. He's like, yeah, a nice try. He's got fucking four years on the job. You're not sending him.

Oh yeah, that was that was fun.

I ended up going later on, but yeah, it was fun. But uh yeah, like John Flynn, John used got Calhoun's got Calhoun was the best because he never talked ever and when he when he uttered words, they were they were funny, sarcastic, and there was a needle of pasch to the'm like he was giving you a shot.

The best line I ever heard.

I didn't hear it personally, but it was quickly went around. Guy had transferred from A three twenty three to twenty three. I wanted to get him more work whatever. So Scott doesn't talk. Scott just smokes the cigarlles out the window. You know, nice guy, very funny guy too when he gets going. So the guy says to me, because hell you, where's a good place to study around here? Scott goes three twenty three.

That is a perfect thing, man, that's the scene guy.

Now, I mean the polse never got about fort I mean it could be ripping out.

Two three windows.

He come up there, never said a word, never yelled nothing, just went in there, put the fire out, put it down. That was it. And uh we find out like so you know, no one's ever out on the meal back then, like you eating cook and we all know single were His wife has to tell us that he had siliyac, which now is like everybody has it, you know, the gluten thing. He never said a word. He was just

That's old school right there.

Man.

His one of his sons is in one cixty five truck.

Now, he worked with my brother briefly, but uh yeah, I mean his wife's a sweetheart, the kid's a great and he's just that. He's just a quiet guy, like you know, but when he's when he spoke, yeah, like I took a whole time. No one cares what I say. This guy when he spoke, he.

Was like like yes, hunting bro.

But talking. I know, sorry, everybody. God was good.

He very very He did the dinner dance MC stuff.

The first time. I'm like, he's doing this. There should be something. Oh my god, let me tell you right now, you want to go to the bathroom. He's gonna take your part. Funny as hell.

I was right up your rally too, like red buttons now yeah, right, that was like right up your.

Rally, O'Neill.

I'm trying to make us old guys feel better.

Thanks, you appreciated.

I don't know what they do comics, okay, George, he's dead. Yeah, but the problem was funny, you know, you know again, like it was different.

How long how long did it take you to catch your first job? You remember?

Funny?

You should mention that. That's another great story. So yeah, so me and Kevin, you remember Chris Chiles, Kevin Beblock and Vinnie.

So the four of us go there.

I know.

Yeah, So everybody catches the job except this guy.

So I came into work.

Funny night, Joe. It's snow and it wasn't crazy snow, but it was good snow. It got better, worse whatever. John Flynn remember him, got in his back. We're in the office, Gary Bennanick's the boss. I forgot the other Oh no I did, yeah, soupex work and whatever. So Flynn famous words, let's king draw up. Let's give them the probate novel. All right, great to in the morning. We get a run for a phone. Alom on, I think dumont I forgot exactly where it was. I was still terrified as the matter.

So we get there.

It's one of those duplex down things, right, oh yeah, yeah. I get to the back, I got the line. I go to step off and somebody says, hold the line. Now I have a radio back then, you know, but you could hear it, all right, And then to our door. Our control man says, no, no, bring line, bring line, and the boss we get to the front door us so now once went he's in the basement. This is a mattress fire at this point, right, but it's smoke everywhere. So once twenty thinks, you know, will we charge the

Gary Betten comes down. He grabs me. You get the helmet back on.

We're good.

He goes, where's an ozz while I go, huh, and here's the thing. It's up there. He goes, all right, no problem. So the other guy brings it up. As soon as he opens it, he crushes both of us. Helmets go flying again. I'm like, I'm in my first fire. I've fallen down the stairs bost of my helmets white now and that.

Is fire because they broke the window, thinking water.

When you get down there with them, the fire is late, literally freight treating over our heads. That is three of us trapped in the basement. Like I have no radio. I can hear them on the radio saying you're on boost, you out of water. There's no water. Now there's four of us in the basement and I'm sitting there like, you know, I mean, I wasn't. He had his hand, was like he was taking care of me. But in my head, I'm going, at what point do we leave?

And I'm I'm like, oh, I'm with him, bro let's go.

So and he just stands.

He goes in fun of ex usic whatever.

So Gary's they all we all jump out into the snow on the stoop like and he's coach on fire.

Everybody's smoking.

I'm standing there like all right, relatively one piece and not burnt, not hurt. The chief walks over to us and says two eighty three go to the ambulance. Gary Bettanan says to him, he goes, oh, no, chief for going back in. I go going back here where. I'm like, no fucking way, we're going back in there.

So I'm like this is I'm like, this is not happening.

So they go back. They put the fire out. Now the rod bent out of sheet that we put the fire out. I'm like, yo, we live, didn't we I didn't know, So you go back to the fire house. Now I'm quitting. At this point, I'm going back to the cop I'm done, Like this is crazy. I'm not doing this. So all the hoses frozen. I'm trying to be the good prob. It's like four in the morning. I'm setting it all up in there. I hit him in the opice there rolls talking. I'm like, house fuck.

Like no, I'd rather chase the guy into the alley.

So I'm like, I just said it to them, and I'm like whatever. It's like five o'clock. I called my father.

I'm like, yo, bro, what's up. I tell him to read his judges birds that same. So I just told you it was what's a mat? I go, what's up?

I'm done?

Bro, this is stupid. I told you this was stupid. You were stupid but doing I'm stupid for doing it. I'm fucking I'm going back to the coff feels. Are you getting open in the morning? I said, yeah, just pick up the beers and stop by the house, all right.

So me and my father sat there questioning a Keason beer ten in the morning.

He told me the same.

I was like, but it's you know, it was a little overwhelming, to say the least.

First job, bro, thirty seconds in waht the helmets twice, trapped in the basement. We didn't have radio, so I didn't know any better the guy and Nobody's like they took care of me.

But I was like, this is it's pretty sitting a mattress in the you know, in that lower level.

That's pretty shitty.

Listen, bro, you're not gonna be me feel but that's stupid.

So the good one.

Proby School. I went to teach Proby School.

I kept emphasizing to keep one leg up, and they were doing the navelism evolutions and I was just I was trying to teach him how to do it. And I told every single one of them, every probem I ever thought. At the lecture. I told him that story and why it happened that way, and I, you know, it's as a learning experience.

You know Kevin Malone in the chat, So can I hit it with the car?

This is what SnO said that you guys were affectionately known as the crap of nineteen ninety five.

No, it gets better than that.

So there was four of us, So like, nobody wants to be number one and nobody wants to number four.

So I was I fluctuated between three and four a lot.

I was never one. So it became like Coke PEPSI Snapple. I would Snapple and there was no fourth drink. You were just fought. No one cared. Everybody took a turn of me in fourth, but I was fought a lot. I did some stupid stuff, but not crazy stupid stuff, but stuper enough.

Four.

It's hard to like Child's always number one. He was like twenty two years old, pretty, you know, pretty hair and everything. He kept telling you know, he come into work and tell stories of his weekends on my flock. I can't drop that, you know. But Benny, Benny was good to have because Benny floor to three four a lot too. Oh, when you thought you were getting fired or getting beat up by one of these guys, Benny would do something and it'd be.

Like here we go.

Plus you want video on your side in case you're going out somewhere. You know, Oh you had a little ruckus, you know, yeah, just grabbed the ruckus, you know like.

Those Yeah, there was uh yeah, it was a lot of fun.

At first to see that coop.

It was like, maybe now what happened? What what?

What?

Oh?

No, no, there's no sort of telliges.

Oh you had that look like we gotta say something like no, I believe me.

I was fourth a lot on my own doing you know this.

Those stories don't have to be told, they were just they were corrected properly. Uh yeah, it was. It was a lot of fun with those guys, the four of us, like Kevin Beverlock, built a bunch of stuff and fires like all these wooden things to put placks up that have been up there forever, like son tell you it's beautiful, you know.

And that was a good bunch of dudes. I mean, the hit the best show was I had ever.

Seen in my life, you know, after a period of time. I mean Tommy Good, John Hughes, Babo, Johnson, John Flynn, and then then we started getting to the you know, to the arts. Once not eleven hit, a lot of them retired. I became a show for Jimmy Lang became a show. Jimmy Lang was son I swear to God, like we used to joke it with dating SONA loved him so much like he would anything that Jimmy couldn't do any wrong with. Jimmy was the best guy whatever

He's he's good, he's he can drive it. That's the show.

I need to put a fire up too.

He didn't pull on.

He got perple.

That's why Sono liked him. You so you went on the rotation. You went to what.

Rotation?

He said, yeah? So you where'd you go first? To SATN Island truck.

No, So my father was in charge of the rotation. So my favorite numb was fifteen right month is in the background. So I said, is it for they? Actually there was a seventy engine because it's sven Oh he said, yes, it's not city.

Yeah, you're not going as so I said, fifteen is my favorite number. Sends me to fifteen engine. It was a single engine at the time, Bro, it was an insuring experience. A lot of the guys were when I say older, probably my is now maybe a little younger.

But like they were very very very quiet place, very good guys. Very but yeah, I tell you, Bro.

I'm like, do we ever get runs like it happened? Yeah? That that that I took every detail.

It was, where were they on, what street?

They were on Henry Street? It's it's it actually an old firehouse, it's still there. It's just that the day city sold that they will do with eighteen. But I did get see the cities. I took every detail it was and that was good.

Then I went to seventy seven truck, which was phenomenal showcase.

Yeah, I had I had hit. Patty Mahane was my captain. He was a two ninety one or three guy back in the day. He was a character. He's about is that the hot Corn seventy seven, No. No. Seventy seven is on Broad Street, the Bully Great House. Great guys coast to my house in Rosebank, which was good. So anytime they called like you need some quick last minute, I was there, and I believe or not, I think I probably went to a dozen fires first do that. Yeah,

Man.

I ended up framing out of that guy asked me to a load of dumpster for one hundred dollars. Me and Steve Saider. Steve said, I'm not doing it. Steve was nan he had another gig. So I said, I'll do it for h load of dumpster for one hundred bucks, no problem. I was done by eleven o'clock in the morning. So the guy's like, all right, he's your hundred bus. I'm like, can I help you with anything here? Like lift you or anything?

That was it started, you.

Know, helping him out. I worked all the time with them between I thought, you know, obviously pushing a lumber up to them.

Then they showed me a few things.

I learned enough to you know, when you get a house, two things, but all not a bad guy in a bunch. There were very nice rotators. It was me. Steve was there. They got a couple of probi's in the meantime. They were all good dudes. The bosses were me.

Haiti was the best. He was a character.

Oh my god, did you get guys like from Brooklyn? I still wanted to stay on the job and we're going to go to Staten Island?

Like was that?

Did you get guys who were like from Brooklyn, busy places who decided to go out to Staten Island.

Yeah, that was that was eighty four truck.

Was that place. A lot of guys from good places in Brooklyn lived out here. Still wanted to stay on the job and you know, just slow down a little bit with the number of runs. So eighty four truck when I was coming to Staten Island was obviously well known. A lot of Brooklyn guys were there, like, you know, it was cool, like they say, come here, come here, coming in.

So when I came out to Staten Island, wouldn't go there.

Because it's on a highway and I already experienced the Belt Parkway my entire twenty three Korea, So I said that a highway. Yeah, so I ended up any two right down in the box. It was. It was, you know, it was fine, but you're running them, you know, Darryl, don't end up eighty four truck. He was a twoty three guy originally a few other guys from places, and that's good because they come out and you know, they can show you stuff that you may not have gotten, you know, different perspective.

You know, I mean, right that Island seems like a whole different fight department sometimes, but like it's.

It's all local guys. Yeah, Bill live here, you know, with neighborhood guys. But uh listen, you heard the stories. Ah, they throw rocks at the windows. They carry batteries, brod. I was out here for ten years. I saw plenty of fives to know that no one carries batteries and throws batteries. There is it? You know? The problem out here is that I never realized that I got out here, was like, why'd you be a second a long?

Because everybody's so far away?

Right?

So that's sure.

Right, I'm in the I'm like great Hills on the middle to top and Bille. We're going as either extra truck or fast truck depending where it is. Twelve minute ride and I'm down hind the boulevard ripping twelve minutes.

That's why they do it. Now, once you hear you understand it, you know, I.

Mean, so so coobs, did you know that the job I was talking to Nikki when we were in my talk, if it goes to all hands, now they send you an extra engine and truck automatic really yeah.

So so you don't have to ask for it anymore.

You don't have to answer ask for it. It comes automatic, now.

Know, Yeah that's good.

Yeah, So like he was saying that, like like Mike is saying right now, like especially out there, those guys probably ask for extra injured in the truck if the chief automatic, Yeah, it has to be automatic as soon as we hear.

Like so if you're in Great Hills working, and you're working, you know, and you're into it, like you you're awake whatever, you're paying attention as soon as a phone one comes in with more than one phone call in Tottenville or you cannot you're on the rigging rolling because it's it cuts out the time. And a lot of you know a lot of young guys get sent out here and they are into it. They're into every aspect of it. You know, they'll drill, they'll like they're buffy about it, like.

They want to go right, let's go.

It keeps you, keeps you in like you know when you're older or whatever. I remember when I first rants for you, I did fivey fours in a row with no runs.

I'm like, five fours in a row.

I'm like, holy shit, what am I doing?

The truck didn't get that many runs because it's you know, but that's a good thing. So you when the truck goes out either going to you're going to something.

You're going to something right.

Our accident shows are horrific. Out of here or job? You know, middle of the night, you're going to a job. There's no or car accident. No, there's no gassings out For some reason, I'm not sure why.

Did you go back there after you? Or Marshall? And we got to get to the Marshall, but did you go back to the truck after you Marshall?

So we were in class during COVID. So I get I get promoted to.

Marshall in February of twenty February twenty ninth. Actually I'm friends with Tom Kaine. He was a seventy seven fireman. He's the chief fire Marshal. So we get promoted. We go to the class. I don't remember how long we were in the class, but like COVID was starting, like you know, guys who you know this guy got COVID whatever, So the job made a move. They sent us from Hooper Street where the classroom was, to the Rock, which I was the only got happy about it because I'm

When did you actually transfer them to sat Nile?

And then twenty ten, so I had tore it the rock for a while and back to two B three and my daughter had gotten sick ones at the rock briefly, and uh, it was fine. It was a little more scared than anything else. But that was pretty much when I realized, I'm like, all right listening. You know, you run around with your hair on fire as a cop. You went to busy place of fire and like, and now the young the kid my kids, I think eight and six or whatever at the time. Now I can

Yeah, ten years in a place where I end up meeting great people. So I literally work right down the block, I less than a mile from my house.

Yeah wow, that's great.

So how many years did you do? Two eighty three?

Then I was assigned for fifteen years?

Oh shit.

I did the rotations at course, and I did probab school three years in and out, you know, do whatever I had, probably schools.

My wife lost the jobs.

That was always to make overtime. But uh it was good.

That was fifteenth There was no overtime, man, cool like legitly, yeah, no overtime, Like guys had like forty hours, sixty hours, like yeah, yeah, I'm not kidding, it would be now now it is over. You know, everybody laughs if you don't have eight a thousand hours probably I remember guys like legitly, if you had over sixty hours, like you were like it was you red light.

Yeah no now I'm not kidding and my kidding. And I was just thinking space Mike before.

I don't want to forget about it, because you know what was important what you said about seventy seven truck that was your second you know, your rotation there.

I mean third rotation.

Yeah, like, think about all those guys, like, that's cool that the guys, because I don't think everybody had that experience where you know they had you know, they still had other Proby's right now, you got it, you're not

Those guys treated us great.

They like by that point, the second road, they dealt with it once, right, like delve and Steve.

Siller and you know we we we were happy.

To do the last stop. I mean we're both on Staten Islands, so it's close enough to home. They're a busy place. They were a good, good but a really good bunch of guys. I mean, all the.

Senior guys would teach you stuff. So you want to tell this story.

This is pretty actually pretty tell the story on this one roof you was here when you told me.

A lady knocks on the door and she says, hey, do you guys want to do your practice on my car.

You know the drill.

So that guy this.

Is Randy, Uh yeah, he's Randy. This guy was new Magison, good dude. So Willie right was the boss, but if everyone was Willi, Willie's a character. So Willi goes, yeah, sure, So we start with dog. We're forced to do it's a it's a seventy. It's an old wagon in right, Well force the door, don't force to do it. Next thing, you know, Well, story short, all four doors are in it, the roofs off it, and we're like, oh, great drill. You know A had good time, beautiful day.

Oh no.

About an hour later or so, maybe two hours later, I'm gonna.

Knock on the door.

There it is.

I'm like, hey, what's up, bro? What I do for you?

He goes, Yo, you.

Guys fucked up my car. So right into cop I'm in trouble mode. No problem, let me get you the boss. I go up there. So Willie, this guy's downstairs, that's his car, and he's pissed. He goes, wow, no problem, So Willie, Willie's good man. He went down there. You can drive this guy like it has no registration on or anything. And this lady said it was hers. She showed the paperwork. So this is where he knows two like this is what you you and HER's cil matter.

Together.

I had a couple of those.

You got. Then you go at random when you just come across from abandoned the roadway, you just cut them.

Up a couple of buildings for God's sake, And.

We did that to the one building on Grandad and we cut the ship out of the roof for the we had to go back and fix it. I can't knock it on the door.

It is. They treated us very good, like you know, when we held we did a lot of stuff there to They were building a weight room up there.

They separated the mountains, so.

That was good. It was a very good experience.

And I thought the rotation was good.

Man.

It made the job a lot smaller. You know, you get to see, uh, meet other guys from all the burrows working on the burrows. Sometimes you go to a place you get complacent. You never freaking leave there, you know.

Yeah, true, no, it was good, it was it was you know, the Manhattan could be wasn't badslow Manhattan.

That wasn't terrible, just a little bit slower than I would have liked it to be.

But what are you gonna do?

So you did fifteen there and then you went back. You just said you were never going to do work in the truck again.

Yeah. Well what happened was I put him for the engine and I went and met the captain. When I went to the police academy with I know you're gonna meet the captain whatever, it's all set. I'm talking to the chief of personnel at the time, who's very good friend of mine.

He calls me up. I'm in twenty three. He calls me up.

He goes, you can't go to one tat two. I go, jee, I have no medical leaves. I'm like, I got but fifteen years, yeah, fifteen years. I was like, come on man. He goes, they have twenty four people on the rosta. You can go to one. He gave me every engine in the borough except one. Twenty five did a special guys. I was like, fuck, you're gonna come to Statn'm like, what do I want to travel? I was like, well, what about eighty two? He goes, Oh, they have eight openings.

You break truck balls, right, I'm not stupid.

I go into Listen tells everything I said about the truck is wrong.

I might have been cooking out of my ass.

They made me do it.

I was just.

Now.

They were all good guys, I said. I felt all seriousness.

I said, I need you guys to show me how you guys operate with certain I mean, I know we're fared. Just give me.

You gotta teach me how you guys do it.

If you're company.

They loved it.

You know you could look some guys like you said, come to Staten Island and you know if they walk around, they come to muscles, the T shirt, they whip about, the dirty helmet. I mean like I changed my front piece right away, I changed my pats right away, Like I'm not that guy.

But there are guys that come.

Out there and that that guy, and they don't like those guys like you demeaning them, you know, and who does that? Like I know what I can do, They'll see what I can do. We're good man, do something if I can show you something great, something even better. You know, no one's the one's about getting taught.

Did you wind up driving there at all?

I guess yeah, because what happened was like I swore when I drove twenty three, like one thirty four come right next to us. You know, I'm like, I'm never driving that fucking thing. It's huge.

Well, I kept getting covering.

Choulfis come in that like didn't know what I was tough because it's not grids. It's like you know Maple Street, Holly Street that you know, you know where you're going. These guys didn't where they were going. They couldn't back into the firehouse. I ended telling Jack one day, I'm like, listen if you got a spot in shover school, do you.

Send me because I'm tired of covering guys coming here.

Yeah, no problem.

So that happened.

I went to show school again and uh, they were good. It was very great. And then uh, shortly there after, like a couple of guys got hurt and it was the seat and no time. When a new captain came and when Jack left, barbells between the captain and the seat opened up, and I got it and I love I love driving it. The guys looked like when I drove.

So I lived here, so I know all the streets right, So it was fun.

It was a lot of fun with a couple of young guys other day and they actually said that they wish I was still in the firehouse. That was nice.

That's a good compliment.

Bro.

Yeah, they're good guys. They're all young guys, old guys. They're all again, we're all locals, you know what I mean. We're all friends.

You know when you go there, though it can't be too many guys that you work was still there are the well the younger guys.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, somebody they're seeing guys now. They were young guys when I was there, right. I remember Vinnie Mayor, who I taught in probably school. He was in a being of Marshall too. Then he's one of the smartest. He's the one, uh Vin, He's one of the smartest guys that worked with and uh he was breaking my balls and I got there. It goes my house time, Bro. I was like, so, what do you want to washing this or something for you? Like the floor? I have

Now I got him in the Marshalls, I'm like, oh, remember that time you talked about part up in a barrel? Bro, Now he's lieutenant though.

You got me.

See you finally get to the Marshalls right and there? Well yeah, I mean I don't even know nothing about the Marshalls. But how many what do they have?

There's two bases there in Brooklyn and city wide north so city White South covers from a hundred and tenth streets south in Manhattan, all of Brooklyn and all of Staten Island. City wide North covers north one hundred and tenth Street, all the Queens and all of the Bronx. So any whatever the assignments are you know, they get handed out in that way. Then there's those are the two bases. Then you have there's a canine unit, there's a photo unit, and then s I U a special

I remember.

So you got of school after the whole truncation thing to go to the base and like you don't know who you're meeting, Like I don't. I only knew three marshals, but I got there. So I go to city why south and I'll mention his name. I think he's most watching them. So this guy, Anthony Henry's the ten ten engine ten truck guy, was the endine. Uh, he's like the office organizer, like because you have to sit a

It's it's it's a lot of fun, you know.

It's interesting. It's different, especially after so many years of putting prize out or whatever. But it's a very interesting job. That's the curses that I can ever come to be detective. So it was good and I ended up doing the last year and a half in SIU, which is full of very good guys who do a lot of in depth work that I was able to learn from the three guys that when I got there all very shop investigators. So I enjoyed my time in the Marshals very much, too great.

Any jobs that you had that were like, you know, noble ones that were in the papers or so.

There was a I won't mention the catering place, but there was a I was. I was out of the class about a month and there was a fire in a very well known catering place down in Brooklyn, uh like catering place Delhi on Christmas Eve on Christmas night, Christmas night, and the guy who set us up tells me, he goes, you have the hege ds, you can just take Christmas off.

It's not like the firehouse. So I'm like, no, I always work in my house.

It's gonna work. So I end up working. There's four marshals in the basement and all four of it it's freezing. Call is third along whatever, like you know, it's over, and I'm just hold the millions of happened. Nobody can figure it out. So we end up taking the DVR.

We go back to the base and wake up in the morning.

We look at it and sure enough there's a guy that breaks in and I likes to wait on fire, so now it's my keys now. So when you're a base mar show and you get sent to SYU, the SYU investigator is gonna enhance your case. He's gonna get you videos like you're gonna go with him. So I got to do it very early on, and I went with two very very good guys, and I just basically stood there and watched them in action for the first couple of days, tried to contribute. Then I realized, like.

I was way out of my league. These we're good man.

So short, long story short, nine months later, this guy is moving all around. He was. He got him on video everywhere he was in Pennsylvania and one of the investigators had set something U because he was a sex offender that he had a reregisterce he moved.

I didn't know where.

This guy calls the other Marshall's cell phone, so he pretends he's you know, INVESTIGATORIM sexyphon and it convinced him to come in the next day to register to reregister. He walked right in, locked him.

Up, sat him down, BINGO.

That was a great case, and I guess I had a lot of great help on it.

Well, great help. They did a lot of the work and I learned how they did it. And at the end it was all big teamwork. Thing was great, really good case. Uh, that was a good one.

The guy from our class was in, wasn't he a supervising five Marshall was?

Oh?

I know, Oh Billy Raw, Billy Raw. Yeah, I think he just retire, right, Yeah he did.

Yeah, yeah, Billy's Billy was when I was in ceremonial. Billy was in the headquarters all the time, like they have a unit down there. He'd done his time in the base or whatever, and then the chiefs changed, he shuffled the people around. He ended up in Hooper Street for a little bit. I think it was the city North. So, yeah, he just retired. I guess he just decided this. I think he was pretty far out in the island, doesn't Yeah.

I know he's married. Oh yeah he does, because I saw him at a book signing one night, his way out there, like talking.

Like you were a delegate, weren't you too? How I was a delegate eighty two trunk?

How long did you do that? The whole time there?

Yeah, the whole time I was there? And then it was a trustee. I think I think I was the UFA board for about eight minutes. I think it was three months. I was filling in the spot when the uh, this trustee was running for something else, and then I got promoted near the guy took over.

So yeah, trust me.

Yeah, because this down of trustee at the time wanted to run for vice president. I think that was it. So he had a vacate the spot and I just held it, you know, like I said, for two three months, and then I got promoted and another guy took it, and then they had the election later on, so I really didn't have to I did run for it years

The closest election in history.

I'm like, I give a flying fuck I lost. To tell you the truth, bro, I'm probably one of the most competitive people in the world.

Becomes the sports. That was probably the best blasts of my life. I made a lot of money.

Uh. He ended up were actually in me very good friends. I actually spoke him today. He did a fantastic job and took care everything I made. The overtime.

No, he's good because if you're not first, you last. Ricky, Bobby, you know what I mean.

Love votes. Well, I couldn't.

Somebody said to ask you about your Sandy superstumstance Sandy rescue.

Well, I said, just skip right over your Hurricane Sandy.

Club Nelson. Who the Club Nelson is?

Club Nelson, that's the firehouse.

Uh, Sandy was like everybody was working that night, did the same thing we did.

And just a matter where you were, and uh, it's you know, it is what it is.

I'll tell you that. Vinny may A part of the story Vinnie Mayor was, Uh, we were together and I left to take a couple of people away from the house. This is early on, it wasn't crazy yet. And he was in there for six hours by himself. We were trying to get to him, and he tried to get to them with both Everybody tried to get to where he was and they couldn't. So at the end of the day, Vinny ended up coming up out of nowhere.

The story as far as the let's that's stick it outside the box and air mattress and some.

That he is by far not that, not that everybody work was smart.

That was one of the smartest guys at work. It was way before that any drill and he chief walked in and said, I want to do a drill on this. Benny had it all right. Yeah, he's good, very smart guy.

The rest about fire Marshall Gunderson, Gunderson is am I saying that right, yeah, what about him? They just said they just had the same people club Nelson as they asking you about him.

Well, Gunderson is one of the guys that I worked with initially in su when I first had.

That first case, it was him.

You know, they gave his name, but you know he was. He has one of the best guys I've ever seen interviewed any any bad guys Like the interview room. I'm terrible the interview room because I want to get right to the chase, you know what I mean. Like these guys have developed techniques over the years that it's amazing. Yeah, he's phenomenal.

They have another one club something here. Ask him out of service into the day to do Sandy after this Metal Day performance.

Well, if you want to have the boss on and talk him about it, go ahead at a service.

Yeah, what a great question there. Somebody's asking about George Schneider the acting away.

But yes, So when we first got to the base and I told you that Henry was the nerdy guy with all the spreadsheets, So George had been on light dude, he had something roll in his eye. I've met a lot of funny people and a lot of outgoing personalities. He is on the top five, no doubt, like just a really gregarious like. So he doesn't know any of us. We walk in, He has a list he has to go over all. I'll leave we have left. We got out of November, so he had, like you know you,

And we were all like breshed to this place.

Probably on the job. You knew to this place. This guy you don't know him. What a gentleman sat down, especially me. He's like, bro, get twenty five years on a job.

You can take the holiday off.

You can take wherever you want. And I said to him, I worked my holiday. I'm whatever.

He ended up being a boss that night.

For the catering things. But uh, funny guy. Man, he had a way about him. Man, he just uh, he could light up a room. He never came into a bad movie ever, never ever. Ever, he wrecked his call like by accident. I obviously told him. He didn't give a shit. Nowte M keep it how it happened.

But I was really hot, like a really hot day. Was he in a good mood? Then? I know a certain guy who gets loses his ship when it's really hot and he gets sweaty. Man, Yeah, it's not a good day.

Who's that guy we're talking about? I don't know who anybody we know.

Sameother you know from never did b I think it said.

Oh yeah, somebody want to ask about B I too, But oh mate, yeah they want to ask about b I.

What what is that?

Don't mean? But anyway, you don't have to answer.

I did every B because my partner didn't want to go to training. I'm like, I mean sorry, my partner didn't want to do B I and I didn't want to go to training, so I said, I'll do all the bid you can go to training.

There you go, my best nozzle, best nozzle job in two eighty three, I've had.

Best not the job. Oh just back from the rotation. We were side by side with two thirty four Kings County Hospital. Jack was just explains working two thirty four. Okay, t back photo arm around it, you know, down the block.

It was their first two bucks. They go faced from one way.

Too bad for them, so it's blowing out the bill cooat tours Gary Bennings the borce again, so I know he's gonna be drouble, So I get.

I go to the curb. He goes up.

Gary goes up to the Billcoat doors and the truck was there already. So they started breaking the windows and now it hits them in the head, like you know, because he goes back to the curve. I go, I was like, that was damage. Yeah, I like so two and a half. I'm not a big dude, so I get I knock it down. I shoot at the bottom of the stairs and out of fire to the left. But I like, I can't bend it. The guy, the

Bro two and a halfs.

The sucking man.

I think, screw the two and a half.

Yeah, that was. That was a good one.

That was.

That was a lot of fun and we just got back.

So like you're all fired up right. I didn't fall on a huge plus.

He didn't fall down. That's always a plus.

I slid down on my ass, I supposed.

Yeah, one of little pictures we got, guys, let's go through some of the pictures.

We have a couple. Let me go back to the beginning here that we didn't hit. We have Actually, let's bring this one in.

Uh my boy high school friend Pat Tansy. Uh again, Patty's a really smart guy. Uh high school. He was on a football team.

I think he got hitting ahead a lot as a tight end.

He had a way of talking. So that's from say Patrick's day. That's got to be two thousands, I can see that. Uh two thousand, maybe maybe ninety nine whatever, but uh yeah, out in the balls, hanging up, having a good time. He ended up being he didn't twenty three, you know, litenant cabinet and retarded the chief. He then nursed the nesteasist who works I think he works Sloan Still, I'm not sure real real, real, real good guy man lives. He buys a house after the plane question in Rockaway.

He's from Rockaway.

So he calls a bunch of guys from two thirty four to some picks that I come down and I pulled it to the house. He sat on the phone, slightly damaged. I look at the house right.

By the bark of the ball, but it's right there, right behind it.

Light.

I look at this house. I got me a second.

I says, I need to get your full definition of slightly. I said, fuel fell on. It's destroyed. I was like, it's like, no, no, I'm probably at that house. I'm like, all right, that's destroyed. This is pretty fucking cold, dude. So all his we we had this house in two thirty yard dumps is in three hours.

What do you want out?

You know, not the whole house? But yeah, built a nice house down there, and it's beautiful. He grew up two blocks away. I spent more time in his house. We're in high school. I spent him my own have to un park.

You not a feeling fantastic guy man with his parents?

Sweet?

I mean it's great people. Oh follows a superintendent for sanitation.

HM, we have that one and this is another irishman.

So this is so on the left, that's Gary Benedict the base.

Oh that's him. I know him.

I know he had brown. He had brown here when I met him, I ruined him. If that's his son Pete next to him, and then me, and that's the Harris. That's Harris, and then there's Joe Bennett and some other Porta Sarity cops. But that's I think that's Pet's first saint Patrick's days a fireman and stand now if I'm not mistaken, I could be wrong about that.

But always went to Gary's house.

He had his white be the Irish shouder bread and went down the Forest Avenue and we walked as far as you know. So we got to the right bar.

Nobody ever offt the Whope raid bar.

There's Yankee Stadium. I saw your story before where I had a week left to go. But yeah, we played for the championship. We played two years in a row.

There, kice what position you play, Mike.

Third base.

That you had to play out here of that year because that was ninety five when Man's first playoffs. But while we were playing, Tommy McDonald was in his stance. He worked out something with the ticket Pep. We got me and him two tickets on the third base side for the home playoff game. Well mainly hit the home run. I thought the place's gonna fall down. It was great.

That if you're a Monthson fan, you gotta be Greg Nettles fan. Being a third book vote.

You can name all except Reggie Jackson. I was like, we did a good job.

Sorry, so we have this.

That's family day when Pete graduated was graduating.

Yeah, we dressed Pete up in a chicken like we alway dressed somebody up in a chicken outfit to get rescued or whatever. So we dressed because Pete, because Pete my lieutenant son.

I mean Pete with a chicken outfit. Gy Yeah, yeah, he loved it.

Gary loved Gary's great. I quote Gary the other day. He's big golfer, Gary, big golfer. Now he's got grand kids. He's great.

You wish he had his brown hair.

Back, but I can't help you. I mean, he lost that a year after he met me.

It happened.

We got I got two more for you. We have this one which we I think we touched on a little bit, right. This is your your trading days.

We to we tought, we tought at Prob School. We would go out and we go over the day's lessons afterwards out by the water, and as you could see, we were studying hard. It was probably twenty five degrees in that picture.

It was ridiculous, Like we on the right. Huh, who's that on the right.

That's Pete Culchan on the right.

Yeah, I came on with him, I knew, Yeah.

I grew up with.

They told Jimmy. And then right up here in the foreground, right right, closest to the barrel on the left, the shorter guy.

That's Wally Blum from what's seventy four?

Oh, I know.

He was the rock for a while, man.

Yeah.

If you see the rock now as opposed to Kevin when we went through certain the other guys.

Uh, that's that's yeah, that's all Wally did that.

That's Wally and his boys.

I've been trying to get him on the show for a while. Wally.

You can't get Willy on a phone, forget about it.

He's busy.

I see him occasionally here and there, but he's always busy, and he always has the right ideas and the right thing.

It's always a.

Positive thing with him.

Yeah, and he's just he's a working man. He's never gonna stop.

All right.

I think this might be the last one we have here, the ski trip, the ski races.

That's me, Jimmy Lang and his cousin Kenny Dangerson, who's actually achieving the two three right now in the middle. Guy.

Uh yeah, we were up there.

We weren't bad skiers, but like those races, like these guys thought it was on a level.

So we just decided to go to the wine shack.

And do we do best.

Just drink you guys want to go first, Absolutely fuck out of here down.

And that's it.

Uh nice.

I think I have this one too. This is your two eighty three one. I don't think I showed this one. Yeah, So that's that's definitely the last one, right, that's two eighty three.

After nine eleven, unfortunately, obviously they had a lot of funerals to deal with, and our old Captain Charlie Williams was a chief in the Night Battalion, so we would go up there and do the tours while they were at the funerals during the day, and I think I think I did eight tours up there, and uh, it was a lot. I mean, obviously it's fresh, you know, I mean, and people are stopping by every day, and then they're looking for the guys that worked there, and

That's Wayne piet Yeah right.

There, right between myself and John Flay. Yeah, that's why his son just got on a job. So I got a son in two y three, actually, is that right? Yeah, he put in the group chat. We were very happy for him.

I said, oh, he needs to caught a cigarettes and be like.

It's problem his name, Mike. What was your experience working with Gleason at Club Nelson?

Maddy Gleeson in middle Eames O'Neal.

I like that, Uh, Matty was good. I had Maddie, like you know, Maddie. Maddie is a little bit of an eccentric guy, like you know, kind of a free spirit dude.

But listen, you know I got a special plate like he he would do silly things.

And guys who were you know, I have a special place for silly things because you know, like I don't like the kick guys in the down like you try to try to Mike je to help you out, but he was in the engine, so he really wasn't under my speak.

Uh, the engine took care of him.

We we you know, I try to find him a little bit.

Tell you this.

Like anything else, man, he's you know, never heard anybody, you know what I mean, his own thing, Uh go to a fire.

Matt knew his job. The only problem with Mattie was when.

He cooked and we fucking pot me kick.

That's the song of a good chef, though, isn't it a good chef? Dirty? Is everything? Well?

He was okay, but like it was too.

Much, like like it's like the only elaborating like was it saffronny bowl? And I'm like, what the fuck this bro?

I need this.

Dude seven dollars and for that that's a man.

I don't give an I'm not watching them. But it's like it's enough already.

Oh guys, they're trying to eat eat, you know, prob, we have to get up down because somebody fucking finished eating.

Give me a break.

No, he just all did you cook it all in the fly house?

I did? I did? Yeah, I like cooking.

I actually did one of the things I missed the most. Yeah, not ever, you know, every night.

But like if they were like stock, I'm like, I'll make this, like you know you got your five or six staples.

I was gonna say, what's in your wheel? What's your best meal in your wheel?

There?

Bro, chicken Uh chicken palm no, and so on?

On your two boys, right, uh lasagna. I can make a nice if I'm working up and down and making.

Ices on you.

Craig Sulbino and Bobby Joying. Oh, I was gonna make it all three of them. Then it was better. Grandma's like get crazy, but they go, I'll tell you what, Bro, it's pretty good. But you can't make for an irishman. No, my father's you're be gonna make it. So my father's a good cooking the fire house. Then it made the mistake when I retired because like I was working in su So, I was working five days a week, working till ne o'clock, so my wife was cooking every day.

Fuck you want I'm doing you if you can change anything in your career, if you go back and change anything, what would you do?

I could change anything. I might have studied, Like I never really wanted to be a boss. Yeah, it's not that I'm stupid, that's besides the point. It's just I studied. I was studying for the test that was gonna be in October of two thousand and one.

Like means you mean like you was studying all day.

The wives work, so we would study hard till like two o'clock separately, but at two o'clock we go to the bar with the girls, do at the train or the bus or whatever. But you do know, play pok or whatever. Fuck. But I think I legit would have passed that test. But I tell the truth then I said it out loud. Since then, I mean, everything happened to me worked out for me, right. I mean, I know guys on hereil with their crazy questions, but I'm

I was gonna ask you the same thing with a little bit different wakups. But if you can go back tomorrow where you're going, because you you know, got a pretty unique career and dabbled in a little bit of a couple of different areas. If you're going back tomorrow, where you're gonna go kind of a thing.

So if I had to go back tomorrow, Yeah, I go back to SIU because I ended up working at the end of SIU because, uh, two of the guys there got sent to the headquarters and then one of the other guys got promoted.

So it was me, just me and my part of Dave.

And uh when I first met Dave, when I first got there, like he was he wasn't a fifty days yet, but he was there. Uh days a hart Jargia.

You know, they is a lot younger than I am.

And uh, he was never a cop, but he could. He's one of the best cops ever worked with. He just has it and he doesn't stop. And you know when you first get out of there, like, all right, bro, how how far we going with this? He was able to push me past points I would have put myself, so I would go back tomorrow and be with him.

I saw him his morning for breakfast.

I went and breakfast nice. Uh. Yeah, I do miss the chase. I do miss the the investigations. I miss working with the guys, you know, the different stuff that happens every day. But after thirty five years, like I just had enough. I just you know, it's time.

Yeah, man, there's nothing enough, buddy.

I was actually gonna ask you that, you go, bro, do you keep in touch with with anybody like I do?

I keep touch with as many people as I can. You know, there's just group b's and stuff. Yeah, I don't. Unfortunately, we had Snyder's funeral. That's an unfortunate way to get together. But I did see everybody, and I was happy to see everybody, you know. I mean, you know, I could say at this moment, like you know, Joe Schmid's a jerk off, but the reality is like he was a jerko for a minute. He probably I'm a jerk off. Reality. I didn't really work with many bad guys over my

I'm not dealing with him. You know, everybody, we're all fine, man.

Then we all talked shit like say is say that I find that that's what that's what you do right, and it's it's never you know, and it never bothers me. It's never personal. If you don't like me, great, no problem. Don't buy me a beer. I won't find you a behind.

Me when I go down the basement.

Yeah.

Just make sure you're behind me when I go down the basement.

Yeah yeah, yeah, how you feel about me, just make sure I'm behind you.

You find me all right, We'll take care.

But what are you doing with yourself now? Mike? Were retired? I mean you just retired recently, right, Yes, we went on.

You know, we're by sun, graduated college, went on a cruise. We nineteen people. We had a great time, just kind of hanging around the house. You know. Like my wife wost our job nineen years ago. She's been home take care of the kids. Now we're in the pool every day. You know, just just just I said, just take it to you with the summer, give me a couple of months and then you.

Know, there's a couple of things we got to do, you know, and we'll do it right.

My daughter'srom Jacksonville, so I'm gonna go down there for the JAT game in December. Uh, she's not too far for my father. So it'll be like I get a two for one out of that.

Yeah.

Nice. Yeah, just little things here and there. You know.

Of course we're plan a big trip somewhere. I think you want to go to see next week?

Is my birthday? Next week?

Just for the night sext to gamble. I don't so show gamble. I'll drink the free drinks.

Will be all sad.

How how old are the combination?

How old am I?

I'll be fifty six.

That's all right.

Again, I got twenty So yeah.

It's coming. Bullet, we're loop just passed. Somebody's present me.

Ask the questions. Do you have the dream that all mustra time guys have that they get a run and they can't find their year.

No, because I wasn't in the fire house when I retired.

I right right, right right.

He's looking for the gun. It's like, where's my cut?

I'm on a video camus and me and d You can't find a Dunkin Donuts fast enough.

Cream chocolate latte.

Dave runs on Duncan man. He knows that he can find a Duncan in the middle of the desert if you have to.

He's unbelievable.

Yeah, that's the dream I have. Like we were a lot of vide guns like Duncan.

And you know he does not You do not want day. You don't want anybody that you're looking for, you man, the guys who were there before, you know, just you don't want that happening.

But the Marshals is a good thing. I know there's a bunch of guys.

Going in soon. You know they're they're asking questions and stuff and people you know, you said, we don't know marshals on this. You have to have the mindset of like, first of all, you're to be in school for six months, right. Once you get past that, it's fine. You learn a lot of stuff. It's totally different than what you do now. Like you're in the fire house a couple of days, but the guys are working a lot now because it

Ryman don't really like five walks in the office and goes to the.

Ball because you know, bro, I can't did that roster on Wednesday and walked out like and the bossill figure it out with a pen or whatever. Like that's over. Like you you're on the computer. You have to make up reports, you have to talk to people. See fireman, don't talk to people. You show up, the house is on fire, everybody's out. You wreck it and you leave, and now we come and now the pictures is that is in the terrible. You feel horrible to these people.

But that's naturally.

You have to walk upright and talk like a human being, and you like a crow magnum man.

I feel the peple again.

I'm just dealing with the innocuous regular. It's an accident fire, you know, yeah, it's you know, you have to put that, you know, listen, at the top of the list is the top of list. That these guys want to be on the top of the list. They want to go do it and they'll be good at it. The people who teach there are good. You do get a lot of information in the outside. She's a fantastic You do go on some field trips. Those are nice, and uh you know, it's it's just a lot to absorb, especially

And you do interview the chiefs. The chiefs, both chiefs.

Will interview you before you go and they'll tell you no one likes you. This, this is where you're in b bro. You know, just let me know now. But everybody, I want the gun.

Then I got a gun. Great, it'll good for you.

Was there any guys like you know in the fire department they have a legendary I was like, this guy was a legendary firefighter. They had that in the marshals, like legendary marshals.

So I don't know too many, like older retired marshals, but.

I can tell you this. You know this. You know, I don't know one hundred and ten marshals or whatever. There are some very good marshals and they're very good guys, and they're very low key, like no one really you know.

They just do their job and they do it well.

But as far as like old timers and stuff like that, you know, I've heard names, but I don't know them, Like I don't know they were like Tom Kaine was the chief fire Marshal, like I said, fire minute seventy seven. He was, by all accounts an excellent marshal, and of course went to the chief Fire marshals, so they like that.

Well, but the cops used to do before we got the marshals, right, they used to handle fire investigation.

No, the cops, the fire marshals have handled fire investigations since the seventies and they became police officers a whole big thing, like they explained to you. But I'm not gonna lie of you. That probably to sleep that day.

That was like the history of the Marshalls thing.

But I remember being a cop and Marshalls committed the the precast when I can arrest and because my dad was a fireman, like you could s the because that wear suits and this is the you know, early nineties, right, an Irish fireman suit in the early nineties. Bro, come on, man, you're like one step of the Bubba Lucky Trumps guy like old you know Corduroys, the boat, you know, the

Five marstles he.

Bent.

It was a fire marshal at some point he was a red cap, like he explained the whole thing one day to ma.

I'm like, that's nice.

The red cap.

Yeah, I mean he was proud of it. I'm proud of it. I'm proud of almost everything I did that we talked about some stuff we didn't bring out up. The best part of the whole boat jobs and and what we do is the amount of people you get to meet, the great people and interacting with people you know. You don't you don't you remember all the good guys.

I mean, I enjoyed helping people. I just wish I didn't have to, you know, And.

Well they only call the union when they need help, right, So I mean you're the guy.

Yeah, people would call like just because they figured, Like, I don't really want to ask this question. No, I mean I will not tell anybody any any of your problems or anything, right right, Whatever you tell me is me and you. But when I get a cold free in the morning, and the quest first question is can I work with stitches? I'm like fun, like get out of there. You know, that's the simple response. And then the wife goes, who is that? Don't even worry about it? You know.

I used to get those who is this? Crank call?

Crank call?

Hang up? I tell him I got that one one time when I was uh uh in the Union. The guy calls me up at like eleven o'clock and I can we got a real issue, real problem. I went down to a quarter mess today. They only gave me one pair of shorts. Prom Yeah, yeah, that's your problem. He called me eleven o'clock at night.

That's my favorite. My other favorite, Ole barn on the phone like somebody calls like well like hyperventilating, like, yo, yeah, we got a problem.

I said, first of all, we don't have a problem.

You have a problem, Well tell me what happened and out the side of its problem. Because Tommy McGough is the Retirreal Time two seventeen. He's in one of those pictures in the Rock. Tommy Goff's famous line is, uh, you'll never know how to get in trouble get out of trouble if you've never been in trouble. So you have to know how to you know, there's certain things you can deal with and certain things. All right, we have to do this this program for everything, like if

I don't know about weed. They never told us we could or couldn't do it. I don't know.

He got weed.

He got weed. Yeah, we wet every day. Good for you, buddy, we every day? O great?

Yeah.

So yeah, it's it's interesting you guys didn't touch on the nine to eleven. I can't believe it.

It's coming up.

You guys didn't bring it up. That's shocking.

Swinging away, bro, No, what do you guys do?

You don't? All right? All right? So so nine to eleven morning, right, Yeah, I up a championship get before he got ringined out. So nine to eleven morning. I have two concerns. I got instore security cameras, which I hated doing, but it was all right. And I gotta get off TUESDA night because I gotta play this game again. This is the concern. So I get on the Arizona Bridge and as soon as I get on the bridge, like where you can't see the city.

They cut the radio off and tell us what happened. I see down its smoke. I'm like, this is dead. So the guys thought I was going to work with the day Ridge.

So we just thought, you know, we didn't. Now I had to watch the TV. We see it like flog go to the firehouse. I never should hangover so fast as that day, right, So I called the guy Jimmy Lane White works in the building like, oh my god, she was fine.

Get to the city. Do we gotta do with it for eleven hours?

Whatever?

So now everybody's settling down.

Now we know where we're at. I get a phone call in my apartment from John Flynn, the big head of guy. He goes, listen, one of our guys passed away on the rotation and he's in thirty five truck. But they were still like twelve or thirteen from that house. They wanted us to take care of him. He goes, you're gonna be the family the ease on. I go, okay, So he's going through this whole big rigam roll. I

He goes, you're next cop. You'll figure it out.

He hung up on me on Oh now the cop he's back and play.

This is bullshit.

So I ended up being the leis on for Vinnie Merlo's family. His father, John's retired chief of the ninth Battalion. He's since passed again. Great family, Debbie's down in South Carolina. I still take Kavid touch on. I usually speak to her sometime around this time. A year i've been.

I went to the twentieth anniversary.

She invited my wife and I out at Manhattan Sty with all of any friends, and I thought that was a very rewarding job. I know, you guys find knew lesons that you know that they were doing it. It was new.

We all got thrown into it, and he was right.

The X cop thing helped because I'm pretty organized and I was able to take care of a lot of things. I remember going to the church that by his house and I had I had been theready. I chartted the whole thing out, like these people are gonna sit here, you know roughly. So at the time there was no ceremonial unit as there is now. But these guys show up. They called me, they only like two hours at the time. I'm like two hours.

I said, I'll give you like a half hour.

Bro. They show up. I have all these charts and I hand them to them and they're like, you want a job. I'm like, I'm never doing another funeral again. I said, this is it. You know, this guy's friend of mine. Now I know, like I'm done, Like here we go. I ended up being ceremonial for fourteen years. We're working with Joe and yeah, I actually I didn't go in by the way, Craigsilbino got me into it, and I loved it. Another great experience that you want

Out the quirks. He's not a jerk.

You just don't know the quirks like you can't deal with it. I like the quirk you guys.

I like, Karen, does you work with McVeigh Mike, yes, Mike.

Squared away? Who Elvis?

Elvis? Yeah?

Oh my god, no.

Mike's grade and so right, Bobby, Bob, Bob sorry son Steve.

Yeah, Bob's good.

Bob's always happy.

You know, he's great. I worked with him seventeen and was.

The guy that was in uh. He taught us in Probary School and then he went to the ceremony and uh Shirret.

Cat Chirk cat with oh Jimmy sorry, yes, the bell ring, yeah, bell ring?

But what was this thing down in uh in Proby School? What do he's do like right or something like that? Like he would yell something out right.

Yeah, yeah he did that. That was their attempt at making us, like, you know, with the drill instruct thing. I mean come on, yeah, yeah, that was that was different.

Now Jimmy Jimmy tote extracation in pro school, right.

I got to know him through ceremony pretty like he's he's genuinely sweetheart of a guy. He can ring about know that about it.

He still is he still around? Oh yeah he retired?

Is he?

Yeah?

He? Uh?

Joel ap points season occasionally. You know, I've seen him in a couple of things. I've seen him at the Silla picnicing on the twelveth of the thirteenth October. Whenever it is.

Yeah, he's always around, He's he's.

He was in a proby class, right, Steven.

Silla, Yeah, yep he was.

Uh. I forgot what squatt he was in, but he was in our group because yeah, no.

No, Frank Silla. Is that his brother or his father?

That's his brother?

He was what I said, somebody's telling me it's his fall.

There was a lot of Sillers, there was Hyeah, Frank's the most prominentvious with the foundation, right. Uh they I forgot the other brothers, oh Russ Russell those they owned a sporting goods store ons that now in Victory Sports. A couple of brothers Frank owned something else at the time. Steve, Steve was always doing something. Man, Steve never stopped like he's always on the move, you know what I mean, always the chopping on his signe's mouth. Hey, Johnny, that's

You know. We didn't even do our World of the Day that the little I don't know what is it gonza Uh. Neil gave it to us.

Yeah.

Yeah, I didn't hear it work, so I was waiting for it.

That's him.

He said it was you.

No slipping there a couple of times. But then I picked up on him, like.

I haven't done that.

Yeah, huh yeah that was something we had.

Watched and I broke you both all the time because he had the accident.

Yeah yeah he did that. Sure, sure, sure, that's a character we just had him on. Uh.

I remember meeting years ago with Neil. How did THEE one go? I didn't see it, but you gotta watch. It's good. Good feedback, okay, good check it out.

Now you're now you're a subscriber. Look at you.

You know you're fired up, and now you get the governor.

When you're in you can watch it. When you're in the hot top with the old lady. You know I wasn't get him.

We need we need a chef for we need a chef for the boat trip.

So you know now you're officially invited to the boat trip. Mike. You have a boat trip every year in August. There's the boat trip that's in Manhattan. We take out the old John J. Hoby boat five boat. We cruise around Manhattan, drink our faces off, eat our faces off, and all the guests from the past year get to go on.

So now you're fishing, I'll go upstairs and I'll sell this like honey.

I got a free cruise.

A bunch of drunk and fireman.

It's a guy only thing.

Sorry, picked me up.

Sorage fist.

Make it that far sausage. You guys get like the guy Dave I want this morning?

Can I call it him?

Like?

I don't think it's calling Joe bro if we didn't.

But people call in calling.

Video and arrest bad people.

He has no idea about podcast or phone a friends. We're gonna phone a friend. You gotta help me, honey, I'm not stories that's not true.

No, no, no, but it is that time.

Isn't that time?

About this time?

Yeah, you want to buy a tip or a Marshall tip.

It's time for they get it in there. The old school ship.

To the day.

Of the very Oh you gotta do the other two commercial stuff.

Yes, we do so, Mike, you can do whichever one you feel is best. You want to do a little devil of a couple. But whatever you feel is the troops out they can benefit from.

So if you are sitting in the firehouse right now with some senior guy trying to tell you something and you don't care for what's being said, you should probably just listen and understand because you get a lot of that now with the generations, you know, like they're big on the well we should do this, like bro, this is how we do things, adapt to it and figure out. But not everybody's always right.

Like I said, nobody's above being educated.

So for you older guys who think you can tell the young kids what to do and how many times you get this to buy us? Oh, you guys are the college kids. The college kids, there's no generation, they're no different than any other generations. You just have to figure out how to work with them. If you have kids at home, you'll not work with them. But you gotta just both sides gods each other, otherwise you have problems. Then you get the young guys, you know, over throw

The millennials.

Yeah, all the millennials, all right, But you know, it's just a matter of like listening to both sides and don't get the bosses about whatever you do. You know, Timmy mcarth another another great one. First full problems and second bore problems. Make them first fur problems don't cause problems, just both sides to each other. Fire has to be much better. Eighty two trucks seems to be a good place where they listen to each other. I get good young guy feedback when I see them, a good older

Make sure you tell them you can't work with stitches.

Bro, bro, bro, I have ten of those stories like like, what are you gonna do now? I'm like, oh God, where are you?

Rank?

Crank calls.

My bad idea?

Boys, is this a phone.

Call? A do on the outside? No?

No, no, we get outside phone. Forget the apartment phone, all these things in the tape. Oh, everybody out there who has a problem and wants to talk to the delegate. I told my guys this all the time, and people don't listen. Having been in the Lord force the world again for four years, don't text your problems to anybody.

Or or or.

Well that's a whole different.

Honestly, don't text anybody anything. If you want to.

Know something about something, Nobody can ever tell you what you said on the phone unless you're post being taped, and if your phones being taped, you've got a lot more problems in texting people by working for the mayor.

At this point, say oh, here we go.

You heard it here first.

You heard it here first?

I heard that was all right.

But we're gonna play two commercials quick guns. Yeah you get the old let me get the help part.

I'm going to do New Jersey Fire. So you gotta say.

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All right, there's a bit of a long one. Did you know that incorporating behavioral health screenings into annual medical evaluations is now recommended under the twenty twenty two NFPA fifteen eighty two Medical Evaluations is now recommended a standard on comprehensive occupational medical program for fire departments. To help you effectively implement these screenings, the FRCE he formed a group of experts to offer exclusive guidance for fire departments.

They just sent me mind. I have to do mine. I do well. Lere's three years now. They do a mental screening on us.

They do fine. What's up? Thanks for coming on, bro, No, thanks for having me? Kevin standing out stories here?

Man?

What what is that on the factor? Is that you? And that says O'Neil.

What is that where all my kids got me a couple of years ago.

That's pretty cool.

It's not bad.

That's a scary helmet back there too. Two aye, three is give me a little Willies. The man's very scary.

I borrowed the background if we down thestairs a thousand stories.

Yeah, Marshall is excellent.

We never were at.

All.

We had a lot of guys in the chat tonight. Got new guys that we've never seen for probably a lot of Marshalls. So make sure you hit the like and subscribe right.

Guns, Yes, for sure, it was. I stuck that up in there before for those guys hit it up. It was.

We got a couple of good shows coming out. We've got a Warbaums fire show, with Jay Jonas and two of the guys that passed away at that fire. Their kids wound up marrying each other. It's a great story. Yeah, so we got that coming up. I don't know what date that is. We got a couple of hot charges.

Right, I think that's coming out.

Take a look at you right now, the twenty sixth of this month.

Yes, right, we got a couple of the hot charges coming.

I don't think we're going to be on next week, right, the twelve.

Next week, I will be down in wild Wood at the Wildwood Fire Show. I'll be down there with the wife and kids. I'll see pee wee down there and all the other guys.

You're gonna be you'll be there for for the eleventh.

Correct, I'll be at the fire house for the eleven. I don't let's see you. I'll be there. Everybody's gonna be there. Raise your hand. Oh sorry, guys, love you guys.

I'm only kidd I can't find it quick enough, you, dick.

I'll play a whole lot of minute. How about this one?

Yes, that one's even better.

I can all right.

My great story is great career. I enjoyed being in probably school with you, who would have thought thirty five years later we would have hooked up. It's amazing. I appreciate. It's a lot of fun and you still have all your hair and I know, well there's a kick and a kick in the excellent. We'll see you guys. Well, i'll see you doing the week for a cup of Joe if we go, and then we'll see you next Thursday. Until then, guys, stay low and go.

All right, everybody will see it, the big one. Thank you again, Mike.

All right, We're good night everyone.

Yep.