I just gave you.
I just give you a.
Whole lot of it, and you gotta go back near by.
Gracious 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, Roofe, Welcome back. I feel like I didn't see it talk about it because they don't even know what happened.
Oh really, is that how right?
Mike, Welcome back to again Sulty Experienced podcast. It's the only one that brings just Lou and Coops to the podcast tonight. I'm doing it all. I'm doing the I am your host or Rookie's partner, I am the producer, I'm behind the controls tonight, I'm doing it all. We won't tell you what happened right before this because I had a major faulk pop. But listen, you guys didn't see it. So this is where we are. We got another one good. We had another good show. Feet tonight,
great stories back? What's that?
It was like Groundhog Day again?
Maybe we did it and we didn't we didn't go live. Maybe we started talking for like the first three in the four minutes and Mike's going, you're.
Not live.
After I just was going, Cools, you're the men. You're really doing it, Cools.
Yep, but this is where we are. Welcome back, Love ahead nation. What's happening tonight? What's going on up there? Ruffy has does he getting cold? Get?
Nah? Not too bad?
A little bit of color. It's nice starting.
Shopping off the bow yet getting ready because you'll be hitting the.
Oh yeah, sure for sure.
Like what's the estimated time of kill? Like when do you when do you think you want to?
Yeah? Last week of October?
Lest you be heading to Iowa?
Yeah, I'll be going, well here, I'll try and get one here and I go in Iowa.
Ohio, somewhere one in your backyard, right.
Yeah yeah, sure, sure sure, and then.
You head over to Iowa and it's just kill bow.
Right yeah, definitely kill mode. What are you doing?
I don't kill things like that, bro. That's not my bag, baby.
It's not my bag.
What are you doing? What do you kill the Waits kill the Waights? What do you got date night? You said coming up?
I get date night on Sunday, me and my old lady. Yep, can we go out to dinner?
We're going.
I don't want to say what's going I don't want to hear what they're gonna say in the chap bro We're going to see air Supply O loveere is.
That Westbury music fas Yeah?
A long time, yeah, and I believe in that. I'm taking two vacations. Were going to Mexico and I'm going to Spain. So I had my wife print up these fdmy shirts bootlegs once you did Hi myself. I'm gonna bring like fifteen of them to Spain, go to the firehouse there and maybe film a little show in Spain. See what it's like. Maybe I'll even do a ride along problem in Spain. You know what I'm saying.
You know how to do it, of course, and I how to do it.
So we got a great guy on tonight man Got on Way Back, Got on the Way Back has a great story about nine to eleven. So I don't know how to put that banner up super Chat. You know what to say you want to ask making a question, put it up in the super chack, get a couple of whatever you do, don't do what the rev did. Don't put up five hundred dollars, and then we have to try to get it back to you unless you want to. If you if you feel like donating five
hundred dollars, you know what I mean. We're not going to say no. You know, me and Louis are on you know, pensions, paycheck to paycheck.
You know what I mean.
It's tough, tough, fixed income.
All right.
You want to get a Manian brown?
You want to do the ads first.
Good idea. I'm due to this hold on, but first we got to do. We gotta go with what the show is brought to you by, and here we go.
Need a new floor for your fire station. Choose an Armor Tough interlocking flooring system to cover your aging, stained, crack, concrete or epoxy floor. Armour Tough has been around for nearly twenty years and has proven to be the best choice and renovating your station's floors, covering nearly six hundred floors across the country. Proudly made in America, Armour Touff comes with a lifetime warranty and are usually installed in one or two days, depending on the size of your station,
with virtually no disruption in your station's operation. Our system is guaranteed from chipping, cracking, peeling, braking, or staining. The tiles are stained resistant and impervious to chemicals or volatiles that are used in the fire service. Damage one tile, lift and replace without anyone knowing. And once installed, your floor would be easy to clean with just soap and water. Is your current floor slippery? Eliminate the slip with armor tough.
You have to be friction.
We need to know about the friction coal fisher. But anyway, dude, if you look at those floors, man, they don't chip, scratch, they don't fade. And here's what Vince is doing for you. He's giving you the logo of your firehouse for free. That's right, fireman's favorite word.
Free.
They look great in the firehouse. They don't slip, slip resistant. You know all about the friction coal fishing. We got We gotta edit that commercial. It's a little long. Vince is demand. He's a great guy. His product is good, Like he said, over six hundred firehouses, no complaints, well maybe this one or two, but you know you can't help it. Go go call Vince bro I'm the tough He's the guy. All right, Let's do Jimmy Guinea's Commercial really quick.
Established in nineteen thirty and under the current owner since nineteen eighty seven, the New Jersey Fire Equipment Company handles a complete line of fire department equipment and supplies. Headquartered in green Brook, the company operates full three M Scott service facilities in Ridgefield Park and Tom's River staff by ten fully authorized Scott's certified technicians with a fleet of
six fully equipped service fans. All New Jersey Fire technicians and sales representatives are active or retired firefighters, officers or chief officers, career and volunteer. They understand the business and the.
Importance of their work.
New Jersey Fire has represented Scott since Earl Scott entered the SCBA business at the end of.
World War II.
Among other leading manufacturers represented by New Jersey Fire are Globe and Fireedex turnout gear, Mercedes Hose, task Force Tips and Akron Brass, Higenol fire Hooks, Arcticompressors, MSA, Carn's Helmets, Kemguard, FOHM the Light and Duo safety Ladders, BA Face shield Protectors, Truckman's Choice Saws, Groves, gear Racks and washer Driders, Supervac Fans, RPI Streamlight, and many others. A New Jersey incorporated and based company. Sales and service are limited to the state
of New Jersey. Find us now at www dot NJFE dot com.
That's www.
Dot NJFE dot com.
Excellent, that's a great company.
Man.
I went out to dinner with those guys when he went, when he went to Jersey to the trade show. He's got all hardcore paid five fives. Jersey Firefight is working for them, bro, So they know what they're doing over there. How about now? Now can we bring him in roof? What do you think you're ready? I'm ready. I'm ready with the sound. Oh I'm also sound effects guy. So I don't know if you knew that. Well, I'm actually doing it all tonight. Bro. You know what I'm saying. Let me get up on it.
You do it?
Do you ain right?
Coming to the stage, Lieutenant Mickey Cross and Mike Cologne.
And there's Mike. Mike was kind enough to go help help us go out to Mickey's and set them up on a laptop. You're all right, Mike. You're a roving reporter on the scene tonight. Yes, Sam on location, on location, Mike at Mickey Cross's house. All right, Uh, before we get into Mickey's Korea, which spans back to nineteen sixty eight. I don't want to say nothing, Mickey, but that's the year me and Louis were born. I don't want to make you feel old and nothing, but that's the year
we were born. But let's get patriotic first, Mick, here we go.
Cut me, Mick, 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.
Awesome and much thanks to Christine, Mickey's wife, who really helped us pull this together. She sent a lot of pictures. I did a little communication with that. You did all right? There, you did alright? Marrying a good job.
You have to get something to eat.
I hope she's bringing something back for you. Brother. Welcome to the show. Thanks for taking the time out to spend with us.
Thank you appreciate writing. I appreciate it.
All right, let's go back a little bit rough. We got to crank up the way back machine. Crank up the way back machine. You're ready, one, We're going back to nineteen sixty eight. Yep, you decided to become That's when you become a cop. But but first, where did you grow up? Was your datify him and a cop?
No? There was no cops fireman in my family.
No, no where what happened?
I grew up in Uh. I was born in the South Bronx. And then when I was about five, my family we moved to the projects in Long Island City where it was with projects. Yeah, we lived in the projects for about all We were there for about seven or eight years. And then my folks bought a house in a small town in New York City, believe it or not, a small town in your College.
Point, New York College Point, well.
With a main street. And that's where my folks bought a house. And so I was twelve when you know, I went over there, and then I went to school, and uh, I still had no interest in you. I didn't know what I was going to do. But one day I was watching a police show. I was a kid, I was thirteen. I was sitting there watching the police show. I said, I want to do that, and that's it set the bug in me to uh get on the
police depart But I ended up finished. Actually, I quit high school and I got a job as a clerk. I was a mail clerk and then one day I'm boxing the mail with the other guys and they were like they never in their forties and I'm seventeen. Oh my look him. I said, Oh my god, am I going to be doing this when I'm forty. So I went back to school.
I looked for you.
I went back to Brian Bryant High even in high school, and I got my diploma. And as soon as I got my mid diploma, I remember that I was walking down the street and I got off the subway and there was a Marine Corps recruited there right on the corner of Northern Boulevard and Queen's there, and I walked by and I said, I looked at it, and I said, oh my god, that's what I wanted to do. To had the kid and the guy to dress blues, you know, standing at Marine Corps bills men body mine in spirit
and all that stuff. I went and I didn't even think about it, and I just did it on impulse. I find the papers and I came home told my father I just signed the Marine Corps. He had a fit down. He's a veteran. He fought in World War Two? Did he Vietnam was just starting at the time, and he got He actually was upset with me for doing that. But three days later he drove me to Grand Central Station and I was on a train to Paras Island. So I got down the Marine Corps, but I didn't
go in the regular Marine Corps. Joined the reserves, so I only did a year after duty and I got out. And then I got this great job. I'm nineteen years old and I get this fantastic job.
I go.
I applied for a clerk's job at Manufacturer's handover bank, and I take the aptitude test and a woman calls me and she says, mister Kross, would you like to work in our computer department? And I applied for a clerk's job. So I said, well, what's the salary?
Man?
It was double the salary of the clerk.
Sture, I'll take it.
That's time to be my computers. I started.
I didn't even know what the computer war.
I was just gonna say, it was the stunning.
I didn't even know it was IBM fourteen o one. It was a new system just came out, and here I am. I'm a young kid. I mean, I'm working computers making more money than my father.
That's great.
I mean, it was just crazy how it happened. So I stayed with computers for about three years. I ended up working for Yashifa University in their computer department, and I was making good money, and then, uh, pretty crazy. The fire department called. I took it. I went to the fire department. I mean, the police department called me. Right, it was nineteen sixty eight, and I took a pay cut to go to the police.
I tell, yeah, you and me both, bro, But that's what.
I wanted to do. I wanted that excitement. I was so bored with computers. I remember I was at night I would dream that I was operating at computer and wake up and have to go to work, and I was so disgusted. I was tired of ready for working computer in my dreams. And I had to go not do with you know, I couldn't. I was making great money, but I couldn't stand it. And so I went to the police department, which turned out to be quite an experience.
I ended up unfortunately, Martin Luther King was assassinated while I was in the academy. Oh man, So they shut the academy down and they sent this out of the street. We weren't even fully trained. And I went to the one O three precincts in Jamaica, Queens, which is the one of the busiest precincts in the city. Believed or notis in Queens, but it's very busy. So I got quite an experience there. And then about a year later they reopened the academy and I went back to the academy and I finished at.
The that's crazy that they sent you back if they were a year in Jamaica. Oh yeah, yeah, how were you going to learn that that?
We didn't.
We didn't feel we have to finish the academy. Yea, their rules. So I went back to the academy and then after I finished, I got assigned to the South Bronx. I was in the what To precinct, which was right next to the Fall one, which was called Ford Apache.
Oh, I was gonna ask you, that's what I was in the.
Four to two, which was the same neighborhood. You know, it was pretty crazy there.
It was.
It was pretty wild. And then I asked, I wonder I wanted to get added. I wanted to get to the Manhattan because I was young. I was in my early twenties, I was single. All the action was taking place in the East Village at the time, same Mark's place. The whole hippie thing was starting. The hippie girls were going top my brothers and all this.
I ain't mad, but I like Mickey bro Yeah.
I want to see my captain, I said, Captain, I want to transfer to Manhattan. So the captain says to me, I'll never figure that, he goes the only way you're going to get added the four too is to go to a worst precinct, one with a higher crime rate. And I says, which one is that. He says, the ninth Believe it or not, the Ninth Night, Ninth Precinct on East fifth Street in Manhattan that time had the highest homicide rate in the city in New York.
Was that by alphabet city.
Down there, that's correct, Alphabet drugs down there, man, it was a drug capital of America. I went to In fact, I lived there and I blocked where it was on. All the drugs actually lived there. You should see. I'd look out my window in the morning and to be four or five drug dealers doing it. Whatever they were doing, it was crazy.
So you went to the night.
Well anyway, I finished up, I left the cops and I went back to school. I was going to go to law school, but I went back to school and it just it all didn't work out. So I ended up driving a bus for a while. And then one day I came home. I was bored out of my mind. I didn't know what I was going to do. I was thinking of going to nursing school. I didn't know, and I got always married then not talking about this wife, but my first wife, and Laureli gives me, she goes,
you gotta let from the fire the bar. So I ended up going on the fire the bar, but I never wanted to be a firefighter. I took the test because I was in a bar with these guys and we all, you know, clapping hammer. I'll go to take that test with taking it off to the bar taking a test. I remember waiting up that morning when I hang over and I go Oh my god, I gotta take this goddamn test. I had no interest in the fire the ball and I got but I was driving the bus. I was bored out of my mind. So
the fight department call I went and UH. I went through the I almost quit it when I was in the academy because I couldn't stand it. I couldn't stand I was in the academy. I didn't really want to be a firefighter, but then I ended up getting When I got UH finished academy, they sent me to Manhattan engined in two sixth onst. Thirty seventh Street, and I was there two or three weeks, and I loved I fell in love with the job. Really did a complete reversal.
That's a single engine making.
Job, and world a single engine. Maybe excuse me?
Is that a single engine?
Yeah? Single engine on thirty seventh Street. It's right, It's not far. It's on the seventh Day Avenue, near seventh Day Avenue. It's not far from Madison Square. Guy. No. I stayed in twenty six oh for about three years, and then I transferred to a lot.
On hod On, Hold on, hold on, before we start speeding past, how long did it take you to catch your first job when you went there.
Oh, my first job. I was there a couple of months, and I'm talking about a real job really, yeah, yeah, I got you which Macy's fire nineteen seventy seven firefight had died at that fire, one of our guys died. And that was a really bad fire. I remember that it was just pitch black inside there because there was no light coming in. You know that Macy's is totally enclosed.
There's no windows there, and it was totally black. And I was operating a line on the fire and the guy, uh, some firefighter was actually died about twenty feet for me. I didn't know it at the time. Later we found his body, but the firefighter died. That was my first big job was Masony's fire. Think I think it was January seventy It was very cold that I it was January seventy seven, I think seventy eight something like that.
So who was the some of the officers there and the captain when he got there. Do you remember those guys?
No, I don't remember that it too. It was a long time.
Ago, seenior man, that you remember any guys that you were you.
Know, I tell you the truth at the moment you just hit me with that question.
Let me ask a question. You said that you went to the fire department and you immediately loved it. What is it that you loved about it? What was it that you were like, this is the place for me.
It was like the whole in linement, you know. And then every time you went out we were in midtowm Manhattan, you remember it. So there's always different things you were going to. I thought firefight, you just went the fires, but that that's that's not We go to all kinds of emergencies, medical emergencies, car accidents, big what is stuck elevators? That's a biggie mm hmm, I believe it or not. That's pretty serious. People go with the panic when they're stuck in Oliver.
Yeah, and and and the chickies around there didn't hurt either. Right, man Manhattan, you know.
He understood that question.
Oh you do that right? Yeah? Right?
The bars there's a lot of clubs and bars, and you know it's just that age you.
Were like, I found the right place. Look at me.
That's how I felt. I said, the city crowd went to heaven.
The city was ship hole then, right, to Mickey. Not in the seventies eighties.
Certain areas were rough, but now they would place as you could go with nice you know, some good jointe to hang out.
I'm sure you did, brother.
Yeah. And there was there was a firefighter bark Will suspenders. Yeah, firefighters, and I used to that was one of my regular George.
You did well there, right, Mick. You know what I'm saying.
Pretty good. I want to get into details. All right, that's all right.
You didn't even know about then, bro, I don't worry about it.
Well anyway too. I transferred to the ladder to four, which was only about five blocks away. It was on thirty first Street, right across from.
By the garden excuse me.
Right by Madison Square Garden, Yes, and right across the street from my firehouse. Directly across the street was h a rectory Saint Francis Church in Saint Francis Rectory and the fire department chaplain lived there, and it was far the Mike Judd and we became very good friends, very good friends, in fact, I could say this because he was public about his drinking, but he was in AA and me and him used to go to AA meetings together, and I'm not breaking his anonymity because he was public
about that. You know, me and him would go to AA meetings, then we go out for lunch where he was a great guy. And unfortunately he died on uh, he died on September eleventh. I thought I had his picture here, but I can't find we got we had it here, He got it good, good. Yeah, he was a wonderful guy, just so much fun. Yeah, fun guy.
I mean you're directly across the street from that, right across from there, right.
Directly across the street, direct his window. In fact, his bedroom were faced off firehouse. So I used to get up and wave to him.
Mickey, Why did you Why did you want to transfer to twenty four? What made you want to go there?
What?
What?
No? I just wanted I was in the engine for three years and I wanted to go to the truck. We called me a lot of company of truck, and I just because it's different, you know, you do more different things, you know, and it's more varied the kind of work you do. You know, engine company just normally just puts out, you know, puts water on fire. But a lot of company, there's a lot of different things.
You know what I'm saying. We take people that elevate is you know, a lot of different, a lot of different.
You did a long time there, You did like fifteen years there, right.
I was there fifteen years till I got promoted.
Yes, right, You have any really good jobs there that you remember? Any crazy jobs in four truck?
Oh? Boy, I can't you know? That just hit me with it. If I had time to think about it, I would.
Have taken the time. We're not going anywhere, you know.
I can't. I can't really think of anything. But we were very busy. We were always out doing something.
A lot of runs, right, A lot of a.
Lot of people, A lot of stuck elevators. That was a big one. Yeah, yeah, stuck elevators. Good mitt toime Manhattan, right and stuck elevator.
Were you on the same block as the fire patrol? Weren't they right there too?
The fire patrol wasn't too far from us. It wasn't the same block, no.
Right, I don't think of might maybe a block away or something.
Yeah, yeah, Well, anyway I said, I became a lieutenant, and I went to twenty six engine. Yeah, oh, I gotta tell you one little story. I knew you had that story. This is a good light you got is signed to Madison Square Garden the security because the Rolling Stones were there playing.
Wow, So here I am.
I'm a huge Rolling Stones fan. You know that was my favorite. Man. Here I get it signed the security from h to the Rolling Stones. So the Stones are playing and I am right behind the curtain and unifall with my radio. But I'm right behind the curtain. Nick Jagger is about seven eight feet away from me dancing, and you know because yeah, well when I was a kid, I saw it when they came to America the first time they were on the Ed Sullivan Show, and I was I saw it, and I says, oh my god,
they're fantastic. When I was twelve thirteen, I fell in love the Stones. And here I am not doing security for right next to the Stones and Mick Jagger comes off the stage and he gets near me and he trips and falls and I had to pick him up. So I had to pick up Mick Jagger and something also about it. No, he was so exhausted from dancing. Mick Jagger is a health freak. He doesn't use drugs and they don't drink. Wow, you don't know that. I
think he's a big druggy and all. That's No, he's a health freak.
I think Keith Riches takes enough drugs for the both of them.
I don't want to mention anything about Keith, but Jagger is a health freak. No drugs, no booze. He tripped because he was exhausted from dancing. And he was my favorite, my favorite. But I am picking them up.
You must have saw a lot. There must have been a lot of content.
I was going to say, was that one shot all the time.
Yeah, I went to I saw a lot. I saw all the big top dance and but the Stones are my favorite. There were phenomenal.
You don't have a job in Madison Square, Guten.
I can't remember anything. We probably had calls there, you know, but but I don't remember anything, anything big, anything serious, you know, I.
Mean sub sellers.
In Manhattan has a lot of crazy buildings.
Right yeah, Manhattanhattan is all is a very varied place to work, you know, That's what makes it interesting.
Though.
Also got ship fires because you got the ports there, you know, so you got all kinds of different jobs there, you know, all kinds of different, not just fires, all kinds of you know, any emergency, kind of emergency, anything you know, you go to you know, oh, do with smoke or do a gas?
You know, you run into that, you run into the rescue there a lot, Rescue one.
We ran in with rescue a lot. Yeah, Rescue one was there and we ran in with them a lot. Yeah. That's a good company. Rescue.
When you when you were working in Manhattan?
Were you were?
Where were you living? Were you living in Manhattan at the time?
Oh my god? Now I lived in so many different places.
Well from college point? Where'd you go?
From college point? I went and I lived in UH. I lived in a lot left for ex City for a while in UH in Queens Rex City, I remember. I lived there for a while, and then I ended up going to Manhattan. Ended up I was living on East Fifth Street between UH Avenue, No was it Avenue and aver you be? I was living in out for I lived there for quite a while.
Back to there.
What happened How I got in there was I was in a ball one night. I was in a you know, call with dancing girls and stuff. Allegedly dancing girls came over and they sit with you and they order a drinking and you got to pay for their drink.
It's a whole I've never been. I don't know how it works.
The girl, her name was kat Karine. She was from France, and she was stunning, not she sucks so beautiful, and she ended up coming back to my apartment. No, I went to her apartment. She was living there. That's right.
That's how I remember her name. But you can't remember your captain's name.
What you see, you man, I don't know, but this girl is go go girl.
My captain when I was a lieutenant, my captain was Jimmy Doddy.
There we go.
What about four truck? Who was the captain?
Who is the captain of twelve? You know captains come and go to im like.
Yeah'll play playing Mickey Cross Jeopardy.
I really the captain was in the truck.
I mean by the time you got promoted, you have to be the senior man there, right, uhour.
I was there fifteen years. There were a few guys I think had a little more time than.
Were you driving there? You have the seat?
No, No, I didn't at that time, though you sometimes drove if the regular chauffeur didn't hold and sick didn't show up right, and they knew I was a bus driver, but so a couple they let me drive the truck. Now they would never do that.
You didn't go to show for school.
No, I didn't go to shelf.
You had to have eighteen years on by then.
No. I never went to show for school. I went to that. I went to school the big lieutenant. I went to fire Tech private school to study for Lieutenant's exam. But I never went to show for school though I had no interest in. I didn't really want to be a show. No, no, and I just didn't especially Manhattan.
Who wants to be a show for Manhattan? That's great? You know, so much congestion.
Nothing I really wanted to do. You know, if you if you're a show for in the engine, you got to get the water and hook everything. It's it's it's not.
If I worked, If I worked in Manhattan, I'd have to live in Manhattan. I don't think I can well.
I ended up living in Manhattan. I ended up I lived on each fifth Street, you.
Know, so yeah, that's not too bad. But commuting into Manhattan would be insane.
You know.
I used to walk to work. I loved it. You know, Manhattan night took an hour or so. You know, I'd love to walk to work, walk home form Manhattan.
Now you were living in Connecticut.
Well, now, oh, pizza capital of the world pizza.
I ended up here because my wife's from here and it's around you know, all cousins live around here. So that's how I ended up here. But I wasn't my idea to come to connect They got good pizza. Uh, they're supposed to have very good I haven't really tried it, but I heard it's very good here.
Yeah, that's supposed to be the tops out there.
Actually, yeah, it's supposed to be very good pizza.
What was your favorite part about working in Manhattan, Mickey.
Well, like I said, the variety of calls. Yeah, Like if you're in the other boroughs, you mostly do residential stuff. But where in Manhattan there's all kinds of all kinds of different things that businesses, there's schools, right, do you see a much wider variety of things, you.
Know, loft buildings, all kinds of restaurants.
It is scary buildings, the world buildings, World Trade seven.
Yeah.
Yeah, when when did you when did you decide that you wanted to start studying. When did you start doing that? How did that come about?
Do you remember?
Oh? I started studying pretty early when I got on the job. But the trouble is, I got screwed up because I started drinking, uh, you know, and the drinking got in the way of everything, so.
That the French women, the drinking led to you know, everything ended up going to rehab.
And then I came out and I got I was sober. I came out and I stayed sober seventeen years.
Wow.
And that was when I went back to school. What am I going to do it myself? You know, I'm not I'm not going to a bar anymore. So I went to fire Tech, you know, and then I also went to John Jay College too.
Wow.
It's you know, study fight sience. So yeah, because you know, once you stop drinking, you gotta fill that.
You need to fill that void, bro, you know, you have.
To fill it with something possible.
There's a few guys that were in a firehouse that were very similar, you know, like I only knew them sober, right, So in their early career or whatever, some of those guys worked in Manhattan whatever, and you know, they had a good time, like you said, right, you know, almost to the point where it was bad. And then we would go out for a boys' night out or for a party, or somebody got promoted for lieutenant, and I would say to them, hey, listen, man, just have like,
have a little. I'm just saying, just like I would think the same, I have a little, Scott, just a little, give me a toast, you know, like I'm getting promoted to lieutenant. And they would never do it. Never. Never.
I've had trouble with alcohol almost of my life. If you give me two drinks and no more, you're torturing me. It's the worst torturing. I'd rather go to your electric cheer and have two drinks and stop, because once you have that couple of drinks crazy.
Really, you know.
I find that I find don't have it.
If you don't have the drunk, I haven't had a drink.
You have it.
You can't have a little, right, I can't have one drunk.
I find the same thing with pizza, I can't have one slice. I eat the whole fight.
That's what I same thing with booze once you take that first drink.
Yeah, those guys never never, I mean all those years, I know them. They never even had like even like have a beer or something. Dane Martin, all those guys.
One thing I never did is I can't say never. I did once. In my thirty year career in the fire department, I only drank in the firehouse once.
Really, even though you were drinking, you drank once. Wow, that's that says a lot.
I only drank once.
You know why?
Because I was afraid, I forbid we get a fire and I'm drunk and I don't know what I'm doing right that I only did it once. I'll never forget it. I had about four or five years, and I was woozy, and I was terrified. I'm laid in the bunk and I was shaken. I was terrified that we might get a call. And thank god, we had no calls that night, which was so rare that we got no calls.
That's the guy, no call that whole night.
Woke up that next morning. I will never touch and drop of alcohol.
One more.
Good for you.
I was terrified that we might get on.
How was that though? What would you give for that? But the mid eighties, single in Manhattan and you're a fireman.
And you got French women draped. You can remember that name thirty forty.
Years Yeah, she must have been something bro, you know what I mean.
It was somewhere more electric looking.
Yeah, there's a lot of good memories there.
Bro sometimes that dream that I'm thirty years younger.
Wake up, don't all? So when you did you have a study group when you guys were studying or did you just do it out on your own?
Totally?
No?
I went to a fire tech yeah, yeah, which was a private run.
Yeah.
You know, but and that's that's whey. If you were to prepare for an exam, that that's really the best way to do it is they have roll sheets written out and they got destructors, and you know, they kind of get you.
And how'd you do on the test? Where were you on the list?
I did Okay, I wasn't on the top of the list, but I was sort of in the midway right, and I was gonna get knew i'd get promoted. If you're at the bottom in the list, you may or may not get right, right. I was in a position where I was going to get promoted, right, you know, So I knew that.
So you get promoted and you go to sixteen engine, which.
Is where well, I didn't go to sixteen engine.
You went to the Rock.
I got promoted and I stayed at the Fire Academy. They came in when we were getting promoted, and I said, we need instructors for the next class coming in, any of you guys you know that we were just just getting promoted, and I, you know, I said, sounds good. So you know, I raised my hand. I stayed ended up liking it. I stayed there two years.
That's always the case, coops, right, yep, it's always the case, guys. Always you feel like that's going to suck.
Right, But yeah, it's the worst thing in the world, and like.
Now you almost twenty years already. It was kind of like a little change of pace.
You know. It felt good because when you were training people, you got a lot of satisfaction at it. You know. Yeah, I went home and I was tired. It was exhausting because everything you teach, everything you teach the probies, you have to do all that physical stuff, you know, and so it wasn't an easy job. But I felt so good about it.
So what was that about ninety five ninety four?
That was ninety six to ninety eight. In ninety six.
You just missed me by a couple. You just missed me by a couple of years.
I was there, yeah, yeah, yeah. I stayed there until ninety eight. And then I said. I was walking down the hall one day and I said, I I got to get back back.
To going back to the field and how it is, you know, And.
I ran into as I was walking down. I remember, I'll never forget it. I was walking down the hallway and the captain was coming up to me, and for some reason I knew he was the captain in Manhattan because I wanted to go back to Manhattan, and it was the captain of sixteen Engine. And I said, Cap, I'm a lieutenant, I'm here two years. I'd like to get back to the field. And he says, we need a lieutenant in sixteen engine.
Boom hang over like that.
That was it. A couple in a couple of days.
I was transferred, really, and then we were sixteen. There was a single egind again.
Sixteen is no no, they were in a lot of seven at sixteen and.
Seven javits right by the Javits.
No, no, no, it's it's by the.
Sunday East Sunday east Side. It's between I think it's between First and Secondary. It's on twenty ninth Street. I was just in the other just there the other day.
But Pickford was there, all right, right right Pickford? Yeah, yeah, he was in seven truck.
Yeah, Pickford. That's that rings that name rings the bell. Yeah. I was just there the other day. I stopped for a visit, you know, just oh yeah, it's nice to see everybody.
You know.
I had a cup of coffee in the back of the kitchen. He and my wife stopped by. Yeah, that's cool.
Yeah, it was.
Nice to see see the guys. You know, it's all all guys now.
You know.
There was a few old timers that were there when I was there, but that was my God, that was sixteen years ago. I left there, so, you know, change.
I just went I'm only out ten years mick. I went there, not to the fire, not too long ago, and I forgot what the code was on the door, fumbling at the door and got kid open the door. He goes, can I help you, sir? I'm like, help what?
I don't remember that anymore?
Yeah, but you didn't even know what the hell I was.
Like, you know who I am, But do you know who I am?
Do you know who I am?
Most of the guys there, they don't know who I am. Yeah, they'll be familiar with my name though, because they have, you know, in the firehouse, they have the what do you I forgot what your caller already? Uh? The name that everybody who's working your officer, and the writing was the writing was, but it's it's the big one. So what the truck?
True?
Big one? They got that one from nine to eleven on the wall cross up there. Yeah, I'm the first one on top of the ten across and all the guys that were working that day from sixteen and.
How was that place? You catch any work over there in sixteen?
Oh? That was a busy firehouse, Yeah it or not? Yeah, a lot of people think Manhattan is slow. Manhattan is very busy, you know, especially with all the different kinds of calls you go. You know, there's so many different We had the FD drive near us, so we had a lot of acts. We used to handle the accidents, collisions, and then of course you know there's stuck. The stuck elevator situation was a biggie and uh.
Starting those stuck elevators.
He starred by the Stuck Elevators.
But yeah, we had a lot of medical calls. You know, everybody's in Antenaw, so we we usually got into for the ambulance. We did a one third of our calls for medical calls.
Yeah, you know who else came from the roofie Bobby krub Its sausage fingers.
Oh really, ye seven truck.
Hey uh hey, Mack. How did you like going from firefighter to lieutenant? How did you like that? How long did it take you to feel comfortable?
Well, you know, it was time because I was on the job. I got promoted in I got on his seventies seven, I got.
Promoted twenty years I was.
I was nineteen years on the job when I got promoted. So it was time, you know. And of course, you know, as an officer you don't have to carry the hose and all the heavy and I was getting older. I didn't get on the job till I was thirty one. Wow, So by the time I got promoted, I was I was in my fifties, you know. And you know, you get in the fifties and they get they gets not
like you were in his thirties. Is a big difference in fifties and thirties, you know, carrying all that equipment and all that running around and up and down the lattice and all that. So I was about done with it.
But do you feel like when you when you got to the firehouse, like you were comfortable being lieutenant at that point?
Yeah? Yeah, I was.
I was relatively comfortable, remember, because because I spent two years at the I was just thinking that, Yeah, yeah, yeah, I got to the firehouse. Yeahl relatively, I said. I I kind of fit right in. And I had a great captain, a great captain.
And he wasn't French, was he? Excuse me, he wasn't French, was he?
And uh, and it's just a good firehouse. The guys were really good, you know, and it was no nonsense. There was no you know, no crazy, no carrying on. The guys were very good, very disciplined and friendly, very friendly. We used to go out after work to the bar down the corner, you know, but there was no drinking in the firehouse, no nonsense.
Somebody wants to know, uh, Lou, uh, hey, Lou, were you in the fire house when they filmed a kids show all about the fire trucks.
No, I don't. I don't even remember.
That, Mike Thomas, that's a nope, I don't remember.
That at all. No, the kids show up. No, we had a lot of school kids used to come in. Yeah, you know, because the teacher they'd make an appointment of course there and they would tell you know, the chief or whatever they whether they made the appointment with that they were going to bring the class and you know, so we know they were calming. So we made sure everything was nice, you know, and then we you know, we were good at it. You know, guys, we had
certain guys who were really good with the kids. You know, they really knew how to talk to the kids and explain things to them.
You know.
I used to enjoy that doing that with the kids.
Yeah, that was always a lot, like the teachers especially. Did Mickey work with Vernon Richard in sixteen Engine.
You're damn right. I did know. Vernon was the hell of a guy. Yeah, yeah, Vernon Richie, I worked with him. He was Me and him were very close. We were like, you know, it's coming from QC Beast very close.
Uh.
You know, your friendships, you're making a firehouse. They're like your brothers. You know, yeah, like we call each other brother. You know, that's how close you get.
Yeah, you know.
All right, so let's walk through. Let's start, Uh, I have a little bit on your nine to eleven here, so you you run us through it. You worked that day, let's start.
Actually I came in that night. I came in Monday night. I was working a twenty four hours shift. You know, mutuals, you know, you know, you do mostly most of what tours with twenty four shifts. So I came in for the Monday night for the six by nine two, and then I was doing it on by six the next day Tuesday, so and it was just a normal night. We had a few runs, you know, nothing, nothing big happened. And then Tuesday morning, I remember I was in office
and Tuesday is our day to go building. We have building inspection on Tuesday morning.
Yeah, Louis it doesn't know about that, but.
Yeah, building inspection means you have to your schedule to go out and inspect. Oh, I mean it's it's an odordeal.
You got on the apron with the perk go on.
So we had that was a Tuesday morning. We had bi we go to b I so I was getting my paperwork together, and of course, you know, I do offer. I had to fight department radio on and then the despatch you I hear him announced that the North Tower was struck by an aircraft. Whoa, you know, that's pretty big story, right, But I assumed it was a small private plane. Maybe the pilot passed out or you know,
you know, you just this assumption you make. You didn't say it was a commercial aircraft, right, plane was struck by an aircraft? And then ah, that was at eight by eight forty five something like that. So within two or three minutes, we called it the boo boom, boom boom, and just sixteen respond, you know, we called it the boo boop. And it also came off the computer a sheet of paper with the written instructions, and we got was the third alarm, and they were on the third
alarm to respond to the North tower. So we were we still didn't know what that happened.
We just wasn't you in the truck or just you.
No, I was an engine sixteen?
No, did the truck go too? Was it were they went already.
Truck The truck was not in quarters, but they did respond okay, because they were in the South tower and they all died, right, So everybody in the latter seven died that day. So anyway, we get the call. So we're on our way down. We get under because we're near the FD Drive and we have to go all the way downtown. So we jumped under drive and I remember you still because all the buildings in midtown, you
couldn't see the towers. And then we got down towards the end and we turned the corner and I saw the huge fire and I, oh my god. You know, I didn't expect that it was a was a commercial plane. So we started that we as we were approaching the North Tower. We were about a block away. Uh, and the South tower got struck right over our heads and all the debris came down, all the big chunks of but thank god, nothing big hit us. All the talent that now the second tower is struck. I remember the
first thought I had, just were at war. That was very first thought. So uh, we parked the rig again, we walked down and we reported into as normal. We reported the command posts that we set up in the in the in the lobby of the North tower, and we were instructed to respond to another command post higher up, like on the thirtieth floor or something. None of no, I member, there's no elevators now.
Right, did the whole company go in or the show stay with the rig?
Of course the whole company. Whole company me and and with all the gear, with the horses and the you know, the tools and all that. And now we have to climb all those stairs. So we start up the stairs and then we got I don't know about it around the twenty twentieth floor something like that, I don't remember exactly. And all of a sudden, the buildings started rumbling, and that was the South tower going down.
Because the South tower fell first, even though it.
Was the tower fell first and that, but the North tower started rumbled. Of course, it's right, and they right next to each other. So within a few seconds, so may day, may day, you know, evacuate the North tower.
So now there's your question, B one one second, when that rumbling started happening, did you think that the tower you were in was coming down? You had no idea.
I had didn't know. I really didn't know the tower was rumbling. So I don't remember my actual thoughts. I can't recall okay, and I know we started downstairs and I got held up. Oh, I got held up. I had to go do a search on the floor. Look, we were looking for somebody. So my senior man, Tim Marmy on firefightert Tim Marmy and he took Engine sixteen out of the building. But I was still in the building, right, I got separated from that. But in that case, the
senior man takes command, which he did. He did a good job. You got everybody out. So Tim Marmy and his name is and me and him used always talking all the time. He ended up doing a great job that they saved my company. No, thank you, tim Uh. Anyway, I started down the stairs after I did my search. We found a woman. Her name is Josephine. She was an injured woman, big, a big woman, and she had a serious injury and she couldn't walk, so she had
to be helped by us, you know. So there was a bunch of us helping her down the stairs and we got down to about the fourth floor and h there was about eleven of us, a total of eleven of us.
Were you with j Jonas at that point?
Was he chief Jonas?
Was?
Yeah?
He was one of the group, and there was Josephine. There was a police office, little limb, I think his name was Port Authority police officer. But the building came down and for some reason, uh An injury Near explained this to me. We had a class on this. In every catastrophe, major catastrophe, there's always a tiny section that
doesn't get hurt nothing, It stays intact. And for some reason, when the building fell down, stairway B from the second to the fifth floor stayed intact, and that's where the eleven of us were. Everybody else was killed.
Yeah, I was.
I remember when we had Chief Jonas on the show and he had mentioned something like this. I wanted to see if it was similar for you. Where he heard the rumbling right, it sounded like some ridiculously loud aircraft or something, right, and then he kind of heard it go past where you were. Did you have that same feeling, like you could feel like everything was going past or you didn't even know what the hell was going on?
No, I didn't I feel that, for the reason being because I was covered in debris. All the debris came down on top of me. A lot of the debris I didn't know I was just curled up in a corner, holding onto my helmet. That's what I did. I tried to make myself as small as possible. I'm not a big guy anyway, but I curled up in the corner and I was holding out to my helmet, and I got covered with debris, so I didn't really feel anything like go past me, like I felt stuff hitting me.
And then, now this is an odd part. It went from this tremendously loud raw all this two complete silence, silence, no noise whatsoever, no light.
Did you think you were dead? Did you?
I wasn't sure. I know.
Listen, bro, I can't imagine you said you don't know if you're dead.
You don't know what the hell is going.
I tell people this to explain it. Having no experience in being dead, I didn't know it being dead with life sure. For a few seconds, I was not sure if I if I was dead or alive. And then my radio started to crackle, you know, somebody was talking on the radio, and I was got the crackling noise, and I realized, why, there's probably no I'm alive, but I was still buried. After a while, I started trying to move the debris, and then I got out of this debris. I got the debris off me, you know,
it was pitch block. And then I heard voices, you know, other guys would talking, So I yelled out and we all started talking.
Well, most guys I had above you or below you.
Do you remember they were a little bit above me, but not far. It was only like the next right exact when the story up the next landing.
It's crazy, it's still we.
Were very close to one because everything else was destroyed. Yeah, right, but underneath the second floor died and everybody above the foot floord died.
So you had between the second and fifth floor was the only pocket that got.
Right, the only pocket that that did not. And that's in fact, we had a class on it by an engineer who studies these things. He studies catastrophes. Uh, you know, he studied Nagasaki, it was Shima and all these you know, incredible catastrophs. And he said, in everyone, there's always a spot that does not. It stays intact everywhere, uh, And that's what happened.
We have people below that got killed too. Is you know you could see like you know, like that's incredible to think that you're a.
Little bubble that this little sweet spot right, little, Yeah, you want to call it a sweet spot, you could call it that.
Yeah, we were in this one little spot that did not.
I remember going to that. I remember we we I ended up being on that staircase because there were some people this is this is after, days after, but there were some people that were below that staircase that we were digging out.
You know.
That didn't make it right?
And it wasn't there a chief that was still a love.
That was Jonas.
No, no, there was a chief below that that had died or you couldn't get to him or I don't remember.
I don't recall everybody died. I'm sure a lot of chiefs died.
The Lieutenant Nagel was in the he was alive, but he was down below and then the tower and of the second tower collapse fell on him.
Oh I got his picture hold on. I don't know if you can see.
They're saying, do you see I dream Mike, Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, he was I love that smile. He was in he was in the lobby. He he died, but he was a wonderful guy, wonderful.
Fun a couple of guys are saying Chief Fronty was below that. He he didn't make it.
Nobody made it below.
You know, So.
How did you get out of there?
Well, we ended up after about I would say, about three hours. We were in patch black darkness. Remember we and we you know, we didn't We just were staying still. We were just not moving. We just you know, somebody found a bottle of water. We were passing the moor bottle of water around and stuff like that, and then all of a sudden, like a miracle, a beam of light came in, a big beam of light. It just
came right in. Idn't blackness? What happened? The clouds the clouds and came in, and of course that meant there was all up there. It was an opening. I was like, yeah, you so now you know, we started crawling towards that that beam of light.
Who was the first person to see that or all you see it at the same time.
It came in like just a burst of light. So everybody's probably say it at the same time, and just at that same moment, coincidentally, the units were looking for us. You came upon the whole that we were. You know, you opened the same opening with the light was coming.
Did you have communication with anybody outside to let.
You yes, yes, the the chief remember he told us all to turn the radio is off case we had to save the batteries for later, and he only used one radio at a time, so.
Here he was commun municating.
Yeah, it was communicating with the outside.
So at this point, though, you don't know if the rest of your company is still alive right now?
Oh at that point, no, I didn't know. No, I did not, But it turned out they all were alive.
Yeah, thanks for seeing your man see see ropy, seeing your men making a different.
Got the whole company out. Unfortunately a lot of seven they were all killed, you know, but so amazing.
Question as you as you first, like did you first hear it coming, like what was the first indication that you thought you might be in the collapse? Did you hear it coming like a train or what was it that it sounded like a train?
Yes, yeah, that's the noise that made Yeah, it sounded like a train was coming right at you.
At what point did you like, holy shit, this buildings coming down?
Well, I can't can't happen so fast?
Did you get did you get any did you get me all fathers in there or anything or what what happened? You get any prayers in there? You were like.
I dumped down into the corner, Like I said, I wear my helmet. I don't know what the thoughts I had, they were all blanked out for some reason. They're not They didn't.
Even know that that. You couldn't even think that the building was collapsing anyway, right, I mean, you really wasn't even a thought that that was. Even even when I heard the building collapse, I thought the top fell off of something, you know what I mean. I still never thought the whole car.
I didn't know if maybe I could have been the elevators coming down, you know, cutting, maybe the wires got cut and there was shape they were vibrating the building. I really wasn't sure.
That's still one of the sickest stories, Like with those guys, every time you hear one of their stories.
I know, eleven of you? Is that how many it.
Were there was? Let me see, no, I think it was eleven firefighters. A Port Authority police officer I think his name was Limb, and was the woman secretary Josephine that it was helping down. Yeah, she was. She was there, she was in the piles. She was alive.
She's still alive today, you know.
No, No, she died approximately ten years after, not on eleve. Oh well yeah approximately she Remember the.
Chief was saying that he felt like because guys were moving down and getting out of there. I remember Chief Jonas talking about that that that woman kind of saved you guys, because she kind of slowed you up into that point.
What's up?
Probably killed yeah, that's true. No, she probably saved our lives by slowing this up.
So once you saw that beam of light, how long did it take you guys to get outside?
Not very long, just a few minutes. Because at that same time, coincidentally, the search units were looking looking for us, so they could they didn't know exactly where we walked. We told them we were in I remember we told them on the radio. The chiefs told them we're in stairway B.
Yeah, where the hell is that? Bro? Camp doesn't exist anymore.
Bro, Do you remember how long it took to get to that? Do you remember where that was?
Cool? The stairway?
Do you remember that offhand?
It took I can't.
It would take hours to get there, like it would take I remember where that was. Like I said, I remember we were digging like below that. I remember walking up that staircase whatever it was left. It was like like you said, it was like three three flights or four flights.
It was only from like the second to whatever it was.
But I remember we took a high line. I remember we were taking the you know the Yeah, we had a high line set up across.
So you get outside, right, what's the first thing that you do when you get outside and you see light?
What's the scotch?
Did you go for the scotch? Like I'm having a scotch.
On that day? I was fifteen years so.
Gotcha out. You come out, You see the sunlight, you see the blue sky.
The first thing I saw, I remember this. The first thing that struck me was, oh my god, look at all it's wasn't nothing but rubble. There was a city there. Remember what was there? The huge towers of the towers and buildings and now it's flattened rubble.
Yeah, total rubble. Did you go you say yourself, I'm going to run out and go play lotto right now, because I'm the luckiest motherfucker.
That I did it. It was just I remember just seeing the rubble and then I forgot. Oh. Then we had to report to uh the medical staff. After that, after we got out, they sent us the right away to the medical staff and they had to check us out and make sure we were okay, and turn that most of us were okay. You know. So the only thing I got out of it, I got damaged sinuses. That's why you'll see me sniffle and constantly when I'm
doing this. You know, my my sus has got damaged from all the dust and my eyelids is somewhat not serious, but they get I got like a little damages. Yeah, yeah, a little scratch from the sand and the dirt and all that stuff. But nothing serious. I mean, believe me, I thank god. That's the worst. That's all I got. You know how many people they say more fire fighters died from nine to eleven sickness. Yeah, all I got is I got itchy eyes and the signo runny nose.
You know, you're doing all right for being in the building when it came down, You know what I mean?
I think you know, when you really think about what was it three that let's say, three thousand people, there was only you. You were the only guys, But.
That's a vife.
Yeah.
I think there would a couple of cops too, right, there was two police officers. They found them later and I think they survived also. But I don't we call it too much of that.
You know, it's crazy.
You come out of there and they send you to the doctor. Then what do you do? You go home and do what?
Well?
No, I didn't go home. We stayed and just kind of hung out. We hung out there for a while. There was no way to get home. Remember we're in uniform, right, well, you know, so it wasn't and we weren't that with Lower Manhattan that's destroyed. There was no transmitt there was no way to get back right firehouse. So what happened was finally there was an engine going back north, I remember, and I asked him, I said, could you drop me off at sixteen? And that's what happened. I got, I
got to hitch. I hitched a ride with another fire company. I think it was thirty nine engine. I'm not sure.
When did they find out that the rest of your company was still alive?
Uh?
Well, I got back to the fire house. It was late, it was I remember it was it was. It was late. It was about six o'clock or something like that. And uh, I must have found out then that they all made it out, you know, and that latter seven didn't know.
No, that's got to be like such a weird feeling, like you're so ecstatic.
That you're alive.
Sweet yeah man, Yeah.
But meanwhile, you know, you just lost your truck, you lost.
All the guys from the job and all the people, and it was just like you're happy and said at the same time, like it's incredible.
I I remember at one point I went to my girlfriend's apartment. Oh, she lived down She didn't live far from the trade center. She was only at that time, she was living about three blocks away in an apartment building. And I remember, goo, yeah, I went to her apart. I meant to let her know that I was alive, because what happened was when we got sent to the trades and I was on the phone with her. We were making dinner plans, and then I said, I says, Christine,
we just got called to the trade center. And she only let three blocks away, so she she knew what was going on. And I says, I'll call you later, and I hung up the phone, and then the buildings.
Came down until six o'clock.
She probably thought I was killed. I went. I remember going to her apartment and I wrote a note and I stuck it under her door, letting you know that I was alive. You know, I'm not mistaken. That note might have gone to the fire at the museum then on eleven museum, I think they still have that.
I gotta have your helmet there, right, let me see something.
My helmet's there. Yes, let's go over a.
Couple of pictures while we're here. Anyway, we got there's your helmets.
From right, it's my helmet.
Yeah, that rolled upot down? Here you are in sixteen is a lieutenant, yeah, buck, look at that guy?
Yeah, young guy.
There some other pictures we got here, we go over here that is where is this?
Never forget, I don't I'm not sure.
We got a family picture here? Who's in this picture? Here? Who's who's in there?
Dean's brother, Christine's brother. Yeah, I think there's a brother, all right, I'm not. Yeah, that looks like a brother. Oh that's that's the the push card.
Push card guy, push call Paulieu.
Yeah, we know that guy. We see him there you are at where is this.
There's a plaque memory, it's like the firehouse. That's probably near the firehouse, yeah, maybe, yeah, probably.
Oh it's west Haven there yeah, oh we know that guy. Look at that guy.
Yeah, oh yeah, put the flags up.
Yeah, this is you and the chief from west Haven.
There's the chief yeah, west Savan chiefs. Yeah.
And we got one more here. Oh yeah, I was police push Yeah, you pushed off Paul.
So Mickey, when you when you came back like after everything was is the there's a young lady right you did right?
Yean, that's somebody else.
They're gonna have the French girl like thirty years going going.
No.
I swear to god, I wish Christine was here. She would know who this is.
It's not.
Who the heck that is I.
Set these pictures Christine.
Oh she's lovely, lovely missus.
So Mickey, when when did you when you did you go back to work?
Like? What did you do? I would go back to work?
Oh eventually, I Well what I did is I volunteered to stay at the pit for the clean up, right yeah, because I felt I need to do that, you know, I felt that's what I should do.
You know, And how long did you stay there?
I stayed there for a couple of months, and then I went back to the firehouse, and then I went back to work, right, all, I went back to work. Yeah, I went back to just my regular duties, you know.
And he did how many more years?
Oh? I retired in two thousand and six?
Six? Another five years? I did?
Another five years? Yeah, I had I didn't know what to do with myself. I know, I probably could have retired after nine to eleven, right, but I said, what the helm am I going to do it myself?
You know?
I was only I was at fifty five, and I just wasn't ready to retire. And I didn't want to retire. So there was nothing physically wrong with me, right, other than these minor things.
I say, another five years, you did some work, then I'll stay.
You know, there's no rush to get out of here, you know.
So what made you want to retire eventually? You know? Six?
Well, I remember one morning I got up and I didn't want to go to work. I felt tired. And that's the first time I ever didn't want to go to work. And I remember that made me, It made me very nervous and then it happened again, and it happened again after that. Within a few days, I didn't want to go to work anymore. I was turning sixty, and I figured.
You know, it's so you know, it's so funny, mickey. My my uncle did forty something years too. I said, how did you know it was time to go? He said, I got up on morning and I didn't want to go to work. I'm like, holy shit, man, you just said the.
Same thing exactly what happened to me.
That's what happened there, he said. I got up with body. We don't want to go to work anymore.
Everybody, I don't know, You'll know.
I liked the job. I love going to work, you know, because it's you're with the guys, you're having fun, you're cooking and you know, and you know you're right, and you're in midtown and that, and you're meeting people. It was fun, you know, going to work. And all of a sudden, one day I didn't want to go to work, and I said, oh, that's a bad sign, you know. So I realized, I'm almost sixty, I guess it's time to go.
So you out, almost twenty years now, you're out what eighteen.
Years, I'm not sixteen.
Yeah, fifteen years. I have a good myth.
Yeah, what did you do anything after you retired or you just went fishing?
Yeah?
I started going to the bar every day drink. Oh, yeah, that's what happened. Really, it wasn't it got bad?
Why because you missed the job.
I didn't know what to do with myself. So I found the bar. There was a bar in my neighborhood with all guys like me, well, all the guys that were retired. So that was where I went every day. And then, of course, you know, the alcohol started taking it. I was in and out of a hospital. I was getting sick. My organs were shutting down, and I had to stop drinking. So I don't you know, I don't. I haven't had a drink now over three years.
So what was that like the first sip you took?
You? Like, yeah, the first sip?
Do you mean I don't know your first sip? When you went back and you had your first drink? You have to, I mean, if not drinking for so long.
Oh I remember that. Yeah, that's how wonderful, so wonderful it did. Yeah, then because I hadn't I hadn't had a drink in seventeen years. Wow, I was a drink in front of me. I remember I was in this nice bar in Battery Park City on the corner there was a beautiful bar, you know, and I was in there and I had my first drink. I slow remember it. It was great, and then one and then once it was bringing home a quarter every day, quart a liquor every day from the loquer.
Wow.
And that's when I, you know, it almost killed me. And that's why I, you know, I don't help her near it. And thank god, I have no worge to drink.
No, no more, no, no word she is there's my girl coming in here.
Yes, and that was me.
In the picture. Do you think it was you?
Love?
Yeah, and he's not drinking.
That was your wife and the picture.
That look like you at all.
But I did listen and you did a great job, and God bless all of you and everybody lost.
That was thank you for helping us out with this. Really, you're so welcome.
But you guys, I think there were thirteen firefighters that day.
No, I don't think, no thirteen people not.
Let me see, let me see if you find picture. Oh, this is I know that was your wife.
That was close to COVID when I looked, that's better put you. He's flashing back.
To the.
No, that's a funny picture of you. It just really doesn't.
Right along with being a firefighter. My husband's a very wild guy.
Guy.
I'm kind of picking that up a little bit here, Christine, that up a little bit.
It's not anymore, you hear him, not anymore? How old are you know, Mick?
I just turned seventy eight?
Good? Well, you know what, though, Bro, you did good. You married up. Good for you, man, Good for you. You're married up.
I don't know how you pulled that one in man, you pull real horror bro.
But you did a good job man.
And we're we're all close with Larelei his first wife.
Yeah yeah, good for you.
Yeah, Coops doesn't like his ex wife.
Yeah, I'm out. Good for you, though, Mick, you did all right.
But what a nice show podcast you have.
Thank you so much, sweetie.
It's really something.
Yeap, oh, it's something.
It's something.
And sat and listened to it.
For you.
Make my food. You didn't bring nothing home for me.
Yeah, you did great, Mick, Thank you? Thanks a lot.
Yeah, I hope.
I hope you live another thirty kid, make it to the big big hundred.
I don't know about that. I don't know if I want to be that old.
You know, my mother says she's eighty six. She says getting old sucks. It ain't for sissies now, I mean, you know, tough stuff, that's good. I don't know if I told Mick about the old school tip of the day. Maybe I told his wife.
You didn't.
Probably, Hey, Mick, you got some kind of old tip you want to pass on to the young guys?
Oh any kind of one I tip?
And tip you want to pass on to the young guys.
Oh, well, I would say you mean the young firefighters.
Yeah, stay long ago, don't.
Do anything crazy, stay away from them.
French.
You know you're you're part of the team. You work as a team, you know, don't do anything. Don't go off and try to you know.
Don't be a freelancer like Louis was.
Just you know, work, work as a team, or work with your your brothers and sisters. Now now it's brothers and sisters. Used to be just brothers.
The brothers.
Yeah that his brothers actually ain't I trained to female firefighters. Yeah, I tryed to and not to my surprise, they were just as good as the guys. Everything you guys did, which at that time came as a shock to me. Yeah, I thought they'd put pressure on me to push them through, you know, but no, they would just have to listen.
With me and Louis say it all the time. We don't care what sex you are, I don't care what color you are. As long as you can do the job. Who gives a ship.
You know, guys are just as good as the guys I was, which to my surprise, I was pleasantly surprised to see that. You know.
Amen. Oh yeah, before we finish up the show, you got to play two commercials.
Let me play this one really quick, Micky Dame excellent, unless, but not least one more.
Make here we go.
The First Responders Center for Excellence is a not for profit organization dedicated to protecting the lives and livelihoods of first responders. Their education and research initiatives aim to bring greater awareness and understanding the challenges to the health, safety, and well being of firefighters, EMS personnel, and other first responders too. They are an affiliate of the National Fallen Firefighter Foundation.
All right, and the old school health and safety tip of the I is listen. If you have a problem, just like we talked about tonight with Mick. We have a problem with alcohol or drugs or whatever it is, there is help. Every fire apartment offers some type of help, UH to get over these demons. And at the end of the day, bro, these things will destroy your body, like Mixed said, so get yourself cleaned out. You'll be a better fireman and you'll be a better person than live a longer life.
They almost killed me. I almost died from alcohol. Safe you know, alcohol could kill you, kill you just like drugs.
Ye. Amen, Mick, Amen, great stories, man, Thank you so much.
Picture my buddy Padre Mike one more time. I did this in his honor. Thank you.
Yes, absolutely, man. Well, you outed us and we appreciate you sharing your career and your stories with us. I appreciate it. Thanks for Mikey. Is Mikey still there? Mike? Thanks for making the trip there, he.
Goes, Bring us some pizza, Mikey. Yeah.
Any score on the Mets bike anything to nothing, Brewers top eight, top eight much you even Tim, I shouldn't ask you, Mike I shouldn't ask you, all right, Ruffie, we got actually two shows next week, call us crazy. We have a hard charger from a rescue company in Chicago, mister snow Right, that's his name, right, And we have an old timer even older than Mick. Can you believe that? How old is this guy?
Eighty something?
Eighty four something, f e y eighty something.
I don't even know.
Shop its attacked tu And in Monday, Thursday, don't forget Tuesday, and Wednesday we get to the Cup of Joe and fuego and uh, that's it, Mike, thanks for coming on. Thanks for helping us out. Mick, appreciate your wife is a gem.
Good for you.
Yeah, and also thoughts and prayers that to all those victims of the hurricanes and the brothers and sisters who are out there doing the jobs going on there. Yeah, evenno going down there. He was deployed doing his thing.
I don't know if I.
Went to the hurricane with the fire department down in New Orleans, Sandys, Katrina, I remember that and seeing the devastation it was. It was so terrible.
Yep. So thank you for the brothers and sisters who were doing it. In thoughts and prayers to the victims down there, And until then, we'll see you on Monday night, right, ruff yep, Monday, go hit some balls around or kill some medicent animals, whatever you do best. I love it all right, we'll see it Monday. Until then, stay low and go.
We'll see it the big one. Thanks again, I forgot I have to do this.
Step by now. End stream, Mike.
Yes you're still we're still lying, Thank you.
There we go.
