GETTIN' SALTY EXPERIENCE PODCAST | Ep. 242 | FDNY FF KENNY DELANEY

That's so funny.

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.

A low.

In a world. We go, well bye, you know it's again in Salty Experience podcast. I'm gonna say this, it's the only one that brings the fly house gets a table to you.

Fucking brilliant, great idea, actually says it, but behind you, it actually says it behind me? You know?

Made that my boy Frankie something yep, Frankie, because I think we would say that since State one, which is like five years ago.

But anyway, I think that what what shirt do you have on there? Kobe?

I got my met shirt on my just for Gonzo this right yere, little one?

Who is that? Who is that guy?

So this is a guy that decided to play for the Mets and maybe not the Yankees. I don't have after how amount of money? Oh seven hundred million?

No, oh, yeah, Oh my god.

Over seven hundred million to play life and for the rest of his life. Was it a fifteen years, ten year contract, ten year contract, something like that?

I don't know.

Once he left, I was like, who's.

Not to mention? He probably made three hundred million already, I would say in his Korea?

Right he speak English? Yes?

I don't know how well he speaks this kind of English.

English. We hired him. He barely speaks English. Million, you know what I mean? Anyway, we got a good guess coming on tonight. This guy felt chemistry with him already in the beginning. The funny guy been in a busy place, tell you that much? Any engine doing it? We're engine rock broke the room going around the districts? Less shot.

Are you talking about? I'm trying to get rid of.

Gonzo? Is irreplaceable? Right? What will we do without Pete? I mean Gonzo?

But we're going to sell all those plastic knickknacks to all the time gods, what do you what are you gonna do with that that fdmy patch we were talking about in the pre show.

We're gonna get a gold chain that's gonna be right here.

Ye, Hey, where do you work? You know where I work, you know.

All the only place to be could springs ag. Yeah, well we do it heavy, that's.

What you like to call it. Yes, yes, yeah.

Let's play some commercials so we can bring a guy in here.

All right, let's let's.

Get an in the place to be.

He's dying to get in here. We go.

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As a matter of fact, somebody just reached out to me asking for Vince's number. Great guy floors are amazing. He gives you the logo for free, free, for free, free free, And I haven't heard anybody.

Really is I'm a great guy.

He is a great guy. Oh that's not what I'm looking for.

Oh, you're all alright. Let me say a little. Some guys out there. Pee Wee's at there, Brian K, Chucky one to seventeen, Johnny Albanizet Beast, Brian K. We got pro Kacchini, Darren Phillips in there. We got a new puzzon the xx Delta two nine x X. I guess he's a hallm guy fifty nine and thirty. Hollm zoo.

What's going on with the freeze.

Let's go the.

Freeze to freeze. We gotta give a little shoutut to mister Darren de freeze.

A couple of man what's going on with man? Uh?

They actually didn't say, Actually, I'm sorry. They didn't say someone in the chats up whose aphib was acting up?

Oh quick speedy reprobably for a boy. He's always in there. We got QC Beast in there. We got pee Wee. I U Rato not Laredo like I thought his name was. Till he's in there. Till Patty had a whole bunch of people.

A word got in there.

Too, the VARDI. We had a whole bunch of guys in there, dedicated hard crews in there.

Bro all right, Luke, safety tip ready, we want to make it up. Do it.

Let's do it out of the way.

Here we go.

The First Responder Center for Excellence is not for profit organization dedicated to protecting their 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 per to know another first responders too. They're an affiliate of the National Falling Firefighter Foundation.

There you go. Tonight's health and safety tip is listen if you have a problem. When you suspect to have a problem, other they're telling you have a problem with maybe something like this. You know what a problem is. There's plenty of places that the job offers, plenty of opportunities to get help. Quitting anything. It could be gambling, could be smoking, you could be drinking whatever it is, gonzo and crack anything that you think landering you help

Let me just say this quick. When I was talking to our guest, uh this past couple of weeks, he actually started his podcast, The Kitchen Table basically four or geared towards mental health. Really, yes, he did. So that'll just be another nugget that you'll love him about.

You know what I love about him. Yeah, we're gonna have him. He might be a third. He might be a substitute if I'm out or Louis out from now on, there we go. If guns is out, we might have him as a third.

He's got good hair. He's got better hair than me, and you could that's for sure.

Well that's not hard, bro, I can get a newborn. Baby's got better ahead of me. You kidding me? Forst's sake?

Put an at. I just got a hecker today. I'm gonna put an ahead. Wow, what did I say?

Eat it? Joe's what.

Mama's house.

Guy who created the fire Hours Kitchen Table. Bro, Let's get him into here.

Let's do it all right, You're ready, Yeah, I'm ready?

Are you ready?

I'm going to the stay jef d n Why Firefighter Kenny Delaney?

What is that behind you?

Bro?

What I was feeling? I was feeling a little nervous. Being on the number one podcast.

Was a little I.

Got a little nerves going. So I thought I'd get a little more comfortable and put.

Up my sign.

Really the table, like make me feel like I'm the host and I'm interviewing you guys.

You know what it is that is so original? I can't tell you that isn't it?

You know what?

Did we just become best friends?

Yep?

Ye, it was a little bit more wow.

I when I came up with this. First of all, it was active you came up, but okay, get ahead.

Ye.

In the kitchen table we were talking, I was like, I thought I was a genius. I was like, this is the best name. Everybody will watch it. It'll be great.

You know.

Then I upload stuff and there's like a hundred kitchen tables and you guys stayed the kitchen table.

Really, you know you know what, Kenny, I took the liberty of let me show you this. So you think that maybe you did come up with maybe not? You steal and that bring to you the kitchen table, the firehouse kitchen table, you know, the one rough right, the whole of a thousand stories.

The unit nothing ahead again, I ve my sorn horn and go.

And a word.

We welcome back to the unmuted version of the Getting Soult Experienced podcast. That's the only one. We don't bring only the kitchen table anymore. I'm not saying anymore. Guns. We bring the whole fire house experience to you. Bro, you could be the Philippines. I don't know. You could be a set of word.

We go.

We are back, just like Jacob to grub his back way.

Back at the kitchen table, the firehouse kitchen table, to get all these peers podcasts, the only one, the whole one. Well, to bring the fire house kitchen table to.

You in a world we go, man, we would have been gone a while. Welcome back to get all these peer one. Will we take one day off a week now?

Thank you. We bring the firehouse kitchen table to you once a week. I said it twice. Wow, I don't know what I came from. You know, I never saw any of those episodes, so I didn't know.

Kenny, I'll step in here. Listen. We gotta say the pledge first.

Yes, we do, all right, Sorry we ran off the track.

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.

Still giggling over here, listen, Kenny, we say all the time, man, we want, we want, We could wait to get you on the show. We wish you the best. But glad, I'm glad you put it back up and uh, you know, keep it wronging, man, don't give up.

Appreciate first of all, guys.

First of all, I mean I am truly honored and humble to be on the show that.

You guys asked me to do it.

You guys have a long line of warrior guys and guys that have just who paved the way for guys like me to come on and keep the traditions going and do the right thing around the firehouse. And I learned from a lot of those guys, So I got big, big shoes to fill. You know, I don't have the experience that those guys, but I got I got I got plenty working in Harlem with guys like Nick and and those guys in Big Mac and and God.

Rest his soul e J. Tierney and Pat Cleary.

So I mean for you guys to call on me and bring me it's really truly humbling experience. I was considered you guys the senior guys of the Folluming podcast.

So I so you know, if you want me to go quick you I'll do it. Listen. Kenny the something to be said about being one hundred and twenty fifth best podcast in the world. You know what I mean? No, no, no.

When I started mine, I was number seven in Sweden for mental health.

Moving up, moving on up, He's moving up.

Down.

Kenny's one of us. Bro get ready fits right in. Thank you again, guys.

I'm really truly humbled and I'm looking hopefully I can make you guys laugh, you make the audience laugh.

And about maybe we do something in trade and maybe we have you on a few times and maybe you send me that Neon sign back there. I don't know. Maybe you know local pick up only, Yeah, the.

Warwick guy, he's a Warwick guy. Nice. Yeah, God, you know what.

We'll talk about the podcast little but Whatt's diving too. Kenny's career because he's had a very diverse career man. Not only in the the fd N Y, but the guy's been doing it all over the pops. When you're retired, did you bring those bricks with you? Somebody wants to know if he took him from fifty nine engine or thirty trucks.

Nobody, Yeah, allegedly, allegedly. I'm sorry, cool, go ahead.

He wouldn't know that we're going any He was in the you know, a slip of a lip sticker ship you.

Know WHOA that's right, ruff, be good for you, that loose slips o rough uh talk gonzo. Let's go back to roots here. What's the old school? What's the old school tip of the day? What's the word of the day?

The word of the day? Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, going back, we're going back to.

No, I have other thing done it in a while.

You haven't done it in a while, Big.

Mac oh Christ, he put him on his spot.

No, before I know, I was looking for there's the horn, Harlem, where's the horn? Hollow Holly crist Sorry, I had to make up for the day. There you go, going back to.

I'm also that also makes me feel good because when you guys had Big Jim McClusky on the show.

I believe the word of the day was allright.

Oh, I'm gonna have tutes.

Actually born in Park Slope, Brooklyn, I couldn't tell actually really from the Windsor terraced Brooklyn in nineteen seventy three. What was it like back in the day? Man? Brooklyn was nice.

Back in the day, park Slope, you know, it was still kind of a middle class, lower middle class area. You know, it was a great, great neighborhood. Everybody was a city worker. Everybody's father was a annotation, fireman, cop, you name it. So they all they all told us in all group, you gotta take every test, you gotta be this, you gotta be that.

So we all tried to follow in their footsteps.

And you know, the guys in poss Up, all the guys that I grew up with, they truly, they're truly the guys and the girls, my crew, our friends that that kind of helped me build my character and kind of who I am.

As you see I'm talking with my hands, and.

You know, they're really truly who kind of started shaping me into the person that I am still yet to be, still growing as a person of no we lived on I grew up in uh a small tenement on Twelfth Street. I was born on twelve Street. Moved to a Brownstone type building. It's not a Brownstone. They were, they were connected, but they weren't Brownstones. But they were kind of had the same layout. So if you look at them, you

Mine was not.

The stoop wasn't that long, but it still had the dead man's room above the front door. Still kind of the same layout, but it wasn't technically a brownstar.

Right. We have those queen's like Ridgewood Roofie. There's a bunch of those.

Yeah, so you play stickball when you were a kid, bro, you know, we played stickballs, Spongebowl, we played you know, kill the Quarterback, but we don't.

Pony.

We played buck Buck, we played Scalzis, we played man Yeah, Manhunt was our favorite. You know, we got Manhunt of Coco, Levio, whatever you want to call it. But the greatest thing about my neighborhood is was togetherness at the key parties in Suicide Hill, Uh in Parks prospect.

Who's first do over there? One fourteen?

First due to Farrel's two twenty engine my first company what yeah, had a shirt and everything said first to the Farrels.

First, far That's where you went?

Uh? Is that where you went?

When you know we went to sign up for Pudgy Walsh exactly? Pleasure was his thing was over in Floyd Bennetfield. He had his right, but when he went to a bar to sign up for it, I forget where it was.

I think that might have been it.

Maybe yeah, yeah, I didn't sign up for it there when he was doing his thing, I was like, you know, we'll get into this. But I was a US Park policeman on Floyd Bennefield and I just kind of drove over there and I talked to him, and he was like, you passed the test.

Come on once a week.

What if you want to do?

Just come on when you want.

So, So anybody in yet? And what what what did your father do? You brought you have any brothers? And what family do that? God? So nobody in my family was a fireman or my father worked for.

My father was the Navy. He did four years active then he did like twenty two years reserve. So then he was a park service worker. He was a forest ranger, a forester to the park Service in Prospect Park. He cut down trees. Ship, but he worked for the city right in the neighborhood, write the neighborhood.

What do you do in the navy? He was a boasters mate in the navy. Yeah, made first class. And then he then he got on the ship. What kind of ship was young?

He was on the USS Wasp No, no, no, the Wine Dot. He was on the Wine Dot I think it was called. He went across the Antarctic. You know, that's when that's when men were men, That's when men.

Really yeah, you know, yeah, yeah, yeah, my old man was on an aircraft carrier. Nice.

Do you know what you want?

The s s Bennington? Bennington? Right, yeah, nice decommission now, but I have a shirt with it nicely all right, So, uh you could get uh what was what was uh? Let's go back? What was high school?

Like?

Were you you good student? You're fucking around? What are you doing? My first two years of high school I went to La Salle Academy. That's where Roof's cousins went. Oh yeah, from green Point, you know, back in UH back in the late.

Eighties, you know, the lower lower East start of Manhattan was still Shiphole.

You know, it was crack Crack area, Baby Crack area, like crazy.

The Hell's Angels had had the whole block around the corner on Third Street. So taking the train to Lisal was you know, you kind of but you're taking your life into your hands. But you know, back then it was you didn't wonry, but you just kind of just did what you had to do.

That's just how the city was.

So I did my first two years in the South and then I transferred back to the neighborhood in bishop Ford, finished up my my my time there because Lisal was an all boys school, and I was.

Like, you know what, I'm done with this, Let's go get some a little bit of a tuki.

Yeah, but back in the neighborhood with all my friends, so it was right, I looked at a lot better than Bicherpford.

Catholic, good Catholic school boy, good root. So you graduate high school, what do you do? It looks like you went to uh right into the navy, right into the navy. As friends were going to school.

Wow, look at that, Wow, look at that guy that was seventeen seventeen. Yeah, my mom and dad had to sign me over.

The high school ring and everything. The high school ring.

Actually, I don't know.

It might be it might be black ONYX. You know what's on the peaky yeah, well.

Slope you know when you're drinking? Is your mother Italian?

Bro?

No, no time.

I'm American first of all, Irish and Polish. Wow yeah, yes, right.

We got a couple let me just while on the Navy kick before we run off.

Who was out of the left an Asian guy. So that's my that's a very good friend of mine. I still speak to him on occasion. His name is Anthony Shackner. He is from Tennessee. He went to a submarine up in Connecticut, and I still think he lives in Tennessee. But I still I still hit him up from time to time. Yeah, on the left, the other guy is the white guy is Jason Rivers. He was from Camden, New Jersey. After after.

Yeah, the camp, I never saw him again. Yeah. But the guy with the glasses is he uh, he's Asian, dude. I believe he might have some Filipino oh a thingo he' wrong and he'll probably hit me up later on and be like, dude, he looks like one of my kinds.

But like, dude, you know me thirty five years and you don't know what I am.

One of the nicest, one of the nicest guys you're ever gonna meet.

Oh, looking at that's that the rear admiral.

That was the that was the captain, And I think, uh, jeez, I can't remember his name, but he was.

He's too happy giving you that whatever it is. He's like, God, let me get this guy out of here.

He was probably ready to get he was drunk. It looks like the dead fish handshake he's giving. Yeah, he was.

He had one hundred years on. He just wanted to get the.

Hell out of that. So you know, what were you doing in the navy?

I was a whole maintenance technician. I was a welder. The proper term is called thurd chaser.

So I was like the plumber of the name. It was a chaser. Was aurchase? Yeah, what kind of boat? On any kind of boat or what? I actually I got after my a school.

My school was welding School, which is in Philadelphia. Boot camp was in Great Lakes, Chicago. Went to engineering school right after boot camp in Chicago, jumped right to a school which is my welding school in Philadelphia, and they sent me right to a floating dry dock where instead of going out to see it, I went up and down in the sea and pulled chips in and welded on the ships whatever we could.

So where was that? So it was technically considered neutral duty. I wasn't going out to see said duty duty neutral? Where were you though, Norfolk, Virginia, Norfolk? Right, Yeah, that's what that was. That's a good skill. I have to learn why you're in the in the service, bro, good skills to pick up, right. Oh it was good. It

Look at that young guy you get and the guy I'm standing next to is actually you on the right.

Yeah. Look how short I am?

Bro?

Looks like you look like you just stuck across the border or something.

Dude, you look like a baby. For god, Oh my God.

Yeah, that's uh, that's me, man, It's you know, I'm not the I don't know if anybody told you, but I'm not the tallest guy walking around as.

You I mean, crying out loud, I'm five six. Well you know that's being tall in me. Isn't that hard to do? So I would? Yeah, that's what my kids say. Dad was as tall as you like. Yeah, shoot for hire or not. Bro, don't use you. Don't use me as your barometer, please.

You know what, here's the thing about that, Like, I feel like that's part This is just part of me. That's part of what makes me me. It makes me unique, you know, being being that small and having this energy, And if I was if I was what five nine, five ten, i'd just be ordinary. Like everybody to fuck out?

Do you know?

I feel like people give me Kenny, don't funk with the short guys. Bro, I'll tell you right now, don't funk with the short guys. Prove I'm a little teddy. I got, man, I got the Napoleonic complex.

So I'm trying to get past it.

But it wasn't working.

I was just trying to distract you, that's all it was. We're trying to get trying to get off the short jokes.

All right, so good, all right, Well.

Bro I was in I was in fifty nine engineering that you say, he's gonna ball.

Me, not me, but you know, well we're all the pd of just that guy?

Is that you and the tank top?

Funny thing is that actually looks like Keith Nicoleello.

In the tank time. He's in good shape.

Now on that pump, that guy's he was always in great shape, always kept himself top still in great ship.

That guy. Yeah, it looks like a movie started. You see that down the back. Look at that Wow, look at that guy.

There's a couple more. I saw it from the emails when he's in the f D. I don't know if he sees the camera and he does, you know, the profile, he's always on his side, you know?

Is that that looks like me walking regular?

That's a yeh sticking in your grandma, yea, your grandma?

Where was that was?

That was the Horse Mounted Unit office in the Park Police. One of my best friends, he was actually my partner for a long time, Rob O'Brien. He got on the horse Mounted Unit and it was an office in Staten Island. So on midnight tours, we go over there and just before we go on patrol and just hoot and holler and.

Have have a great time. And you know that's just me being a knucklehead. So you stayed there for a while though, Man, did you like the job? But where were you assigned?

I our our our CAD was in Glenn County, Georgia, in the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center FLETSI for sure. So we did about six months down there, five or six months down.

There, go up to d C. Do a couple months in DC.

It's a little bit of training here and there, and then I get assigned to the New York Field Office, which was Gateway National Recreation Area run. But you know that's Floyd been Afield, the Statue of Liberty. There was a Point Rockaways, Great Hills Park in Staten Island, a couple other small places in.

The midgate U. No, it was great.

You know, federal job. We had city authority and we had federal authority. So when we were going from one park to another, one federal property to another, somebody cuts you off or their speed and we had full authority to pull them over. Right in tickets if we had to make an arrest.

We did that.

It was, it was, it was.

It was a really good job, you know, a really good you know, learning experience, a lot of great people on that job, so it really really, you.

Know, it means a lot to me.

I went through a lot in the beginning on that job, so you know, that job definitely holds a big place in my heart.

So why did you leave there when you went to Air Marshal.

So I'm still I'm still in the park police when nine to eleven apples, and we all know how everybody felt on nine to eleven and being in a United States park policeman. I just didn't feel like I was doing enough, you know. I just felt like I needed to do more. I wanted to help out. I wanted to be in you know, front lines. I wanted to fucking I did my time in the military. I was already kind of past that. I was waiting for the flight department. So they opened up the Air Marshal Service.

And so they didn't have air marshalls. Prior to that, there was no such so, no they were air marshalls.

So back in I want to say it was the eighties when there were a lot of hijacks, hijackings going on, and they were flying planes to like fucking you know, grease or I ran or whatever they want. They built up the air marshals back then, but after a while nothing happened, so they started downsizing. As the government does, they downsize, and there, I believe when nine to eleven happened, I could be wrong. There were about fifty active air marshals and they were only doing they weren't doing like

But then a year later you go to uh, the real academy, which was.

You know, I'm not gonna say where it was because I don't know what kind of you know, uh, top secret ship they got going on. But you do that for like a month, month and a half, and they really start it got really really difficult and they start cutting people out.

But I was by the time I went there, I was already on a fight apartment.

Right.

But like when you get on a plane, not even the stewardess to know who the air marshal is, right, I don't know how.

It is now, but when we got on on a flight, we had to brief the crew. Oh okay, so the flight attendants and the pilots knew who we were you had they actually gave you like a little card. You're like, hello, my name is Aaron Marshall, Kenny Delaney, and this, this,

So but you were supposed to brief the crew, right, yeah, So you would sit anywhere though, amongst the passengers and just sit amongst the passengers. My main focus was protecting the flight deck.

Get if something happens, you get a position of dominance in the flight deck and get that plane on the ground. Hopefully the pilots get that plane on the ground as quickly as they can. Something's going on in the back of the plane. You know, maybe your partner will handle it or somebody. Hopefully the civilians will step up, especially after nine to eleven. You know, people are very aware at that time. Our job was to protect that flight.

So there was two years on it, on every flight at least right top secret information.

I'm sorry, I don't.

Liberty you know a little more maybe, but there was always that to us, always to us.

So when you I'm just walking around, So when you first get on right right after nine eleven, like as soon as the guy walks in with a towel, gonna tell you, like, yep, all right, I'm gonna watch that guy and.

This guy right.

The funny thing is, the funny thing is we would have at the time, we had blackberries, and they would they would hit us up on the plane if something happened. Only one time, only one time we were on the plane being excuse me, Me and my partners got a text that there was a guy on a watch list on our flight.

Really yep, flying back into into Newark. So you know, me and him, you know we we we we get.

In contact, We find out where the guy is sitting.

We keep an eye on him.

We landed, We land in Newark, We get off the plane, port authority, met him at the gate, took him behind the door, never seen him again, went home, good night.

Sonless just said, you're not watching any movies, you're eating any pretzels. You're keeping your eyes on that guy right there is there is no sleeping marshals. Lady like this. The lady.

One of the hardest things in the world was to stay awake on a freaking eight hour flight. Oh man, bro, you have to get up, your washing, your face, your drink coffee.

Bro.

I read a book of flight when I was on that. I was just leading reading, reading, watching movies, reading, you know, But it was it was. It was a very I saw a lot of great places in this country.

I went to a lot of places.

It was really cool, learned a lot, got trained by by some heavy duty guys back in the academy that everybody was on the same page. Everybody wanted to do the right thing. You guys remember how the country was back then.

Yeah, we're all together.

We all just wanted to just do the right thing. And and that was part you know, we all did.

And good thing. You went on a flight to the Philippines twenty one hours, probably put toothpicks in your eyes. Yeah, yeah, something like that, something like that.

If there's something like that, this guy's probably going, all right, you take ten, you take fifty out.

Of Yeah, no doubt about it.

Yeahdad, I wanted to because you mentioned nine eleven pretty quickly.

I didn't get to them.

We got a few pictures just so I wanted to share really quick, wanted to just touch on them.

You had, I'm the druck guy.

Yeah, come on, where is that?

I counted exactly. That's that's me and my my partner Rob O Brian. And that was in a couple of days after you know, the talers came down. We're just just trying to get on bucket for gades and help out and just went man, that's all I did, you know, just showed up and just and just wanted to help out whatever I could.

You know, I don't remember people.

Were looking at this photo when they would make comments about the orbs and the pictures.

Oh yeah, I was, you know, they probably would. I didn't even realize that, yeah.

Oh look at this guy here or the lady which wanted to you. I'm sorry, the guy in the blue helmet.

No, I'm the guy in the white helmet closest to that.

Oh okay, okay, that was that was a contingency of park policeman right there. Okay, do your doing your yeah, bro, sorry, And there you got.

So that picture there is National Park Service property, that's Federal Hall. Its right across street from Wall Street. I don't know if you guys know that that's where George Washington took his oath of office. That's owned by National Park Service, the government Department of Interior, and.

That's our property.

So when nine to eleven happened, they automatically stationed officers at that, uh, you know, to protect the Federal Hall.

Okay, that's true, all right, that was it. I want to I want to miss him and come back to him.

Yeah, back when you're doing it.

Yeah on Wall Street and you're doing.

The Wall Street gag. Bro, you're doing.

The rookie numbers.

Yeah, all right, So when did you take the fire department test? Then you had an interest in being a fireman or what I wanted to be my whole life?

Why so back in Park Float wins Terrace, never forget for life, the house floor life. I grew up on eight Day Avenue between Windsor and Prospect. Two blocks over was seventeenth Street and eighteenth Street, and then you got to the Prospect of Expressway. So on eighteenth Street and eighth Avenue there was a factory, a three story factory. It was like eight like where people send the dry clean is sending their clothes to actually get dry clean.

It was just that was just what it was.

One day, I was a kid, I couldn't have been eight years old, maybe nine years old, I can't remember exactly. You smell the smoke, you hit a sirens, you know, and back in the back in the in the eighties and the late seventies, early eighties, that was a normal occurrence, right, You just hear them. That was the Warriors, that was part of the Warriors, and the guys were just superheroes to us. And sure enough, there was a fire in that factory, top floor, ripping, ripping out the fucking you know.

Do that, you know I didn't.

That was way before I knew anything about the flying Point. I just saw a fire and I said, I want to fucking go do it.

Those had you have hello, bro.

They had me at Helloa. You knew the fire went out, the water's coming out the window. I was like, holy, that was the greatest thing I've ever.

Seen, you know.

So that's what made me want to be Why did you take the test? I took the test in ninety nine, nineteen ninety nine, Okay, and now you've gone through two careers, oh well, two jobs before and then the job calls you when you're a plot police, the job men air Marshall. Right, it was it was right after nine to eleven.

I missed.

I believe there was a test. I was in the service. I believe there was a.

Test, and I want to say it was ninety five. Who ninety four? I can't remember, but I know I was away and I missed the test. So then ninety two ninety two maybe maybe that was that's when I took it. Yeah, was there one after that? I can't remember.

I don't think so.

Anyway, you guys know how long it took to get on the job or another test to come out.

So I missed that test. I was in the service whenever it was, I get out.

And now I'm I'm like, goll d, I'm gonna I'm gonna take the fire department test when it comes out. Yeah, I'll fucking I'll collect cobwebs before the next test comes out.

Something. So I get on the par police.

I took the police test that took him, my PD NASA, UH sanitation I took. I didn't take corrections, no offense to any corrections guys out there. But I don't think I would do well in prison for me. Those guys are something else.

Those guys are something else, is right man?

Yeah?

Yeah, so I know I know a guy who's correction was Marines Corrections, Fight Department, Big Mickey Riley, if he's listening, he lives.

Up here with us, great dude, you know the only Irish guys. You know, you hang out with anybody else, So what the hell, bro? You know, I hang out lots of people hang out.

Those Oh forget about it.

To cheese, come on, happy that we got another irishman on. So he is.

He was as far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.

Remember, I always wanted to be a fineman. I relate that movie to a lot of things in the Fight Apartment man.

All right, But nineteen ninety nine is when I is when I was able to take the next test, and I did. I got a hundred on the critain with my city points and veterans points, I was like one hundred and fucking ten. And then I got one hundred on it or ninety nine or ninety eight on the physical. I ended up being like like three thousand on the list. So you know, I was like, all right, I know I'm gonna get hired.

Sooner or later, right just by my time, you know. So where'd you get the call?

I got the call?

I got on the air Marstrils in ten thousand.

And two, and it was pretty much the first couple of weeks I was on the air, Marshals my background investigator call me. He was like, stop getting the shit together. Uh you know you're going to be We want to get you in the next class or whatever it is. I was like, all right, cool, So but my I don't remember the guy's name, but my background investigator fucking sucked. He dropped the ball.

He had me doing this, that and the other thing. I was like.

I was like, bro, I held the top secret security clearance for the federal government. This background investigation is the hardest thing that that I've ever had to do.

What are you doing?

Who are you talking to that that you're holding this up? I missed a class to two because of the background investigator, But maybe that was meant to be.

Who knows, Yeah, right, you never know.

Man interviewed maybe one of your ex girlfriends. I don't know. Maybe I don't know who they were talking to. I don't know, I don't know. I thought I have a pretty good report and that was a nice guy. So where were you when you got the call? Call you? Well?

I was I was in staten Island in my in my sister and brother in law's God rest his soul died in nine to eleven cancer Ray Buzzo. Best guy I ever knew anyway. They bought a house in Staten Island. I lived in the mother in law house.

You know that.

I was getting ready to go to work. Actually I was getting ready to go on a flight, and they called me and I was like, do I want the job?

You know, what are you kidding me? Of course, yes, thought it right now, let's go. Yeah, and you have wooden balls. You're like, yeah, bro, I want that job. I actually went yes, yes, it was.

It was just such a great feeling because when I took the physical, you know, this is something I wanted.

My whole life.

As most firemen do, It's it's a calling. You see that fire and that's all you want to do.

Like it's just like like I gotta do that. But when I did the when I took.

The physical, I studied with Pudgy Walsh. He had me coming and doing all the stuff. So I take the physical and I'm expecting six foot five, big burley mustache fireman to be like, yeah.

Let's go, let's go. Kenny let's go come on, put the pack on.

Do it, do it, do it.

I had some ninety year old proctor woman like, Okay, you.

Can come here, and I was like, I was like, what's going on?

I was so when I was doing a hose pool. I'll never forget that. I was doing a hose pull and I must have been like off to the side or like ten feet away, and halfway through it, She's goes, oh, you could stand over here in the middle of it. So I fucking run back and I do it. It cost me like a pointer to two. So I was like, oh, fuck man. I and I came out of there and I was so emotional. I just I was like, I'm not I'm never getting this job. I know how hard

I don't know what I'm gonna do.

This is all I wanted in my life.

What am I gonna do?

Now?

You went up and you punched it right in a mush No, no, no, I didn't do that, all right.

She actually kicked me in the ass because I was standing in one spot and made.

Me move over to the ah. Little did she know that you one day being Halem.

Just took me a second to find his day. But I have ten pages of sound effects. We haven't used it in a while, all right, so you get the all. You're going to PROB school. Give me some names. Who are you with in provy school? Who who was teaching?

Who was some of the guys in prob school?

Donnie I remember Donnie wonder Lick was like the man Donnie wonder Lick was was our head company commander or a drill instructor, whatever you want to call him.

And that guy was so fucking inspiring to me.

Just high energy, just rah rah rah, like military guy, like I don't even know if he was in the military, but just the way he presented himself and how he yelled and how he his confidence and like I was like, I will, I will take me with you into fucking hell, bro I like curiously, like he was one of those guys, and I'm and I was, that's the guy that I want to be.

He was. Was he the guy that gave that speech roof no crazy.

Pe that was crazy p on the on the He was shartless on the like on the roof giving a speech. You will be old, you will be that's crazy peo. Oh yeah, I made I made it for Cadence about crazy people in the academy too.

Was he there when you were that crazy?

Yes he was.

He was about chief Soakamano. Was he do there?

But he was gone there that he was gone?

I can't remember, That's all he used to say. Who is there?

Fucking I can't remember lieutenant name. I have such a bad memory with ship like that. I was just trying to get I was a squad leader. They made me a squad leader, military guy. Of course, my buddy goes, my buddy, my buddy, who's in that pictures picture he got he was in the class before me. And he goes, Bro, with your background, they're gonna want you to be a squadi.

He goes, don't do it.

Don't fucking volunteer, don't do it. I go, I go, all right, okay, you know I'm nervous.

I don't know what to fuck do I find it?

So they called everybody with military and law enforcement experience in a room, right, and he goes, and Donnie wanted to looks like we got it. They got us whole lined up, and he any of you fucking guys don't want to be a fucking squad leader, step forward right now. So I look to my my right and I look to my left, and I go this, and I'm like, and I'm thinking of what my buddy said, and I go to take a step out. I go, you know what, I'm gonna keep my mouth shut and step back. And

This guy.

The rest of Proby school. Every time he did something, they were like, this is the guy that didn't want to.

This is the guy that big this.

I was gonna say, that's some bad advice, Kenny. I don't know. Would you get somebody out advice now you wouldn't give I don't know.

I don't know if I think he was fucking with me, but I thank god. I just I was like, you know what I'm gonna get. Thank God, so you can go a squad leader. Usually I let the squad leaders pick.

Where I want to go.

No, bro, I picked.

I had a pick list, and I knew the only thing I knew about the fight department was that I wanted to fight fires. I didn't know what was busy, what wasn't busy, What where was where I thought everybody was. I grew up in a time where everybody there was fires everywhere. He didn't know any better. So I got the pick list and I picked, Uh. My first pick was more of a sentimental pick because my best friend's dad died line of duty in nineteen seventy four. His

They sent me right too, yo.

Yeah, but you know it was great about Pox Flow. I knew that neighborhood. First of all, the guys were fucking awesome, I mean really really together. The house, the guys really looked out for really really close. The house is immaculate, just like I felt as soon as I got there. I felt like the like I felt like, all right, this is all proby, We're gonna have a great time.

We're gonna teach you. We're a teacher.

Like I really felt great going into that house.

Huh.

So, but that was the and and being in Pox Slope. I knew that neighborhood like the back of my hand.

So anyway we went. My size up was, oh, it's a Brownstone. I know I know this place.

I know the address right away. I kind of know what building it's gonna be. I kind of know where the hydroens are.

So it was it was it was really really good, right uh oh three guns okay, bronze. So maybe he was down in Provy school at that time.

Ro it's a pretty cool firehouse, Coobs, if you ever seen it has two different firehouses.

But condo is gonna pull it up two twenty.

I'm working on it right now.

Who are they with one truck?

Oh?

Isn't that where little guy was?

Donny Campbell.

I was in Provy school with Anthony. Me and Anthony got to start to two twenty engine together com.

This, so you could have been.

Anthony Anthony Galtieri, My fucking boy, that's.

About it.

Let me tell you something. Cunny his house, this fuck My grandfather was in his house. He was telling me grandfather right.

I swear my niece's eyes, Kenny.

That's franky to see. I swear to God Gatty when my grandfather, I'm gonna be great. It's gonna be good. I got you, don't worry.

But his grandfather was a thought was was its sign to that house? So I thought I was like, I'm fucked.

I go. This guy's his family was there. I'm fucked.

I'm a new probe. Everything's gonna be on me, so, you know, but Anthony.

Is a great He had to take all the pressure right off.

He was your lightning, rod bro he was your lightning.

I mean, he had to take the pressure right off.

I'm thinking, I'm thinking, you know that I'm gonna be the guy at their own because he's a legacy or whatever, you know, or there's no and it turns.

Out, you know, they were just on him. Fucking of course could not there it is.

It was blooms. There was a couple of pictures, but I can't it's not just a great.

Oh, eleven Street was a great block. It was a little a little small. It was tough to to respond to get out right, you know, but it's a tight block. But that house was split. I want to say they opened that both houses up seven five to seven years before I got there. So you used to have to like fucking take a detail and get it go.

Gunny Campbell. It was my favorite, my favorite guy. Donnie was one of my favorite guys.

Yeah, he's the rest of your five now, right, I think, yes, I believe the last time I talked to him, he was Donne was he came on. I want to say it was the class after me or two. Great dude, man, love Donny. Haven't seen him in a long time. But but being there together, like he was such a great guy. Great for Himan, really into the job.

Just to.

Really good, dude, really good. The truck pull out of one and the engine pull out of the other. What are the cars doing in front of the other gate? They have the other door?

Maybe the truck was relocated now the engine pulled out of the engine quarters and the truck pulled out of the truckle.

So the truck quarters on the left and the engine quarters are on the right. I'm looking at yeah there, you know. Yeah, I'll try to pull up a little bit closer. That is cool, man, that's really cool.

You would you wouldn't even know, Like if you're walking down the street, you wouldn't even know.

You wouldn't even know it. The block is like so quaint.

That's so unique, man. I love that. Very cool, very very cool. House is immaculate.

I told you the story. Uh when I first I just must have missed Kenny when he got there because I covered a vacation there when I got promoted in Junivo two, and but I was already out of there, like in December. But that was one of the places Cuse where I worked where I forgot. I went in there and now it's dinner time, and the guys are like, all right, yeah, it's ten bucks you know for the

I was.

Can I ever tell you the story I was when But this is the thing.

They let you, you ain't working here again.

They pay the offices park inside, right, So I had my car inside. So now I'm in my car. I swear to god, I'm picking out cars. I'm looking for change, the glove box, everything. I don't even remember who it was, but one of the guys comes out and says, look, what's up. I'm like, dude, I fucking forgot my wallet. I'm fucking throwing crazy. They're like, what are you nuts? Like, dude,

Right.

So the next the next time I worked in that area, I was working at two oh four and I told the guys are two of far. I'm like, listen, this is what happened. I forgot my wallet. I gotta I gotta buy some shift for them, you know. So they're like, yeah, we'll go over there in the afternoon. So they brought me to this fruit store. I bought. I don't know

Brothers. Bron Love Bro.

The guy.

Guys will be like, oh, that's all right, lou you convent moment, It's all right, don't worry.

Yeah, yeah, true, good point, yeah yeah point.

A lot of senior guys when you gotta dick Kenny, Yeah, I had a lot of senior guys that Bobby Younger was in the truck. I'm trying to think of guys. I mean, Frank Tarantino was there, Brian Shehan was there. Fucking Matt Jacobs was there. Fuck, I'm trying to remember some guys. Carlock O, Carlock rest God rest the soul. I believe Carlock passed away. Which Bryan, Brian mccan, Brian mccannon, Brian.

Uh.

But but Frank was my boy. Frank Tarantino, Anthony was my boy. Brown, Rob Brown went it, Rob Brown Brown Ship. I don't know, I can't remember. But there was a bunch of guys there and I was only there. I was I was only there year. You know, work, Kevin Hearn.

Was there, the hernia was there. Yeah. Did you catch me work there? Bro? What's that catching me? Work?

I caught a little bit of work. But I caught my first fire. I caught my first fire on a detail in two forty seven job, first job, first real job at two forty seven engine on a detail in the afternoon as a proby.

Really you what you have backup?

I had had the door.

I had the door because it was a five minut engine. I am, I get, you know, it was like one of my first details. I'm proby, you know, So I'm just I think I was standing in the fire house the whole time I didn't sit down. The guys was like, dude, take a fucking load off. We gotta go get the meal. Anyway, as we're out geting, I think we're out getting the meal. We're out on a run, and we get the box. While we're out, you know, everybody's trying to put this

A couplet and it was like two rooms.

It was like it was in the mill of the afternoon, two rooms. These guys put it out in like fucking two seconds, you.

Know, but it was it was.

It was done and quick. And I equate that fire to like the first time having sex. You know, you don't know if you're.

Doing it right.

With your clothes.

It's dark, it's hot.

You're sweating, you know, and then all of a sudden it's over.

And then you started asking what happened? Okay, did I do?

Did I do? All?

Right?

Yeah, So that's kind of what I equate my first fly too. And we had guys had the good fella's thing up before and when I got back to two twenty engine. You know you could hear everything over the pitch box. Well, the guys greeted me at the firehouse, like when when Henry got out of jail for the first time, and they were like, oh yeah, pop ja I where they were all there. They fucking hugged me and they were patting on the back and they're like lifted me up.

And it was I felt.

I felt so much love from those guys, and I was like, this is this is it, this is what I've I've wanted my whole life. And that was what was so great about two twenty and twenty two, and that's I had didn't have a hard time leeting there because of those guys.

Was so great to me. Wow, did you do a thirty day funim? Night and day? They're always firemen.

Did you hear that?

I thought we know that ship.

I was going to ask you to look at you.

You don't know. You don't know what I did?

Oh sorry, go ahead, I totally real, coops.

I don't remember what I was. Oh did you do a thirty day detail in the truck? I did?

I think I did, But I worked in the truck all the time. Like, you know, he's just getting going across the floor. We were always drilling, you know, two twenty and twenty two, not the busiest place, which was kind of frustrating for a proby because you'd go twenty forward sometimes in the summer time without turning the wheel. And you can only clean so much, you can only study so much, you know, you can't go. And I

You know.

That's and they were like that. They were really good. Like that taught me a lot. Did you do the rotation and they have that done? It was done?

No, they didn't have the rotation. They didn't have the rotation all.

Right, So what makes you want to transfer up to the halem? And how do the guys feel about it?

Yeah, you were on it, you were on going.

Did you did you text him and say, hey, I'm gonna say I.

Have my good moments.

You know, I want to I want to go to work. I want to fucking go to work. I want to work in Manhattan. I wanted to work in Harlem.

I was thinking.

I was thinking about how I can bring a peppercini into this with those.

It's called living on your laurels. Right there, bro, you already had one shot. You' you know, pat yourself on the back, and then that's what happens.

See, do you know I heard my next skit.

I had heard the sixteenth Battalion was was the best battalion on the job. Gentlemen, fireman ninety sixth Street North into the Bronx. I really liked the idea of the gentleman fireman. You know that I'm not I'm not gonna fucking break anybody's chops or say anything bad about anybody. And how they do things and how companies run, that is what they do and that's how they do it. I really appreciated the gentlemanly fireman because I had so

And I heard he wouldn't have made it ninety bro, no ninety engine.

I worked with a guy he was a detail in he worked in I don't know. I think I was in detail in two forty and he was working in two forty. Was like, he got lifted for something and we went on a.

Box and I was a prod get up to right and he goes, I.

Don't remember who the guy was, and he goes, you gotta let everybody he had know that DC is all box and nobody can fuck with him. And I was like, wow, guys, this guy's fucking curious. Does anybody else here this?

Like, let's we got this guy.

I was like, all right, let's let's fucking go.

Let's baby, let's row.

But that's you know, that's that's great. That's how those guys run, and that's that's fine for them. I wanted to be, you know, the traditions of the the gentleman for him, up and up and you know eight the sixteenth Battalion in the Bronx.

Bro.

He likes you know, he likes no, no, no, you guys are first, you go first. No no no no no no no, no, you go first, you're first. You know what, Bro? No, no, no, you fuck my sister.

Now go ahead.

I insist, I insist.

Did you actually go? Did you go up to fifty nine to meet the captain?

Oh?

Bro, talk to listen. That's what we do, that's what you do, right.

All right. So here's the thing.

So this is a story that that I've put it on my on my kitchen table.

I heard of it, never heard of it.

I completely completely fucked up. And I take full accountability for this, and it's my fault. And I just don't know what I was thinking. So I I want to put my paper in. I'm getting married or moving upstate. I want to go to the sixteenth battalion. So my guy, my hook goes, you got to put your paper in. There's there's an order coming out, and what the I'm I'm all right whatever? You know this, three or four guys into twenty one, twenty two with their papers in

I go all right, so I go in.

I see what's going on here. It's getting see.

Where I'm going. Yeah, yeah, it was a guy in my photio. I want to be a squad leader and don't go up and see the captain.

Good friends, good friends, Give me a second, all right, let me get ahead. I tell a guy and if I asked he wants to go up there, I'm like, bro, do you mind if I put my paper in to go up there? I tell my captain, like, just do what you gotta do. Put my paper in that den, do my twenty four. I get off the fucking next day, I get a phone call congratulations, I go no way for what they go You just got transmit to fifty nine engine And I went, oh shit, I fucking holy shit.

On the job. I want to be such a nervous I'm nervous right now. I'm already nervous.

I was a wreck and I knew I I it's my fault.

I fucked up this.

Anybody on the job, anybody looking at a finement, this is what not to do. You gotta go there. I broke the tradition of the job.

I didn't mean to.

I didn't mean to, but it happened. It happened so quick my head was spinning. So I get the call congratulations. Now, usually when a guy shows up in order that nobody knows he's getting lifted, he's a bag of ship.

He fucking missed.

And that the other thing, right, like we all we all know the deal, and I'm like fuck. As soon as I got that phone call, I ran, I got cigars, I got my cakes, and I fucking drove up there and I was like, I knock on the door.

And I got I got nerves.

How nervous were you right at that point? Oh my?

They opened the door. And the silence that that I got from from these guys is worst. Is worse than guys breaking your balls. No one fucking talking.

Bro.

The crickets were.

The Crickets were my only friends in that fly house for two almost two years. So anyway I get there, Big Mac is working, Jim mcclusky's working. I think Keith Nicholeello was working and he gets right in my fucking face or it was one of my first toys and he's like.

Who the fuck are you?

Who you blah blah blah blah, and then he you know, and I'm just like, I'm sorry. I didn't mean I'm sorry. This is where I wanted to come, and nobody's talking to me. This is just just he's ripping into me. It was Big Mac's working. Big Mac, all right, you here, you fucked up your scum, Big, but uh, you're working tonight. I go, what do you mean I'm working tonight. He's like, you're working it tonight over time. We need a guy and I'm like, I don't have any He's like, you're working.

I'm working. I work, you know now working.

As soon as I show up to the Flyhouse for the fucking tour, I got no bunk of year. The prob who has to talk to me is like, O get this, we'll get you this. And he didn't want to be near me. Nobody wanted to be near they'd be guilty by association, bro exactly. So that was my first talk I took. So the next two years was I said, all right, this is this is where I

And I go, yeah, I'm going to fifty nine. And you what I'm going to? You know, going up there?

It's a firehouse.

He goes, no, no, no, no, do you have any idea what the reputation is of that flyhouse? I go, wow, Wow, what do I It's the fire house. They're gonna love me. I'm Kenny d And.

They're like they're like, they're like, nah, dude, you're it's it's gonna You're gonna have a tough time.

So I go, all right, I go up there, and yes.

I had a very very tough time, but I proved. I said, I'm gonna prove to these guys I want to be here. So I kept my head down, my mouth shut. I stayed in the sink.

I stepped up.

I fucking drilled, I caught fire. I fucking did everything right, everything that I had to do to show them that I wanted to be there. Guys came in, got run out. Bosses came in, got run out. I dug my fucking heels in and I said, I ain't going anywhere no matter what you guys, do, what you say, I'm digging it. And I took a lot of fucking heat deservingly, so I brought it all on to myself. But that all being said, once I really proved myself, I fucking belong

That's all they want to do, right, They want to make sure that they can depend on you, right, and yeah, absolutely, especially if they feel like you're not you're coming in the right way, uone unquote.

I I definitely came in the wrong way. It was I hate to say it was a mistake, but I fucked up. I learned from that mistake.

It was Kenny. I didn't even know that. Sorry, I just I just asked that question, honestly because I know how they're ring. I know what. I went up to thirty three truck and I was nervous, and I had about five four or five years on the job. I can't imagine going to see the captain after like one year. So that's why I was asking that question. So that's why it just came up like that.

What would do? And you were doing the right thing.

You got up to see him transfer this, I said, fuck those guys updown, I'm coming out.

Listen, do you know who worked witching table?

When I get up here, you guys know who?

And then and then roll the holls.

Now, there was some tough, tough bastards in that place, and you know they just and a lot they Listen, you guys got a picture me. I'm about five feet nothing. They made a door for me, right, I think the young guys made it. But they made a door for me that was about four feet tall and they wrote it was ready. It looked like a firehouse door. They put a handle on it and they wrote the Laney's door and it said so and they put it right by the front door, right where the writing list was.

It was tough. It was tough. Man. What was the first sign that they made you thought that maybe they were accepting you? Like, what was the first one?

So all this shit's going on, I'm keeping my mouth shut. We're getting Proby's in, I'm in the sink. I'm doing the right thing. You know, guys are yelling at me. One day, I come in right, come in early.

I come in early.

I like to get a work at it or relieve somebody early, have coffee, be at the kitchen table, and the nine by cour in the firehouse is the best fucking time in the world.

So I come in one day. I'm going to grate my year.

Put a butt a rig as soon as you're walking and I look for somebody to relieve. I can't find my helmet I got my my pants and my my coat, can't find my helmet, right, and I'm like, where the fuck is where the fuck is my helmet, you know, And I'm looking around. I'm like, I know, I know, I'm looking up in the rafters. Nothing was hanging up, I know.

I yeah, I know.

Beautiful.

All of a sudden, you know, we have we have just a straight rack, no no cubbies, you know, it's just one big rack of gear. So I see all the helmets on top of of the rack, and then I see a cardboard box, and I go, what the fuck is in that card wood box? I pull a cord wood box down and it's my helmet in about six hundred pieces with the with the front piece on it. Somebody yep, yeah, somebody smashed my helmet under the rig. So now I fucking lose it. If the everything that

I said, this is it.

I'm either gonna kill somebody they're gonna throw me out or I'm getting transferred.

I'm getting somethings.

This is it, this is where it's. This is where the fucking shit ends. And I kick open the fucking house watchdoor and there's three Proby's in there, brand new guys.

Flip the lights on.

It's like six in the morning, it's still, you know, dark, and I'm screaming at these guys, wait, what the fuck happened to my fucking helmet?

Who did there?

Tell me to fucking kill him?

And they're like, Kenny, calm down, please, it was an accident, Please calm down. Da da da da da.

And I'm like, this is no accident.

This is you.

Guys are sending me a message. You want me fucking out of here. Tell me who the fuck it was. I'll kick the shit out of it and then I'll leave. You want me out of here? This, I was like, that's it, this is it, It's over.

It was an accident, they said, a guy freaking pulled all the gear off and everything fell down, and your helmet got slid under the rig and we didn't know it was there, and then the rig ran it over and I was like, that's fucking shit. If you picked everything up, you would have seen it. Nobody called me. Nobody called me to tell me about this, and it was my helmet was getting saltyep, you know, like it was getting black and flyinman's helmet is his resume and

Was like, Ken, sits me down in the kitchen. We have a couple of coffee. He's like, bro, it was an accident. I'm telling you.

The ship that you're thinking in your head it's over with. You're gonna get your balls broke. That shit's never gonna leave.

But you're it's okay, don't worry. He didn't do it on purpose. It was an accident.

And the guy that did it was a bag of fucking shit. And he I'm not gonna say his name, but he was like, Kenny, was an accident. I go all right, he calms me down, and I'm like, you know, a cuckoo. I really appreciate it.

Thank you.

You know, I'm really upset that my helmet was destroyed.

It was my thing.

But okay, it was an accident.

He says.

Sorry, We're all good, roll good after this, I'm good now. The guy doesn't get up until fucking nine o'clock in the morning. Like I'm the first guy in the fly house. He doesn't come down until nine o'clock. This guy was notorious for sleeping late. Blah blah blah blah blah. Everybody else is relieved, but there's a bunch of guys waiting around to see what happens.

Nobody wanted to go home.

So it's after nine o'clock now, and the guy finally comes down at the bunk room and he's like, I'll take up on you. And I was like, bro, you how am I gonna take up on you? You fucking wrecked my helmet And he was like, what are you talking about?

I was like, what do you mean? What am I talking about? He was like, I don't know what you're talking about. I was like, bro, did you not take everything off that?

Oh no?

And knock everything down. He was like, I don't know what you're talking about. I go, you're lying to me now. Now I'm starting to get up again.

I go, you're fucking lying to me now.

He goes, I don't know talking about. Now I'm fucking going at him, screaming at him. They hold the guy's are holding me back, and he's like ah and he turns around and he goes, fuck you like.

He does want to go as fuck yous, And.

I fucking freaked out. I grabbed the box and helmet. I threw it at him, pieces of helmet and hitting him, like all over the floor. The captain, captain, he's I believe he's a chief. Now he might even be like a big chief. He was just covering for the day. He's like, Kenny, calm down, you gotta get out of here, go to Fort Totten and get a new helmet.

And I was like, I'm gonna fucking kill him. I'm gonna kill him. Get out of here, all right, all right? And so I drive to.

Fort Totten and what happens is I get lost, go into four Totten because I don't know where the fuck I'm going.

I'm like, this is before he asked, like, I'm gonna kill this fucking guy. He's gonna laughing.

I have now I have to call the firehouse and be like, where the fuck he's fucking totten. I get my new helmet, I get my new helmet.

I come back.

And after that I expected to walk in that fly house and then be like, you're out of here, you know, because the way I reacted, they were like and they were like, Kenny, nobody said anything. It was almost like symbolic that the helmet getting smashed was like the ship that they were giving me was.

Like, all right, you had enough, You're good, right, and it was like.

Smashing everything away. And from then on, from then on, it was fucking it was.

It was great, man, you know.

That's how it was from here on.

It is that the new helmet of the old one.

Oh that's the helmet. That's the new helmet. That's the helmet.

That's the morning. Hey, Kenny, who who are some of the guys that that you know, you latched out to early on? Like, uh, even going through all the turmoil and everything, who did you feel like were the guys that you really could count.

On, the guys that I could count on When I first got there, one of my best friends in the house was Colin Halon, Brandon McCarthy, Ralph Holgwin, Pat Collingsfreg Bow fucking Hodges. I'm and I'm naming engine guys right now. You know, I can get to the truck guys. John Moran got there, a lot of these guys got it there after me. So us young guys are now taking over. You know, we're taking over from the senior guys, and we're all coming up together. Danie O'Connell, Rich mccheel, Danny Hayes,

Terry O'Connor was the senior guy of the engine.

That's Mike Canally, that's me and the captain. That was just after the night for that tour. His name was Tim, Tim something. I can't remember his last name. I'm sorry, But this other guy, I won't, I won't.

Who's the guy right above you.

That's Terry O'Connor. He was the senior guy of fifty nine engine.

Oh he looks for me. I don't know why.

He had one hundred years on the job. So when I got there, he was the senior got the engine. Keith the senior guy in a truck. And Terry's this easy going, laid back everything is everything you know. And Keith was a maniac, you know, like just in your face guy. And I felt like I equated those guys to Platoon Elias and Barnes, and I was Charlie Sheen and they were fighting for my soul.

Everything.

The only thing that could kill BUTNS is bonds.

The only thing that could kill.

That's kind of what it was like, like like like Terry was so easy going and Nick was so.

Like wired, yeah wired, you know, just nuts so but it was great.

I gotta read. I gotta read it quick. I gotta read a quick text from Uh. Keith always sends me text all the time. He says to me, Kenny will be a great guest. He was a great fireman. When I looked at fifty nine engine and he was working, I had no worries. There's an NPO always got water. Even seeing him drive the rig on the sidewalk, the hook up on the backstep, he was feeling and determined. Please let him know.

Love you Keith, Keith, you know love I love Keith. You know Keith was Keith just taught us so much. He was such you think of fireman, you think of FDN Y New York City fireman. A guy like Keith pops up so into the job, so into the traditions, taught us like man work axes and fucking holligans and and just we would light shit on fire in the in the in the parking lot and just cut up stuff like it was always drilling with the guys, always expected so much of us. Brought out the best fireman

He's got your back for life. He bleeds for the job that guy still does. And that's a guy bro. No matter where you go in this country, because we go to a lot of trade shows, you know, yeah, no matter where you are in the country, somebody knows this guy. He's amazing.

To the truck, you know, I I did think about going to the truck, but you know, my love of the job was engine mark. I love stretching hose lines and putting water on fire. You know, that's that was my lovely job.

Everybody's got to do a job. Every the truck's got to do everything.

They got to vent search fucking open up windows, open up the roof, do what they got to do for us as engine guys can put the fire out. You take a beaten in there like a beaten if they if they aren't venting, you know, So it's it's it's it's a it's a it goes.

Hand in hand.

But my prevy, my love, my adrenaline with stretching hose lines on the nozzle on the backup and going into the seated fire and putting water on fire.

So you know, so being a guy that they were trying to drive out of that, how long before they actually gave you the nozzle or did they give it to you early to see what you you know, what you could do.

So even though even though I came in the way I came and nobody was talking to me, they still had rules, and the rules were senior guy in his groups gets the nozzle. So there was always got different guys. I was always in my groups because nobody wanted to do mutuals.

With me, so I was.

So I always I had the nozzle a lot.

And then there was there was one time Colin Hanlin, great buddy of mine, young guy, he was supposed to have the nozzle, and they changed things for me to give me the nozzle that tour. They're like, let's see what this kid can do. Give them the nozzle and see what happens. And sure enough I catch a first two fucking nozzle job across the street from the firehouse, top floor brownstone, fucking kick ass job at the change of tours at like seven thirty eight.

In the morning.

Everybody's in the front, everybody's there. It's right, it's in the summer time. Keith is coming down from the second floor.

He's like, hey, why is there fucking smoke coming from the Province store. And we're like, holy shit.

So the guys bring the bells before they can get get to the dispatcher, you know, to tell him to turn out the companies. We're ringing bells and popping the doors. The guys are all all these senior guys are running out from the kitchen, running up to the brownstone, no fucking bunk of gear on, kicking doors open.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I'm like, I'm like, all right, I put my bunker gear on, I got the nozzle column puts his bunking gear on. The engine show who pulls the rag out, pulls up to the hydroen, which was probably, uh, you know, one hundred and fifty feet away or so, right on the on the block. I go, I go to I take my folds, he takes his folds. We go to stretch, and this even the control man who was the senior guy, ran up to the fucking billy. Everybody wanted to get in there. So we at the moment we didn't have

In the landings.

That Brownstone had very small landing.

So I get it.

I'm going up to the top landing and now I'm looking at fire out this door from the top of the door to the bottom of the door. Blow fortune out like fucking and and all I thought was for a split second, I went, that's beautiful. Look how beautiful that fire is. I was so like enamored by by with is.

This when you look at the fire just like that from the outside.

That's that's a good side, because that's a good.

I know what that is.

That's that headshot that you send out to.

Get my good side right right right, bro, I can't hear you.

It looks like quasi motive.

We get up to I get up to the top floor and I'm looking at this fire just you know, split second. I go now, I can't wait to keep the fucking ship out of it. And there's six truck guys, some with bunker gears. I'm not all leaning up against the wall with this fire.

I go get out of the way. You guys ain't going in there without me. Get out of it. Close the door, close the door.

The one guy reaches with the hook, he closes the door, gets gets control of the door.

You know, smoke. Now I get up there. I'm fucking ready to go.

And Colin comes up behind me and the and then camm in the audience.

He goes, you know you're going in first. I go, yeah, I know, I know, I know.

I open the line and the door fucking swings open. I'm hitting fire. I'm hitting fire. I'm hitting fire. And the door only opened up halfway. It stopped right there and cut off.

The whole hallway.

So the fire was to the right of us, like it was just fucking pouring out and I can't get till now I'm finding the fire on my left hand and I'm trying to get the door open on my right, I'm trying to kick, and I'm like, I can't, I can't get Something is blocking that door.

Whether it was a rug.

A desk, I don't know, but it's blocking that whole way off from the front of the apartment to the rear. But now the front of the apartment. Ten forty five jumped out the window as they were trying.

To set up for a roof for a rescue at jo No shit, So.

The front of the apartment's lighten up. So I'm like, the truck's got to get in here to get this door. So I there's about this much room, about this much room in between the door and the wall. So I just put the nozzle in there and I just try and put out as much fire as I could, right and then I turned and put and go to the

He fell.

He fell out the wind though and hit like all the electrical lines and ship and the guy lived.

What I always say that you you know, you get to you get to your place, right. They don't know about you, right, and you kind of went in little backwards.

Well, they take note of it anyway, right, I know I would. They definitely took note.

You know.

It was hard.

Some of the guys like Kenny, good job. Some guys are like, all right, you know that what was great about that. I caught a lot of work in the first few years in that flyhouse, so you know, I was just showing them how what I want to do, how I want to be And listen, everybody fucks up a jobs. Everybody makes mistakes. Yeah, yeah, every single job

That's it.

That's that's really what we're in a.

Place like that, Bro, you have it's not going to be low before you're able to redeem yourself. It's not like you gotta be going to another fire fairly quickly. Yeah, how is.

Kirk lest I was going to say, how was he? I love that guy?

He was so great, so much experience. It was so fun talk, you know, working with him because his stories were just hysterical and the way he told them we're just we're just great, and that guy was just I love that guy and learned so much from him working with those guys, being a young guy in the job and knowing how the job was. I just loved working with those guys and the experience that had. It gave me so much confidence.

You know. So now the whole firehouse, bro, who wrote you the hardest? Who do you have to really convince the most? If you had to say, one guy in the firehouse, which.

Is probably Listen Keith, was really really tough, especially in the beginning. A lot of the a lot of the the younger guys, a lot of it like the middle of the road guys kind of you know, they were like because they took the heat from a lot of these guys before and now they had somebody right.

It's always like that, bro, It's always the guy who just a few more years than you who breaks your bulls the most. Man, you know, the senior guys.

There was a guy he was like, he was like, I think he's still I don't really talk to him, but there's still the guy that's like, he's just the fucking guy that just showed up and I was like, I'm sorry he was like, damn whatever, you know he still holds a grudge.

Whatever, I don't what am I gonna do this?

This that's in the end. That's when you talk about Neanderthal fireman. That that's what we talk about, right, Like, that's ridiculous.

Some guy wanted to know what if you know what the difference is between an e ers and an EMS box.

Yeah, I was gonna wait for the right time for that.

You know what, I didn't see it between.

Bro, who the fuck is ex Delta?

Who knows you?

Bro?

So all right, funny fucking story, funny story. So I'm there like a week and a half, I don't.

Know, and oh my god, and a half a week and a half, they shoved me. You know, I step up.

They put me on the fucking twelve by twelve bye for anybody doesn't know, there's the midnight fucking watch. So I come from a pretty slow place where we didn't really run after midnight, so the tones didn't go off too much. And now I go to a place where I'm petrified. I'm just sitting like, I'm just like fucking scared. I don't know what's going on.

Nobody's talking to me. Two twenty engines. Nobody's talking to me.

Bro.

I was just like what.

I was like, what did I?

What did I do?

Man?

Where did I?

What am I doing? What A doing?

The tones go off.

Now it pops up engine only r S right, and I'm I'm still like it's dark. I'm like, I can't fucking I love you too, I don't.

Know who you are.

Won't reveal himself for herself.

So I'm like, I'm like trying to like fucking figure it out. Like I'm like, e R what the fuck?

EMS?

I said, e MS.

I had never seen an.

R S box in two twenty two in the year that I was there, so I was like, no, you know, and if you know, if you remember, if you're reading an er S box and it turns out to be a job immediately as you're reading it, the fucking they fill out the ticket while I'm still reading. So we have a policy. I don't know who how you guys do it. You read it twice so you get it right. So I read it once and I go engine only e MS right because I'm trying to turn out the

I'm popping those. You're gonna put the doors up. I gotta put the doors up.

I gotta. I haven't.

I'm turning the companies and I don't know what to say.

I'm fucking panicking. So we the engine engine turns out of court is first, believe it or not, because I called engine only first. So we get to the spot the truck fucking rips. We stop at the corner waiting for any MS person and the truck rips by us, and we look up the block. There's people pointing, and we look up the block and this fire ripping out the first block of this brown stone. And if we all go holy ship, and we're trying, we're putting on

Uh, we're in there.

You know, Tom Heally, Tom Healey, the great Tom Heally, the best character on the job. Frank, he's fucking he's cutting. It was it was a vacant so he's cutting the the window. Yeah, and in this fire like licking out on his head. He thought it was snowflakes hit them and he's like, I can't believe what's going on here.

But I said, I said, he are ms when it was, And I'm like, you didn't get right.

They already hate me, they already hate me, and now I fucked up the take.

I was gonna say, you couldn't even have fucking done. The only thing that made that good was that there was a fire. For God's sake, at least it was all right then, you know what I mean.

But a fire and we still we still got him first new and you know, can you imagine they would have packed your shipations. I was like, I'm that's it, that's it.

I'm fucking.

E r s the mask.

But I never said, I don't know. Let me ask you a question. At any point, did you almost say fuck this, I'm going back. I can't.

So it was it was very difficult, you know, I was. I was having a tough time, you know, just coming in. I was like, these guys don't want me. Who wants to be in a place. The guys don't want They don't want you to you know, Like I want to be there, but they don't want me there, So why would I want to stay in place? But I I am so stubborn. I would cut my nose off to spite my face. It's a it's a quality that I hate about myself. I'm working on it every day. But

That's what they do. They want me to go and then be like I remember that fucking little ship that came up here and didn't say nothing.

I was like, I'm not I'm not going inwhere you're gonna have to deal with me. And I'm telling you, guys, transfer in and transfer out while I was going to so they were kicking guy like it's just and I was like, I'm not.

I'm not going not gonna be that guy.

I'm gonna hold my breath like a little kid and not fucking go until I went and It wasn't a win to lose. It was just eventually I proved myself because I fucked up and I just had to prove myself, just like you have to do any job, any man's job.

You gotta prove this stuff, you know, And that's it.

That's it, Especially with fifty men. Yeah, fifty rough, I mean yeah, yeah, everybody's different. Every personality is different. Right, You're never gonna make everybody happy, you know, and vice versa. It's just, uh, it's it ain't easy, man, you know. Done.

Yeah, I know they're tough guys. But then anybody ever come up to you and like apologize for being such a dick to you, like, hey, listen, we had it wrong or whatever. No, those guys are.

Where he calls off, hey, I'm sorry if you're being a thick to you during high school and he closes his name home with.

Those guys. Are those guys they still break my balls about that.

They're still like they're still like I was gonna say, if they're still talking, if that guy's in the chat and still putting about the EMS thing, that thing has never died, yeah, I mean never.

It follows you forever.

And that's and it becomes fun. It's a fun story. Nobody got hurt.

We forgot it in. You know, it's just on on my podcast. Oh, I didn't know you had a podcast. Most of my most of my stories are me fucking up. I can admit.

I can just make it of myself. You know, we all but that's but that's part of it. Like everybody sucks up, man, But you got to learn from those mistakes and try not to make those mistakes again and just move on. You know, as long as nobody gets hurt, you're gonna suck up. Everybody's gonna fuck up, but you gotta step up the fuck up.

Bro.

Absolutely, Hey Kenny, how was it like being in that place, like after you got past all this ship, like having ten fifteen years whatever you had, Like that place has such a uh like pride right like uh and tradition like every every time you see those guys out of Saint Patty's Day or whatever. Right, you just how is it being in a place that has so much like pride in how they do things and keep the tradition and all that right?

It's just great?

You know, Like you knew fifty nine and thirty when the Holmes you showed up like guys, all right, we got it like that. Everybody carried that pride, that tradition, and we wanted to keep it going because all those guys, all those tough ass bastards, they fucking they put up with a lot of shit and they passed it on to us, and we wanted to live up to those standards. So we all had a lot of pride.

We kept it going. I hope they're keeping I think they're keeping it going.

I don't know a lot of the new guys. I met a couple of them, but I loved, you know, I love being there. The guys were great. I just loved that that we were a tough house, like guys like, oh shit, I don't want to I don't want to go there, you know. Like but that being said, as tough as we were and as tough as we were on each other, anytime anybody got detailed there, they would fucking treat it like gentlemen. They didn't have to pay for meals, they didn't have to do anything. We treated

You know.

Keith always said, we got we got our fucking diplomas from UCLA, the University of your corner of Lennox Avenue, and that just just that experience was just so great, man.

It really was cheas probably too, but that the chiefs would probably happen.

To see you on the box, right, I mean the sixteenth Battalion period, you know, eight eighteen, twenty three, fifty nine and thirty sixteenth Battalion one of the top notch, if not the top notch, in my opinion, the top knoche battalion on the job.

Everybody they showed up, we just knew what we were doing.

Everybody knew was sixteen I was going to be twenty eight. What they were doing and how they were doing and who's working, you just fucking knew. There was no questions, like you never had to worry. If sixty one wasn't gonna make the push for eighty, you knew they were gonna fucking get that ship.

You knew.

And if not fucking we're gonna be right there with them. That's it.

Like we were.

We were very close battalion, and I love that. I love going to the to.

The Gocitos guys and hang out and them seeing us.

It was just a lot of fun. Man, great, great guys. Whether they just start driving, Kenny, I.

Actually started driving right before I became a first grade fireman. I wasn't even first grade fireman yet, and I was terrified, terrified to drive the fire engine.

You know there It was like it didn't look like it like yeah, I got to oh.

Yeah, because we were parked, we weren't driving.

Hit any garbage. Just wanted to know, just ask.

Who I hit?

I hit?

I hit something else other than the funny story of me fucking up again. New chauffeur right. Got the guys, young guys in the back. I think they might have been the scene and guy in the back, but they were letting me drive. Uh Danny Dostra double days retired? Now is the was the engine board?

We get?

We get a call uh EMS box in the subway.

One hundred and thirty fIF street e R S which one I didn't I didn't call it rsn't remember ship.

So make the right out of corners, go up to Powell, make the ride on one three five.

Come down.

Now, I'm gonna make a right on Lenox.

They have you right in front of the subway station with it em E M. S. Box is so as I'm I'm trying to cut the corner fucking pretty tight, so the guys didn't have to walk too far. And there was a light pole don't a walk, don't walk with a light on it right on the corner, and I fucking cut the corner too close and I sheared. I sheared the bottom of that light pole off, and the boss is going, you're gonna hit the pole. You're gonna hit the fucking pole.

And I go, I go, what you know? The pole fucking boom, It hits the tree.

He's like fucking nine feet tall, hits the street, comes down, and the boss freaks out. The guy's in the back of laughing, and I'm like, holy shit, I just hit this pole and knocked it over on one hundred and thirty fifth Street and Lennox Avenue, and I look over across the street and there's a cop car with two cops in it, and they look the other way and they drive off.

Double l that's old school, that's fucking great. He's pissed.

He gets out and now we're all laughing, and he's mad that we're laughing that I did this. So I step on the light pole like I'm Captain Morgan. I'm like, guys, take a picture.

How are you like? I just slaid a dragon? And he was so mad.

So we get back to the fire house and he's like, Chief, distress happened And Chief was like, didn't hit anybody? And he's like, uh no, I don't think I don't think so, and he was like, all right, don't worry about it, right it up and if something happens, we'll figure it out.

We go for another run like an hour later, and the pole is gone.

So I knocked over a pot.

That bro.

They came up in like in like an ow man.

But every anything you could imagine.

Driving an engine or a truck in New York City is is really really it's insane double park cars. But once I got into it, once I got comfortable, I.

The most bro. I think I loved it.

It was Joe, did you get skinny? You too?

Yes? Oh my god.

We used to go down the FDR on occasion and its fucking by the u N and gets like this and you.

Just go, everybody go like this, We'll get through it.

Yeah, but it's great. I love I love driving the engine. I love being an engine.

We call that the r O D position down here retired on duty.

Did you did you get to seat Kenny eventually? No?

I never got to see. We never technically had seats. But usually the senior guys would drive, but but they technically didn't have to see. So a lot of times I would come in, I would be driving, and the senior guy would get over time and you know, you got to give him the show France. But I ended up driving a lot. You caught a lot of work, pumped a lot. You know, it was a lot of fun.

I loved.

I loved driving the ngine. That picture is from Brian Quinn's Rooffrop Rescue in twenty twenty one, I think. And I pumped I back stretched eight lengths of three and a half to the Siamese pretty much by myself. And I was on the sidewalk of Lenox Avenue. Oh that is the sidewalk, Yeah, sidewalk. And I didn't know any better because there's a subway tunnel that runs right onto Lenox Avenue, and I'm like, is the way to the rig gonna fucking collapse this sidewalk into the fucking tunnel?

Late?

Oh yeah, I can see. I definitely posed. You saw the camera guy?

Oh he's doing.

I know.

So what major did you think about? I'm sorry I say that again.

Though, Did you ever think about studying at all?

I did.

I took the test, but I didn't I didn't really study. I read the books, you know, for evolutions and shit like that, you know, just for drills and stuff and just to keep up. But I never really studied study to become a lieutenant. So I took the test twice though, but I didn't do too good.

But you know, some guys have meant to be, you know, chiefs. Some guys are meant to be Indians, right, Kenny. So yeah, I loved I loved what I did. I love being in the fire.

You know, we need lieutenants, obviously, we need good ones, and they're great guys that got promoted at fifteen one and thirty. But once you're a lieutenant, you're out of the out of the loop. You're not in the back room anymore. You're not with the guys too much. Yeah you no, just for an hour or two during change of toils. But in dinner or lunch, Roofie was one of the better. He was a great officer. Too much smoke up?

Who who I feel that?

Louis? Oh look, so what what made you want to retire? Eventually?

Hang it up?

I just you know, I was getting tired, man, I had I wanted to sleep more. I got sick of fucking community. I didn't I didn't have that feeling that I used to have when I first got on the job of going into fires. You know, you catch a job. This picture right here, I don't know if you can see it. This is this is a fucking hundred alarm that we caught across the street from the firehouse during COVID, and I got bumped to the backstep.

And it was at that time.

I don't know if you guys were working then at midnight, if you're working too much. The hours were crazy. They were kicking guys off the rig, closing companies. Guys would show up out of nowhere. You didn't know who was working.

It was just it was it was.

It was a nightmare, and I was getting tired anyway, And one night we catched this, We catch this alarm and I had the nozzle and tones go off, and we knew it was a job. We could smiley and it's because it's pretty much right around the corner. And I got and it's the show for me, and I'm like, where the fuck where is everybody?

And some probat from.

From the Bronx comes out of the back room. He's like, hey, I'm your control man, and I was like, fuck, man, here we go, you know. So we get dressed, we get on the rig, we go around, and you know, I'm taking my folds off.

Trying to win.

Sixty nine engine shows up and I was like, thank god, guys.

They're like, hey, what do you want us to do? Is it just back me up?

You know?

And I and I usually a file like that. I take my folds and I was licking my my chops like I can't wait to get the fucking it. I can't wait to go to work.

This one.

I was just like, I was like, this is gonna suck. This is gonna suck.

Like that's when I kind of knew, right Like I didn't love it. I didn't love it anymore. We got our we got our asses kicked there like we didn't get into fundy. They were calling people off the roof right away. Shit was falling on us, and I was like pushing a two and a half in for freaking how long I was fumbling. It was just I was like, you know, I knew, I knew, and I was I was healthy and I can still go down on my own terms. That's when I that's when I knew, you.

Know, for the most part, my uncle did forty three years. He said to me, uh, you know how excited you are when you're on vacation to get back to work, Because we're not excited like that anymore. You know, it's time to pack it in. That's good, you know, like I used to be on vacation call fires like, how are you on vacation? Yeah? Now you get the FireWire wrapp and you see what you're missing? What FireWire?

That's what I thought.

Whatever, Okay, that's we're We're in business with the fire wi We have the salty wire with them, So check it out, all right, So what are you doing now besides the kitchen table firehouse podcast?

So I for to keep you know, fine, looking for my purpose, because as a man, we all need a sense of purpose, right right. I was in a military cop and Marshall fireman always had that sense of purpose to wing to work, helping out the community, helping out my brothers, you know whatever. I retired, and I was the first six months were great. I was like, I'm this is great.

I'm catching up on shit, I'm.

I'm not missing anything with the family and dah dah, dah dah. And all of a sudden, I started feeling like, shit, man, I'm I'm not that.

I was missing.

Yeah, yeah, you know.

The wife, I'm come home and she's like, what did you What did you do today? And I was like, oh, I didn't do anything today, you know. So I was feeling like I felt like I was withering away. I lost my sense of purpose. I needed to find something else to do. I needed an outlet. So I figured everybody else is fucking doing it. I'm watching everybody talk. I figured I've had a lot of mental health issues in the past, a lot of experiences that that have

I felt like I was.

So it's like, if I thought this and I can talk like I'm at the kitchen table with the guys, It'll make me feel better. And if and in turn, maybe I can fucking help somebody off the ledge. Maybe I could let somebody know that they're not alone in this world and feeling the way they feel as much of a man as they think they are a tough guys. That a lot of guys to feel the way you feel.

I got it.

I had to control all that shit and by talking about it and having this outlet and maybe helping people, letting guys know that you're not alone. Bro that maybe I that was helping me do this. So I started that, you know, it was it was very, very time consuming and very tough to do.

Uh.

It just and then I didn't feel like was working out.

I don't know.

And then I got a job in the local school district as a security officer, and I felt, oh, I got a first sense of purpose. Now I can protect these kids. Something happens, I'm gonna put myself in the way of the threat to those kids, you know, role school shootings or whatever. I had no problem talk, you know, being in my head going I'm gonna I would take a bullet for any one of these kids, because that's my sense of purpose now.

So this is kind of what I'm doing now, you know, in a nutshell. If you guys want to see more of Kenny, just hit us up in the comments and say we need more Kenny, and we'll have Kenny on the show. Maybe you fill in maybe.

The uh just put the podcast back up. What is it on the Kenny d right, The name.

Of it's the Kitchen Table, but I think the handle is at Kenny D five nine.

Yeah, Kenny D. I looked it up today when you told me.

Yeah, so it's that, Kenny D. I'm still so so much to learn. I have no idea what I'm doing.

I just we need Kenny. Thank you. It could Jacob appreciate that.

You know.

It's so it's you guys know how time consuming.

Man, When I was down one day a week instead of too we were losing right cookies and.

Then I'd put up like a like an interview or something. I'd be like, oh, this is just gonna be the best, and like five people watching.

What It takes time to get It takes time to get traction. But you did have you know, you had the guys live in front of you right, you were doing it together, you know, Kevin and I started that. But it's it was tough to do, you know what I mean. More tough.

Guys got time, they got families, they got whatever. It's really really tough. I just felt like if I sat with them, I'd have a better report. I can I can drag out like the kids to the table was about mental health through all my experiences. So if I could sit with a guy and I can maybe get more out of him than than through like the screen or whatever. So I was like, got it, but it was really hard to get guy, but this is so convenient doing it this way, you.

Know, started getting salty family, Kenny will use you.

I appreciate it, man, this is this is a lot of fun. I'm really really I enjoyed.

Really we started doing it like that and then covid uh kind of put the on that and then we started doing the Brady Bunch like you see. I mean that's how it turned out. So that kind of helped. And then love it. You know, it was like you said,

Now people come just to see Gonzo.

So yeah, how do you say that?

Man?

I received two calls this week from uh, well, people wanting information because they saw me on the show for the department. I was like, oh, I like, I don't know if it's a good or a bad thing, but.

And are they hiring you? That's all we want to know. They got catch.

And you know what you got to do? Though, bro, know what time it is?

At that time? Time is it is?

I think I think it's time for old school tip.

Time for it's time for the kitchen table, old school tip of the day.

There you go, I got the floor screen, whatever you want to call it.

So my old school tip of the day is for new guys coming on the job. It's job is full of tradition. This job is rich in tradition. We've done things pretty much the same way for a very long time. The reason being because it fucking works. Yes, times are changing and fires are acting different, and you know the the materials and fires are changing, but for the most part, the fundamentals of the job stay the same. Fucking direct interior attack to the fucking fire, aggressive interior attack, vent

Coming on the job.

I mean, I don't know now I'm gone three years, but the job. You're not an individual anymore. This job is a change of lifestyle. Whether you're married and have kids, you are going to have to change how you do things in your life. Yes, your wife and your children will come first, and everybody on the job if something happens to them, will help you out. But the job isn't and should not adapt to you. You need to adapt to the job, you know what I'm saying, Like,

You pull the spot on us, Bros. The needs of the of the many outweigh the needs of the needs of the few, never outweigh the needs going on?

Right, come on?

I had something similar to that. You ready, But that one guy thinks five guys are an asshole, But five guys think that the one guy is an asshole. Guess who's right, Probably the five guys. That's what I'm saying, bro. So if you want to see more, Kenny, I want to see more. Oh, what's there's a guy who's shorter than me. Thank you. I don't know how told you are. You didn't you didn't divulge that information, bro, six and a half.

You know.

Warm Mountain in the summer time. I'm like, you saw Darren in there, right? Roof?

Yeah, Arren came back.

Diamond's back. He's got an infection in his leg.

He does all right.

They gotta they gotta cut his big coat off. And I'm just kidding, no stopping, I'm just kidding.

Ice to see darn in there. God speed, get healthy there roughly any shout outs, Buddy, I got nothing, nothing, God got Bobby Austin next week probably.

Sorry ahead, So procain, you want to know if you knew Jay Messing.

Yes, they work for j Messenger. I actually saw him recently. I'm still friends with Jack.

Yes, all right, excellently and one last one really quick. You guys should be getting us up with the super chat. But anyway, Kenny wanted to know. I wanted to know about the preference or Riggs Seagrave, the key km.

Oh you know what I was.

I got used to the Sea Grave, but but when the k and came around, we had a couple of problems with it in the beginning, like minor ship. But like after a while, I was like, this is I drove more with the km ME than I did with the Sea Grave. So I'm gonna you know, I'm gonna stay km H.

Good choice there, you Gony. Thanks for coming on today, BROV. We're gonna have you back on anytime you fucking want me on. You just let me know. I appreciate a couple of people, maybe a guy that likes to go hunting and now and again, I don't know, so Kenny will be me, you and Gonzo. This guy, this guy I see his eyes like that, like, oh what fun.

We do have?

Bobby Austin one eleven guy, Uh, he'll be on next week.

Spoke recently.

Yeah, he sent me some pictures. I just spoke to him. I'll reach out to him again and that's all I got. Keep on watching we get some good things. Oh God, So you keep bringing up and I keep forgetting County. Me and Roofie. You'll be out the Harrisburg Fire Expo

I'll have his pen ready. God help me get my pen and.

My crutches ready. All right, guys, thanks for joining us tonight. I had a great time.

Am I able to shout out a couple of uh? Absolutely, So I'd like to shout out first and a couple of three charities. I'd like to really quick do it. The first charity is to Live Like Chris Foundation Live like Chris dot org. Christopher Tucci is my wife's cousin. He was twenty seven years old and he died suddenly of an undiagnosed heart condition, and it was really really tough on the family. As you can tell, I'm a

I used to work for them.

I was a role player for those guys, and those guys are have done things that the people in this country will never ever know. So they started an organization called Tomahawk Charitable Solutions dot org and may help. One percent of that money goes to veterans and first responders in need.

So checked out those guys out.

And number three another one who my buddy, Damien Et saverieda whose father died minded duty that I was telling me about earlier. He is on the board of the Friends off Firefighters dot org. And I know you guys had Nancy carbon On a long time ago, and they have done so much great work for mental health for firemen in the City of New York.

And they are in need of donations.

So please any one of those three donations or charity if you can just donate, check it out, whatever, please do it.

And uh, we're having a show from her firehouse soon. Bro oh you really yeah, mental health, So you'll be welcome to join us if you want. Yeah, when is that?

Let me not.

I don't have a date yet. I have to call her back, but it's going to be sometime fairly so.

Touch basically, Kenny. So let me make sure I got it live like Chris dot org, Tomahawk Charitable Solutions dot com dot org and Friends of Firefighters.

Obviously Friends of Freighters.

Alright, all right up on the description.

Get into your wallet you Chief Bassetts, donate something a couple of bucks. Don't take much of shekels. Let's a couple of shekels. Guns, you know, let's go. I'll do your reaching for the gun. All right, guys, we'll see. Oh it's empty. How is it? You just don't want to clean up the masks? All right? Until next Thursday. You know what we're gonna say, Stay low.

And go, Kenny, Thanks a lot, brother Lem big one. Everybody, all right, guys.

Happy saying Patty's Day. Make good decisions this weekend. Make good decisions, make good decisions, and we're rolling heavy in South Florida.

Remember, remember it must be true. If you're heard, it's the kitchen table, damn you. We'll see into at the show. Thanks, gentlemen,