GETTIN' SALTY EXPERIENCE PODCAST Ep. 249 | FDNY BC DANNY SHERIDAN

Disclaimer. We'd like to know before the start of this interview that the opinions about to be expressed by the guest of tonight's Getting Salty Experience podcast are that of the guest and do not directly or necessarily reflect the views of the host of the Getting Salty Experience podcast.

You're listening to the Getting Salty Experience podcast.

Hello oh hello is right, and we you know somebody came to the booth that did that the other day. You remember that he was like, hello, I'm like, wow.

Check this out.

From Harrisburg. Met a lot of cool people. Consoles back, but he's leaving again. He's like the man about town. He's the cruise king. Yeah, you know, cruise King of Chicago.

I told you I'm starting that work life balance a little early. I don't retire for a little while.

Cruises yeahing Chicago. Right, he went back five times fast whatever. Yeah, welcome back to it.

Against all the experienced podcasts, you know what it is, it's not the ladies, it's ours. It's the only one that brings the firehouse kitchen table right to you wherever you are. I don't know if you're in the firehouse, if you're home, if you're driving, whatever you're doing, we're bringing it to you rough live. How is your golf out? He's had a lot of farming. You corralled a lot of guests for the show. A lot of old timers down there. His liver is like, why I'm pickled, he's actually dead.

He's in bolved.

I met so many guys.

A lot of guys know the show.

Oh yeah. A lot of people recognized me, said that they enjoyed the show.

I got a couple of guys, did a couple of times.

I did seventeen.

The girl was who was cracking me up and bending my ship. Her husband's in thirty eight truck.

Mm hmmm.

He is following the show, said that's the spot the spit Shi fire house, right that fire house? You know that? I go, I know it all, bro, come on, do a show about it.

Ship. That's good. I had my first recognition.

The other day too, did well.

Well. Yeah, I was in my hospital. Some guy come up like, hey, I recognize you. I'm like, I don't. I didn't recognize him. I felt bad, But yeah, he listens all the time. He doesn't do the live shows. But I'm a little shout out. I'm like, look at that. I appreciate that.

Man. Get his name.

I'll get his name.

It was just weird.

I didn't write that down.

No, I didn't.

I at least you weren't your dady Yankee Stadium. Some guy's looking over at you. You know it couldn't be that.

Yess what he's doing is speaking of so Jerry Murph.

Oh, how's burf doing?

He's doing great, doing great, I said, w I saw. I saw a lot of guys. Yeah, a lot of laughs. Man, I saw Pickford, I saw Ryan HoTT smithwick As, no lefts none.

Of you down what North Carolina.

That was Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Three days, a lot and a whole but of a sausage fest down in Myrtle Beach.

It wasn't too I tell you, it wasn't too bad. They had everything. It was three different golf courses. And then you came back to uh, it looks like a firehouse, but it's a bar but it's big. They had. They had the guys cooking in the back. Like the barbecue wasn't too overcrowded. It wasn't like we're used to like. It was just like yeah, it was good. It was. It was a lot of fun.

Good, good for you, good for good, for good. I was on commercials plates do go through the pictures. I was a little bit scared. I don't think we've ever had a guess that has that many scary fire pictures.

There's a lot of them in there.

Bro, he's not a.

Yeah he's not.

Mister judge, how much you pay for the new guy? Oh? Too much?

Too much money?

Alright, let's go.

Let me go commercials my little money and money too much. Then took us out to dinner one night. We had a very nice night with him at a good time. He was two boots down from a events from armored tack.

All right, armor tough, it's a tough attack whatever the floor, don't worry about it.

Yeah exactly, I'm I'm only the top reping in Northeast.

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Yeah, Man, Jimmy the Guinea. He's expanding into New States right cons. We don't know where yet, but he's coming to a state in the US.

So he's definitely trying to get down here to South Florida.

Yep, we will let you know.

And he's relocated to other areas and it won't be New Jersey five. It will be New Jersey slash. You can call it Jimmy de Guinea for all your products. All right, roof, wait before.

You do that.

Vince you when you were talking to Vinny, how long did you say.

That's right off, I'm gonna I'm worth for armitect tough TikTok.

I need you to show me the original number he gave. He's gonna be cutting half after he called this company the wrong name.

That brings only girls to the yard.

Bro, you can't podcast at gmail dot com.

If you want Coup to come out and give you a quote on your float.

Do it.

Let's bring him in rough all right here, we've seen a lot of fire and it's a busy company.

I don't think of with this history. Man ready guns, Yeah, coming to the stage. FDNY Battalion, Chief Danny Sheridan.

Mans the legends, guys.

Yes, but before we dive into your history, we got to dive into patriotism, right guns.

Yes, sir, Yes we do. And here we go. Stand by.

I pleasure 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.

If we're not gonna have a word of the day, but Coobs's knee is humming. So anytime you feel like saying, cubs, take a sip, bro, There's only there's only one fix for a humby knee, and that's Tino.

Boys.

All right, welcome to the show. Thanks for coming on.

We've crossed paths in the in the in the past, meet you and Roofie. Not in a day, but we want to get into the early days. We're going to go back to the early days of a Chief Sheridan where he came from a little bit of family life. Of what brought you to the fire service.

Yeah, I grew up on Woodside in Queen's right by, but down in Saints Is, down by by the White Castle there forty third Street.

Yeah, we never were there in white.

I don't even know what it.

Is after the movies. What was the movie theater that Coop It was right across the street.

Yeah. So I grew up on Woodside and we had a little breakup in the family when I was three and my mom got remarried when I was about nine, and he was a fireman. Wow that and he was he worked in Queens. But I just remember talking about interchanging into Brooklyn all the time. This is like the early seventies, like seventy one, two three, So I guess they were like the second section. I want to wait. And my mom also had some relatives that were one was in Harlem, my cousin Jimmy and Peter, so I

Wow, yeah, yeah, yeah, bring your back.

So growing up in the city. I mean where I lived, it was no far Grandma's always no grandma. I'll tell you she she had some kind.

Of siss you know. But anyway, I want to hear about your old man hanging out the window, Like what happened? Happened with that? Like, like what was he doing?

Was he was only twenty one at the time, with twenty two he was, he was a roof. He was very agile, and I think he was literally hanging up the.

Hang out the window.

Oh my god, blowing out the window and he's hanging And I spoke to this guy, uh he lives in North Carolina, and we're talking about it, and he was telling me like he was only about ten at the time. He says, I remember that fire. I remember you falled hanging out the window.

So that's crazy, man.

But that was like my first extent. I had a little fire truck. I remember a little fire truck got burnt up. And I still have my stuff that from I was a kid. It still has smoke stains on it. Like I look in the closet, it's still pretty black.

The whole life is up in whole world. What a damage or whatever.

It is, smoked damage, fired damage. So I always kind of took it more personal than maybe most guys would, you know. So anyway, I I started becoming interested in it. I went to college. I went to Saint Francis College. I was in school with a lot of guys from the job, Timmy Stockpole, Jimmy Leonard, Brian Boyle, Whitey. I mean, there was a bunch of guys that were in Saint Francis at the time, and I just became more and

Oh shit.

So then I did one hundred. I got a ninety five, so it delayed me two years. I got on the job in eighty six.

So that would be a you dick, that's.

What you wanted to say, right, you got it anyway.

Yeah, it's tough to get on if you get in ninety five too, right, I mean maybe not.

I was fifteen hundred. I think it was like thirteen hundred on the list. The funny thing is, though, had I got on in eighty four, I never would have met my wife. I met her in eighty six because I was supposed to go in and watch of eighty six, and then that got delayed because of politics, and then I went in August, and then I met my wife on the day I was supposting in probably school and we've been together forty.

Years or whatever.

Things happened for a reason. Yeah right, you went to Grandma's that night, saved it and you missed and you missed a step.

So yeah, sh.

You're looking at and I'm down to half power and I'm texting her like, please bring the power cord up? What's she doing?

I never know what she's doing?

Now, what's.

Come on?

Don't play? Don't play it?

Okay, I still be all right, what are you doing?

How do we were? You're working too?

So I went to Saint Francis and I was working in Merrill Lynch and I have to tell you I love that job. I mean it was a great job, man. I just all I did was go to school and work. And but I think in hindsight, I probably I was a little too open about my desires about being a firement because what do I have to say? Firefighter?

Whatever you want.

And they all knew I wanted to get on the job, and uh they offered me a job in the trading floor too, and I was just like, no, I'm going I'm going on to fight apart, you know. And so but I don't regret it. You know this, This was a life beyond you all know. I mean, we all been there. This is like the greatest job that you could even possibly imagine.

You know.

I recruited, like kept the guys in my neighborhood to come on a fight a part.

That's a right. I was like the recruiter for what side I give. I tell people all the time. I got the guy who rid in my one of my apartments. I got him the job too, for God's sakes.

Best job in the world.

We used to go down to Pudge waltsh was down in Nazareth. Every like Bob Checko. He picked I beat. I'd be on the corner doing pull ups on the lighteboarb and he come with all the guys from the story. I jump in the car and we go to Nazareth and then we go to Pudgies for the night and then come back. And that's all I did. I worked out for like a year and a half, like I was praying for the for like a boxer.

The only thing he didn't do is teach you to hit every rung on the ladder.

Well.

He never told us you got I want my money pack.

Get called in August of eighty six. You had a pretty start studed uh proby class there, right, Yeah, yeah, it was some names in the proby class that you had.

Oh well, some have passed and God rest their souls. I mean god Brian's fa hald to make out.

But yeah, you can take a look at.

Brian Faye, crys O. Sullivan's up nine to eleven, John Ginley, Frank Simpson, charge of Marine Division these days, Bobby Bohack, John buck Guy, Bod Guy.

John Bookeye full spool injury true to Locke.

John Buck Guy. My man, I'll get some stories about John Buck Guy. I can still remember, like most guys in my proby class. It's crazy. I can't see right now, but I can remember them.

I wish I could see him, but I do remember really quick.

Hold on, somebody does Mike Thomas a chief, great job with the FD I see keynote dress in twenty twenty three and outstanding tribute to Bobby Holton.

Best to you, Thank you, thank you, Mike.

That's you, your PROB class yup and who do you know? What call do you make society? Jesus, where the fuck do you want to go?

Now?

I love you? No, that's great, Daddy.

Bob Checko and uh, you know it's very I have to tell you, it's intimidating, you know, like you know, walking into the doors in seventeen truck I got there with with Frank Simpson and Matt Hanson and to get that that.

Did you want to go to seventeen or somebody said this?

I had a list I had to give him, and you know it was like to hold the sixth division, you know.

Right, So seventeen was fourth on the list? Who was first?

I just I just wrote down what they told me.

I had no idea.

I just handed the guy.

You know, I just.

Hadn't want to go to you know why I wanted to go to the Bronks. Let's be honest here. You know why I went to the because when I was in high school I read the report from Engine eighty two. Yeah, and I said, I read that book and I was like, man, I'm going to the South Bronx.

I read that book about five times already.

Oh I love that book.

You know we had him on the show, right, Yeah.

I worked with some of those guys like Danny Guiney and well.

He doesn't he changes the name in the book.

Yeah, but you know who they are, Like, I know you know who they are, right. I worked with those guys. I remember getting detailed up to eighty two engine and you know, thirty one truck and working there, and you know it's like.

So you read the book and now you live in that book.

Bro, that I got to go to the South Bronx. He's like, no, well, there's nowhere else to go but the South Bronx. You know, you.

Go to seventeen. Who else won't we to seventeen?

So Frank Simpson, chief of the Marine Division, and Matt Hanson, So Matt all went to the truck. We all went to the truck.

Yeah.

Wow, that's a heavy hitting class. Damn.

Bro Let me tell you something. It's like I felt like a like a rookie coming up from the minor leagues going into like the twenty seven Yankees or like the seventy seven Yankees. It was intimidating beyond belief.

Sure it is.

Yeah, that's yes. Like the Green Berets. Man love those guys, the Sult of the Earth. I love that firehouse.

Got the money we had on who Yeah, John Roy he was from sixty right.

Un Roy yeah, I can tell you john Oh.

We had a lot of guys from seventeen on. We had Johnson on, we had uh.

Oh, Daddy, yeah, Billy Lawson.

Really lost, we had on.

House.

It's just, you know, it's it's just intimidating. Just it was just intimidating being this kid from the city, you know, just turned twenty five years old, and you know, you're walking into this iconic firehouse, you know, and it's like you feel like there's like everyone's just watching you, you know, and you gotta you gotta, you gotta prove yourself like you know they are they are ye yeah, yeah, Just who was.

Who was that when you went? Who was some of the senior guys that were there.

Mike Weldon, Jack Ryan, Tom McDowell. You know it's funny about senior men, right, they were all through the Warriors, these guys Patty Mac, Tommy mahoney and the engine you said, Johnson, Jimmy Lafferty, and you know there's like then there's this group of guys that were like in the middle. They were like from ten to like twenty, you know, and they had so they got on the seventies and they were just catching the World War.

That's why I thought you were talking about the tenth to twenty. That's how crazy it is, cools. How the guys he's mentioned are all over twenty all right.

The officers, all the offices, world enough to be my father. I remember if Maxwell was the Captain, Bill Kelly, Billy Geice and Dennis Callapy and then the chiefs were all old enough to be your grandfather.

You know, they were just stay. Yeah, they just stayed forever, right.

And the senior men, you know, thirty thirty years, thirty plus. You know, Patty Mack was in World War Two, guys w in the Korean War.

Those are guys. Those are the best guys.

Though.

Every time we.

Guys, bro, what's gonna timidate?

You're gonna grab your by the ear and say, all right, can't come on away.

You know, some of these guys were in Vietnam, like Frank Trump and you know, just like Ray Weldon, and it's just crazy, man, these guys just.

You know, he was the Vietnam guy, right, he was Vietnam guy.

Yeah, Vietnam guy. Absolutely, electrician yeah, yep. So you know it's intimidating, very intimidating.

So how long are you there before you catch your first job.

All right, So the first job. Okay, so I remember the first job. I don't remember anything that, but I remember the first job at the first job, right. It was one four nine between Marris Caland and Morris. It was on the north side of the block, and I remember pulling up. I remember who was working. Bobby Norman rest his soul and Frankie Kills Vietnam Vet had the irons and the cap. Then it was a covering guy.

Might doing want to hit myself into what? You know what?

I was like, wait, wait, I'm like they weren't joking in probably school, like I thought that this was all like, yeah, you might do this once in your career, you know, like maybe you know this was the real deal.

If it's really bad. You don't go in, don't worry about it.

Yeah right, Well I remember is I just hung on to the captain and I was like, I thought I was in Yankee Stadium.

Man.

I thought like my god, I'm like, Hail Mary, full of grace, please, you know what am I doing? And I just hung onto the Captain's coat. I have no idea what I did. I know the engine was already there, forty one engine was there.

And what type of building was it?

It was an H and not an H. It was a five story tenement, right, and yeah, I mean it was one room, one or two rooms.

It was no big deal.

But you know, the funny thing is I came back twenty years later, same box, same apartment, same everything, and I'm a captain and I'm like i get to the door and I'm looking in and I'm like there's one room or whatever. I'm like, this is this was it?

You know?

Well?

I mean my brother said to me, I hope your first job is just like a one or two room. You always said that, like you didn't get that job.

That was like, just gare the hell out of you? Yeah?

Yeah, the hell out of you? Where you know it takes you a long time to adjust.

So but you know it was crazy because it just hit the fan. After that, I got to the program. I got to the house in September, I guess sometime in September, and you know I had the can forever. And uh, you know, I work with guys like Billy Lawson, I mean lost in like I'm always working with Billy probably saved my life probably four or five times, and I mean just amazing stuff. But I can't like one night I we we had the first job was around

You know.

So were up in a bucket and so someone went sick, and so now me and Frank Simpson, you know Frank, Frank actually got he was at the store, so it was no big deal. It's just a vacant. So then we come back and everything was wrong with I forgot to pull my boots up, you know. So I remember this guy, Billy Welsh, he had the same size as me, and he just bought a brand new pair of boots, so like in the back of my mind it's like, oh, I'll wear Billy's boots, you know. So we get another

You know?

And I don't want to get into the whole fire, but you know, it flashed on us, you know, and uh, I just remember i was wearing Billy's boots and I've got to pull them up and they were and I'm like, whoopsie, No, I got explained to this guy, really that I just trans brand new blue chief.

I was just gonna ask, out of three is who was the I who took the pressure off everybody? Now I kind of maybe know who was.

Yeah, definitely looking it's just funny. Like like I began, I began to think this was normal, like all these near death experiences, you know, Like and then we had another job, like on Christmas Eve, the three probabies are working and we got caught in a flash over again in a two story you know, private dwelling, I mean, Frank, we had to bail out the window and uh, and then the collapses. I mean it seems like buildings will collapsing,

You know, well maybe that's what gave you, you know, down the road when you when you were you lieutenant or a captain and he went to the same job and you were like, man, this is nothing. So I mean that those kind of experiences that make you cool.

I was at in South the South Carolina a couple of days these last few days, and I ran it too. Like I told you, there was about three or four companies that had twenty guys each fifty five and sixty and seventeen had I don't know how many guys I had there. And every guy that I talked to, they said, it just stuck out to me what the chief just said that that's and these are guys that are seventy years old. They kept saying the same thing over and over again. They're like, I don't I worked with the

At consistent work all the time.

But it stuck out to me how he's like, bro, I work with the best guys that you could ever work with on the job, Like that's.

What he comes guys were amazing. There was a guy Billy Stell's and like they actually, you know, they almost like rewrote the books. I mean because they were doing it so much, like you know, like guy Billy told me, he says, yeah, we replaced the acts with the Halligan for the ov or. Like they were just kind of fine tuning it as they were going, you know what I mean. They were so good at what they were.

Forward thinking, thinking out of the box.

Man, what do you think that chief? Do you think? Like what was it like in seventy five over there? Like it had to be absolutely insanity If you think it was insanity? What what did those guys think that was? At that point?

They used to kid me because they knew that I was a little into the job, let's say, for lack of a better word, you know, they would wipe me up. They'd be like, you know, you missed a kid. You should have been here ten years ago. And I'm like, fuck, you know, you.

Know, I mean, while he's going to job, have the job.

Where did you get the name Spoky from?

So? Probably school?

Oh? I thought loss and said he gave you that name?

Well yeah, he he perpetuated it all right, So what happened was thirteen truck was relocated up to uh to us, you know, and because there were a towel add and Tommy Madden was in my proby class, and so anyway he sees me and he goes smoky, and everybody in seventeen truck was standing in and all everyone just went like this, like like.

What does spoky mean?

What do you think the pyro? He likes to like fire.

He told you about being a pyro. One day I'm at the house watch, right, and it was a guy I don't I don't. He had a nickname. I don't know if I should say his name. And he's dead now, God rest his soul. He used to drive the the Red Cross third, the Long Coffee truck or whatever up in the eighteen battalion, I guess. And he had a nickname, and uh, I didn't believe it. I'm like anyway, but it was unusual, you know, it was weird that he was always at these fires though, you know. And so

Dude will take it in. I always got a little flun with that.

It's like, you know, yeah, anyway, sure enough we pull up and it's top the bottom man, just really merrily.

You know.

I don't know, but it was.

A different story, bro. I'm gonna play you what he showed me. You ready, yeah, yeah, yeah. Let me speak to.

Sparky Sparky Sparky de Klan.

How you doing, fruitcake man? Alright, this is Frank Frank Frank riseol. Listen, I need you for a gig. Okay, what do you do? Backflips? You jump up there in a silly suit? What do you do?

All right?

Okay her account for there.

Well, it's gonna be like a little uh got a little scene going over here, a few people laying around the house and ship. It's gonna be like a little funny thing. You can get involved that.

You want, but we want you to do some juggling, you know, trust, some fucking fire bombs up and all that shit.

I don't know, I.

K it did happen like that loss and swize that's how what happened?

Bros.

Classic Colma. Oh my god. Every time I hear that, I can't stop kills.

Meseph picks us some seventeen.

Bro.

Let's go, let's talk about some five.

So we have one that he mentioned his first job.

But I know he that was a bucket job. You know what's funny about this job. I have to tell you a story about this job. So we're at this fire. It's on one hundred and fifteenth in Whales, right, and I guess it must have been the same year that the Giants played the forty nine is in the Super Bowl, right, So anyway, I guess twenty nine truck had a bet with twenty nine truck in San Francisco. So anyway, the

At least they weren't gold bars, rightly.

Remember twenty nine was a towel added. You know that's awesome jogging all them. I don't know who took it. But someone actually commented they saw me in the bucket and they're like, he's not wearing an air pack. If you were an airpack in that bucket in seventeen truck you have locked. It would be out in the street somewhere else. It was a policy. I mean, I hate to admit that, but that's how it was, you know. But we were just pulling. It was all these steel shutters.

Oh sorry, here we go. This is a good one.

So that was actually I was in forty one for this one. It was a it was an RS box I think, and we came in. We put out three floors of fire. We got a unicitation. Uh, Chris Levy had the nozzle for everyone had the nozzle. Buck guy wound up putting out the last two rooms. And it wasn't a towel looted job. It was an occupied building. Tisa was the captain and I remember he said to me. I guess that I was like the last guy in

Tom.

That's Tom Tom. I worked with Tom. He always had the OV I always had the can and every time he worked, he made me drive the bucket and he tell me, get that as close as you can to the window, and he would just I mean then it's like, I'm surprised. We almost didn't go into the room. I mean, that's how how close we used to get to the And he was just he was just.

A phenomenal farman.

Tom.

For sure.

That was Rogers and Dawson, me and Gilligan in the bucket. I remember that job. I don't know why. I don't know why I remember that job. I guess because in the third time and I was, you know, right here in my fire house.

It looks like hell's burning.

We melted the rig a few times. I remember one time down down at the down on the market we had I don't know, it was like a paper factory. It was like a thousand by one hundred and.

We had to buy one hundred.

It was under the drag bridge. Yeah, right, the longest building you could imagine, you know. And we're underneath the bucket. We're under the bridge. Christ I'm in the bucket with uh, I forget I was in the bucket with but Joe Kelly, the officer ever won the bucket. And then these pigeons came out and all that tail feathers weren't firing. Kelly says, oh, look, flaming pigeons. They were worried about the bridge buckling because

Nice all right. I think this is the last seventeen truck picture we have, so this is interesting.

The soul was opening the roof the Soul was out of service, so I had my axe. I just I just opened the roof of the axe.

I think I think he's got more pictures of him marking, Like you always say to me, you're so assy, always so lucky.

People taking a picture.

I mean, who's taking a picture of a guy with an axe?

I'le pictures than me.

So there you go. Actually I got him older here, Sorry, go back up a little bit. We got a little oldie one here. Just throw this.

They're random that that was like normal, I mean.

Normal, ten blows of fire whatever, It was no big deal.

The funny thing is like, really the chiefs were just amazing, like guys like Visconti and Kilker and then the battalions in the sixteenth Kennedy and these guys. Uh, they were just like Hoover. I remember one time we had a job Timmy Kletk. We were talking about this the other day. Timmy was working.

I saw him down there.

I saw him down and Timmy was in sixty nine. I was in forty one. It was about five line stretch, and Hoover was the chief and he's just like, okay, guys, you know how you doing all right? Making good progress? I got burned. Timmy got burnt. I mean like it was just normal, like no one throwing anything different about it. It was on one hundred and forty third, he corrected me. It was on one hundred and forty third In convent. I think it was right down the block from sixty

Wow, crazy nice coobs. I saw yesterday, was it not yesterday like last week?

Well?

I saw him down there with his wife. Yeah, he's great. But I saw a picture on Facebook, and it's in nineteen I don't know, let's say seventy eight, I don't remember, but it was in the seventies I think. And then they have a picture of it today in that same spot and you're there in like let's say seventy eight eighty, and all you see in the back it's like rubble, rubble, rubber, rubble for block after that looks like a mile two

Yeah, two places I worked in seventeen. If you one hundred and thirty eighth Street between Willison Brook, if you looked up to one four nine, exactly what you said, and today it's old houses. And then on one hundred and sixteenth up to one hundred and twenty fifth between Madison and Park it was the same thing. Just really building building, you know, just burned out. It was rubble.

You look, if you go back to look at the old pictures, like you'll see burnt out houses and burnt out cause and the kids it's like a playground. They're playing in the burnt out call, jumping out the windows on the field.

And I remember when Seat Town burnt by us. I remember, I don't know if you would have. I remember being in the Seat Town like like the chief said about that smell. I remember smelling that in the Seat Town, like we were walking around in there. The water was there, you know.

Yeah, my father worked that job.

That the old time is said that on one hundred and foy third Street, that the rigs would be lined up down the block. It would be five or six rigs just lined up waiting and they were just if you stood on the roof of the firehouse, all you saw was if you look south or if you looked east or north, what you saw was the smoke coming off the tops of the buildings. Like that's what this was every day.

The busiest night that you can recall.

All right, the busiest night was actually when I was in forty one. We had seven jobs one night and we went back to the same buildings twice.

Allegedly.

No re kindles in the service. Yeah, restarted, I like that.

So you went from eighty six to ninety one and seventeen, and then you went to well it was it was it a squad. Then it was just forty.

One just had turned in May of eighty eight. It closed as an engine company and it was a big you know, it was.

A bush back in the community.

Yeah, and then they compromised and they made it the enhanced engine. And I do remember the borough command to come into our court is one time I forget the guy's name and satus down. He says, listen, we're going to put a rescue six in the south Bronx.

And then it.

Disappeared because then they closed forty one. They opened the firehouse up on Melrose and they were going to put forty in forty one in with fifty five, but then seventy one came. They closed the fireouse up on Park.

And won five to nine.

They opened up one, five, six and Melrose and then we're going to close forty one. All it all hit the fan. Then they I on this enhanced engine. So I was the second wave. There was the first wave. Hand pick guys. They all went right. There was another wave, and I was in that group with guys like Joe Gandiello, John Ciderella, uh, Pete McLaughlin, John Buck Guy, uh wow, so many.

Originally you know, it was.

Sorry, soon someone came a few months later. He came from fifty five fifty eight. Some of the guys were trickling in, showing Genevieve's Kevin Murphy. You know, the guys started trickling in and then it was like a hardcore original guys like Bobby Hamilton.

Guy, I loved him. That was my he was my neighbor, my.

Brother, God bless him. He was the Sultan too, right, big barrel chest, yeah yeah, yeah. He didn't grow since fourth grade, Like he was the same size.

When did you start thinking of out going to forty one when they when they became.

A kind of I think a lot of guys were interested in going, but it was already done. The deal was done, so none of us really knew about it.

And then.

I remember speaking to the captain. It was a night that Billy lost and saved my life. We were we had a job on Courtland and one four six, and that was the night that trainer went down and we got him out and uh, Billy grabs me. He says, Fucky just don't feel right. He grabs me, and like

What was deal with them? What was the at that time when they go into they had first two, Bob.

And then they were going to first first, second and third, boxes, the whole thing, and then anything like old Hands in the twelfth, the sixteenth, the seventeenth, the third, the two six you know up to like the Cross Bronx. We were a squad.

So they were going to a ton of work. Yeah, it was busy. Yeah, was Clee House there.

He had just left.

Jack he just left.

Yeahs Teaso was the captain, Steve Garrity, John Carroll, Dennis Maranshack. Yeah, so that picks. That's Ny Reagan. He went to rescue three poly som and you know Salty, Ralph Teazo myself.

So you guys just had an engine. Did you have anything else? You had truck tools? I guess that's it.

We had everything. We destroyed that rig. Teaso somehow he squared of that rig because we got it from eighty nine engine. We swapped with them, and he wanted that engine for some reason. And we had had loaded up with boxes everywhere. We had boxes on the roof or whatever.

And I would say, it looks like it has some good storage space, would be my initial thought on what he's like.

The pus is a mac man. You can't go wrong with those things.

Tommy has used to drive Tommy used to drive that like a like a race car.

He's scared to say. Those reads were fast.

Man.

Yeah, the police owned the pilot. Man. He used to ride. He used to drive that thing like it was a captain. One time, Jeane down.

Like he stole it.

He got out of the rig one time. He says, I've been a captain a long time. He says, that's the that's the Harrius ride I've had in my life.

Exactly.

Well, I always say this, it's scary but in control, and then they're scary and out of control, you know.

You know, drove like that one time in two eighty eight. I would say, We're on the Grand Central going out to Corona, and I was just like Brian.

Out of controls one thing, driving fast and he that's a good thing. Yeah, he was a good show. He was actually a good show.

I love that.

We had my house one time and oh my god, he's just.

Crazy.

I love the guy.

Quickie, on the other hand, might have been God rest is soul.

Oh my god, dude.

He was getting there. We lost you know, Hose was fucking laying in the Allegian.

We ran into the back of Rescue four's rigged one time.

I just told the I told the story to uh uh, I forget who the hell I was telling. He was a boss of ninety two. I said, were you at the job where Quickie made the left turn? I was on the rig where I saw the fire coming out the back of the window, and all we had to do is make a right and a right. We were going to be that first two and Quickie made.

A left and we're like.

You go on the wrong way. We get up the rig. We're backing up. Two ninety two comes makes a left and the right, and all I hear on the radio is seventy five. Yeah, ship right on my birthday cake.

We will go to sunny side, sundy side, right by you. And then Rescue four's rig and quick striving and he's fucking flying you. All of a sudden, I see the four on the back of the Rescue falls rig. This swall and then it's getting close and holy shit, Rescue Force.

Allegedly that actually didn't happen. You had a dream about that.

This is all allegedly. Fella.

You go and study you're forty one for a while. I must catch a hell of a lot of work there, man.

You know that in that company what twenty single end single company. Nine guys got promoted off that list.

Wow, but you guys did a lot of first do work there too.

Absolutely, we didn't do a lot of first to work.

I have such a small area there, right, we had we.

Had a post stand. Yeah, yeah, it's a small area. That was the squad job that was on Watson and Ward, and there was a ton of fire. It was a taxpayer flat, fixed place. Whatever. We weren't exposure and we actually worked as an engine at this job and we actually kept the fire out of the building.

Hey, Rough, I'm beginning to think that I know where you got the name Sparky from because every picture that plays that's watching.

And yeah, we had a line.

I think it was about seventeen hundred hours on a sunny day in May.

And remember everything.

Who's five in the morning, but who's I'll.

Tell you what thing That area is still the af pit of the earth over there by forty one in a freaking bed still.

I covered their UFO in UH ninety six engine for a year. I loved that firehouse.

I mean it was just I worked there a few times.

It was a great guys.

Great problem is they do a lot of ems. Now you got take with the bed. Yeah, I got it.

I got So you're there to what ninety five?

So you put forty uh ninety one to ninety five, you're in forty one.

Right, Yeah, just four years I got. I got promote. We all got promoted.

Who does something like that? Silly stuff like that? So you get promoted, you come back to Sock as a lieutenant.

Yeah, I spelled down.

To your bout. Yeah, those spots opened or what was.

They made the squads And then I don't want to get into the whole story. I just was, you know what, I didn't want to repeat of you know, I just I was getting frustrated with things, and I just said, I just want to normalize my life. I had little kids. Now I had you know, my daughters were being born, and so I just.

That's a big commitment, man. You know you have to comment. Yeah, you have to go to the training all over the country.

You got to constantly get trained on has matt and high angle and big commitment.

People don't realize it, man.

Yeah, So so I wound up. I wound up going to fifty eight engine and yeah that let me tell you, as engine companies go, I've never seen much better than Engine fifty eight. Some of the guys there were just off the charts, you know, they were just you know, this is different about like I was in a truck and then I was in the squad, but you know, I didn't really know about the engine until I became

In that place. I came with Bobby Keneally. Bobby was yet Yeah, he's still doing it, he's still teaching it. The ride. I think he's still an engine. How that got on the job now he got on a ninety three.

Bobby's in that picture that I sent to fifty eight Bobby's in that one picture. That job we had one hundred and ten.

Thirty thirty two years.

It's amazing. Yeah, Bobby, his dad South Canally working this one.

Yeah, so this is what that man.

Wow. Yeah, So here's a good story about this fire. So Greg is my show for Greg Park, Scottie Pascal Witz, Chris McLaughlin and Chris Engel. Drum, God rest his soul. He got killed in Afghanistan.

So he's just kneeling right angle drum.

Yeah, I take him not to go back to Afghanistan. But anyway, we get a box for one hundred and sixteenth in Lennox about two three o'clock in the morning, and it's you know, it's always the same E R S no contact right, So you know typical what I like to do is I'm I'm always listening to the radio, and I hear as soon as I hear, you know, Manhattan Box one way, as soon as I hear the one the three, I'm like, oh ship, you know, that's that's our area, you know. And then they getting on

Yeah? Yeah, yeah.

I turn around on Lenox. We're going south to get one hundred and tenth street. The park is there, and make a right and we get up to about seventh Avenue and I look and the fire escape is jam packed, you know. And so Greg stops and Greg, what are you doing? He goes, where's the where are we going? I said, Greg, the building with all the people on.

The fire over there, the one that's on fire.

No, the file isn't showing. But so I guess from his spot, he couldn't see the fire escape, you know, because the trees were in away. So anyway, I grabbed the hydrant, I jumped off the rig, and I get into the lobby in this wi wall of fire. I mean, it was just like I thought it was an outside fire that had come into the you know, into the into the lobby, you know. So I was about to get on the radio and I was like, all right, started two and a half and I and it's Chris

Green light water.

That's the guy I want to get behind.

Yeah, you bro.

They just crushed it. It turned out it was an apartment with the door left open. The fire had gone up bolt stair was unfortunately had some fatalities, and the guys did an amazing job. There was a kid from twenty six truck. He was like less than a year and a job. He had the roof. I mean, they just did an amazing job. Cassano showed up and he didn't really know me at the time. He just looked at me and says he was just a dumbfounded. He

That's a great house man. That's uh, it was one hundred and ten hundred and fifth is that one.

Hundred twelve hundred and fifteenth right in the middle of the projects fifth Avenue. We covered river to river. So yeah, just great guys, great great firemen. I mean just phenomenal guys.

Yeah, you got the pictures from their.

Guns to pull some up.

That was the only one that we have from fifty that's the only one for fifty eight engine.

So yeah, so but we have I have this one as well. So that's that's seventeen.

You see this lieutenant here, Frankogrady, right, he was in forty two truck. He was there during the warriors. So that speakman and oak right, So we had a job. I guess it was a top flow of fire as usual or whatever. And then so we're a towel ladder. Twenty nine is a tower ladder. So I got the roof and now I'm trying to get to the roof and it's like, you know, it's like the slow boat to China.

Right.

So I'm trying to get up to the roof. And now I could see the the waters out the windows, and you know, they got the fire knocked down, and I'm still trying to get to the roof, you know, to do my job. So anyway, because it was like kind of an isolated building like Exposure four had an alley and two had an alley, so really the only way was the bucket. Right. So anyway, after the fire, you know, we're talking about it and Frank says, he goes, you know, I used to live in this building when

I mean, as.

We we did, you know, we walked the parapets. I mean climbed on the bulkheads. I mean that's what we did. So anyway, so sure enough, the next set of tours, we're back to the same building, same thing, top floor fire. So I'm like, hmm, so you know when you had the roof, you didn't wear the rubber boots. You wear the you know, black boots and the coat and to see helmet. So anyway, so I'm in the I said,

Come here, watch this.

I get to the roof. It's like like a six foot whatever. So I take my hell again, I toss it and I just jumped and I just you know, I landed on the roof. I popped the bulkhead or whatever. And then after after woods, you know, like fire is all knocked down and we're in the street. No Grady looks at me. He goes, he goes, damn, how'd you get to the roof? And I said, I did what you told me. He said, you do what? I jumped the roof.

He's like, what.

He did?

What? What do you wind up studying again?

Yeah, you go to show that Jimmy.

I think it was like Jimmy McNamara. I can't tell. It looks like Jimmy. Jimmy's from my neighborhood. He's a woodside guy. He's like to see you. I kind of recruited him for twenty six Sucks. He's a great basketball player, phenomenal basketball player.

You know what, I forgot to ask you, how did you get Rice over the seventeen? He said that you were responsible for getting him over the seventeen.

I talked to somebody I forget we got him over?

I forget.

Rhymes with von Essen. I think he said, I don't know.

You could sneeze it if you want.

Yeah, he's the coolest cat, you know, like he's just like nothing bothers that guy.

Nah, he's like a surfer dude or something like. Hey, you know, I see him all over the I see him in the gym and we went.

You know, he used to call him Chief when we were kids because he looked like one flow over cookies and who like Chief.

Chief.

No, that's awesome, that's great, all right, so you go with study now and you get promoted to captain.

Yeah, Roffy, he winds up in another busy place.

I don't know how. I know he keeps landing on his feet. I don't know what's going on, you.

Know what I mean. He's very rocky as my you know, my wife would say, very rocky.

Oh you walk out, you walk out.

He's a rocky to two thousand and three to two thousand and eight, You captain of forty six.

Engine, Yeah, I was. I was there. I was a year in ninety six, and then the captain came back, so then I went right to forty six and that I loved that fire house.

I mean.

That that was just the greatest bunch of guys I see, you know, you just the bond is unbelievable with the engine. You know, it was kind of cool because I literally had the best offices that the captain could have. I had Jack Mehra, I had John McGann, and I had

I mean it was just like, yeah, a good set of senior man, the good set of offices.

Just a great mix you know in the engine and like just really solid. And Jack, I mean, what can you say about Jack Mayra. I mean the guy was just like like father Jack, you know, and guys listened to him. It's just like you didn't have to you just had to show up. It was like the kind of place you just showed up, you know.

Right.

It just ran it at the place right off of the Cross Cross Bronx, right you see the Cross Bronx.

Yeah.

Yeah, so we had we one of you know, one of the most I guess, you know, I don't want to tell a million five stories, but it was a good job. You got a picture of it, the one ad on and Wash, the one staying to me to me eighty eight. No, that's a different job.

That's what different.

I'm more fin I don't worry about that. We'll get that.

Uh ship refreshment.

Five vacant buildings.

Okay, we have it's a really big fire guns, scary.

One, but we have them. We have this one.

No, that's that's back.

This was your all hands fire? Is it?

This one?

God?

Damn it?

Hell god, I could have fallen.

I labeled it.

But maybe you get it together, Pete washing.

Because you have we did the we went. No, I don't think we have.

Uh no, actually do it? Not gonna do it?

No, not another one. Yeah, I thought you had your heart.

More scary fires and you can chase.

Yeah, I'm trying to. That's why we have so many to pick from now.

The pressure is on them.

It's not part of your remote tactical right.

No, No, it.

Was like five.

Do it.

No, these are all the harder ones that we have.

You showed it to me before, but it's whatever they don't about it, Pete.

I showed every damn good job. We haven't.

It's gonna come up. You gotta find it.

That's what happened. I should I showed every one of them. That's all we have. I mean, I'll go through one more time to make sure you got the vacant. We have the exterior job wasn't it. We have the one you you didn't want to mention we delivered deleted if you remember, that might have been.

So that's that was the one that was the one deleted.

Yeah, it's that important, you know.

So we got chief shows some ship up here and then I'll storry about good.

Don't worry about it right there.

Oh the clip on.

You made the one with the four or five buildings that we said.

Oh yeah, okay, So I put myself together.

Baby.

So timmy's working, he's working an eighty eight engine. I'm working. So the first time we come there, I think it was the white building, the one in the middle, and it was maybe one or two floors going, you know, and it's one of those boxes that if you pull one side of the street, it's their first two and if you pull the other side, we're first to him. So we pull up and we're like nose to nose and I'm like, Timmy, you take it. She was, you know, your first to want a ticket, and uh so we

And he's not a screamer, is he.

Now, he's not a screamer, but he just tends to embellish things a little bit. So, you know, we go up to this other company and we're relocated there. I'm not happy about it. So anyway, they come back, it was nothing as usual whatever. And then again I told my show for Jay Reen. I said, Jay, do me a favor. Let's take Webster down. So we took Webster down. I never do that. I normally jump on a Bronx river or whatever. So I said, let's take Webster down.

I am like, yeah, we're closed. Where do you think we are? Of course we're around the block.

Taking it in.

So anyway, we get there and the chiefs in front of the building goes, Danny goes, pick a building in any building, you know. So I'm like, so I I picked the maybe exposure to a whatever it was, you know.

And uh.

I get in there, and I mean, it was just amazing amount of fire. And I have to tell you, this is almost like a teaching point, and I'll I'll admit the mistakes that I made. So I told my guys is you just wait here with the line. I just want to see what's going on. So I went

Like almost like pulling your boots up.

What kind of buildings are those? I don't think I've ever seen it.

Frames. I think they were like frames.

I think the one it looked like old buildings like all.

Around for a long time. One, two, three, four, there was five of them. They were all gone. They put up A thirty one was in the back, Timmy, Timmy did an amazing job. He set up to Stany in the front and uh they he just he knocked down as much fire as he could. I mean, I mean it was just his hands were tied.

That's forty six right in the front, and that other picture in the front.

We're probably up a little bit further further, but that thing is I think that's eighty eight.

Are those buildings still there? Did they make the we didn't do so good there?

Wait?

Involved the cross street.

In the wide Washington, and he was.

Right double a street did a good job and knocking it down.

Yeah, yeah, my favorite line, we didn't do so good there?

Before we go to chief. You got the other pictures guys that you may or may not find from forty.

Those were the only two that we got. Everything else, So we're good, but we'll.

Have to go back.

At least I know where they are.

So he does it again. He starts studying rough and he gets made battalion chief.

It's a fought smeller.

He was one of those fought smells. Bro smart fellas, is that was that the plan?

All?

All? You wanted to go to chief or not so much?

You know? My father in law was a battalion chief, and you know, I had some big shoes to fill, right. It's funny how I modeled his career exactly, like he was a captain of forty one engine And that was interesting detailed over there because they all knew my my father in law. A funny, funny story. There was a guy Tony Lamagne in forty one. He was he was he was interesting guy Tony, great fireman, but he was.

Just a great picture. Right there where is.

That expayn I think Mike Dick took that picture. It was on Third Avenue. You think seventy threes in there, and that's Nicholson is the lieutenant I think, and seventy one engines in there. But so anyway that they're fighting in the kitchen. Now he's the captain, and uh, there was a tough fire house, tough tough house even when I I mean, I remember the old time. Is that Whitey Watson and these guys just notorious guys, tough tough guys,

How did they come up with this stuff? Like it's a classic? They would never forget it either.

Just sticks.

Oh he saw how they came up with spucky you know what I play?

Yeah? So yeah, so I guess you know. I thought I was going to be a deputy, but I wound up being a battalion chief. And I love being a battalion chief. I spent the most time, I think sixteen seventeen years as a battalion chief, and I really grew into that role. I just loved being a battalion chief. I really felt comfortable in the South in this you know, like the sixth Division. I felt like all the buildings, I knew them. I knew, you know, one thing.

Special about the back of the division.

I started out in the first I spent like a year or two that it was a bedfit.

And it's amazing he got back to the rough. This guy keeps landing on his feet. He did.

I don't think they liked me to I don't know.

It wasn't you went down after two years of that, you know, you could you could pretty much go where you want.

It was interesting. I I did have a high rise fire too, but uh, I just I liked being in the sixth I know, I know the buildings, you know, like Trish.

Know somebody who loves him to do I know somebody who hates does.

I was saying he loved them.

But the thing, the thing about the sixth Division is that see I saw it when it was vacant. I saw it was occupied, then it was vacant, then it became you know, reoccupied. You know, they wearhouse performance and then they rehab them. But you know, the thing about the tenements and the h types in like the sixteenth Battalion of fourteenth to two, sixth, one, seven, the third, even the eighteenth and the nineteenth, is that the rehab buildings are very unique. I mean, I'm sure Brooklyn has them.

Just like.

Really fast over there.

Man.

So I used to like the new new offices would come in. I bring them up to your office and like, guys, listen, I don't know if you ever worked in a sixth division, but you know, you get a building and it says rehab on the sids. You gotta go slop, you know what I mean? Like, just take your time and don't be so quick, you know.

So, God, you got some pictures of battalion chief or you want you want a couple of minutes and sort them out.

Wow, he made me give that back. I had to turn it in. What so I had to get a new one.

You have to take.

We have uh scary fire guys.

We can go back to the fires because as you're saw, I gave you a quick glimpse of some of the look.

At him again as you were looking for the other one. So let's do a repeat.

All here we go. This was a good one. He had a good story with this one.

I don't think I've seen that before.

This was an interesting fight. Seventy three engine Richie Bonacaus maybe the best chaufer i've ever seen on the FtM why and that's spanning old years. I mean there was a lot of great chauffeurs, I mean amazing, Like I remember I can remember being like new and watching some of those like American La Frances or those Max pumping and they would they would be rocking like they would

Scary sounds right, yeah, too loud.

So Richie. Unfortunately, Richie, I think drove him. You know, every great farm and something drives them, you know. And what drove Richie was that he was at the fire in eighty five where the captain died across the street from forty two truck, and I think he made it his mission just to be a great chauffeur, and he he just was. He just knocked it out of the park.

Right.

So anyway, so now we're going towards the box was over by Garrison somewhere, you know, and ten seventy five whatever, and uh, the roofman young guy Richie rivera young kid from forty eight truck amazing. I mean, guy was only a pro. He gave me the best report. He's like, Chief, we got seven. He must have counted him. We have

Built if you know, I was thinking when he said the windows were right next to the building, right there.

Nice, nice, nice nice.

Chief's thinking, oh shit, I'm going nice.

So now shit, he smoked too, man.

So now the propane tanks are going ninety four of No. Ducci was working, knocked it out of the park. He just crushed it. Doucci Doccici. Yeah, I love that guy.

Provaty school, not Ducci. The only guy short guys John walters In, not Ducci, shorter than me.

He's the best. Yeah. So anyway, so I made I just made sure I left the front open for a towel ladder, you know, And the tower ladder shows up and I'm like, hey, you know, get the towel ladder set up, and Richie's got the water all sort of before you know, we had five lines stretched on both exposures and we already were getting the real sorted, you know, and Rob set up the deck gun the stang and instead of you know, they're ready to supply a towel ladder.

I'm like all right.

And they kept the fire out of all those buildings. I mean, they just every engine I mean got them. They just one better job than the next. You know, that aligns on the roofs that had them in the buildings.

Got to make you proud.

Oh, I mean, it's just a pleasure. I mean, it's just like working with these guys it's amazing.

God give us another one.

Did you did you mold yourself? Like, did you find yourself doing?

Yes?

Actually things like guys that you liked.

And I had absolutely. One of my mentors was Tommy Martin. I love this guy because you know, everyone loved him, but yet he was a great chief, you know. And he said to me, I'll never forget I walked into the firehouse, I had like ten minutes on the job. He pushes me up against the board in seventies. Is kid, it's easy to leave your wife than it is to leave the fight apartment years old. And I'm like, what

It was like, wow, you.

I had to Yeah, it happens to the best of us.

It was very it was emotional. I couldn't believe I got so emotional.

You know, Well, it becomes who you are, that's the problem.

Nik Wisconsin was another guy.

What a nice man, so niceol.

He worked with my father in law in the second section of fifty you always had that connection, you know, Kilker Kennedy. I mean, there's so many chiefs there were just these guys were just so cool man, you know what I mean, Like they just not didn't rattle these guys.

You know what, what do you think is the thing that is to get to get them met to do what you want, but at the same time that they like you. Isn't that at such a tough thing to do, right, like without being too friendly? Right? Oh, I don't know if not too friendly, but you know what I'm saying, Like.

I think, you know, I'll tell you what I did being the chief, because you get as you get older, you get more comfortable, you know. And you know, I had three daughters, and I used to tell my brother in law and we used to talk about raising kids, and I said, listen, my kids have a lot of friends. They only have one father that's me, you know. And I never, you know, I never got involved with group chats and stuff on the board and stuff like that, you know, like it's just not my my thing. It's

Yeah, it's like from his grandma. The spider sense got it from grandma.

From grandma, I just kind of held off, you know. Then this kid was a rotator. God, I wish I remember his name. He was a great kids some company in Queens and and you know, he just went to his position. You know, his job was the roof and he went to the roof and next thing, I get a report ladder four eight roof to Battalian chief. We got a rubbish fire on the roof. It wasn't a rubbish fire. It had burned through the cock loft and

It was a public right praise the public when.

Guys do a good job. You know, I always tell him over the radio after the job it guys, I mean this like, you know, thank you, great job. And if you know things don't go right, you know, you you come into the office and you know we could talk about it, you know. But as far as I'm liking you, I don't know. I mean, I wish I had that magic. I mean, Tommy Martin had a lot of guys had it, But I don't know.

I know, guys, I know a chief didn't. Do You want to tell your chief Steve's story now?

Okay, it's not a bad story.

Okay.

So I'm working in has Man, I'm working has Mat and we get something out Rockaway and Phil mccaddal to me is like Phil mccaudell.

Im, did he have a jumpsuit on? A black jumpsuit?

He is just like he has that guy. He just is the guy, you know. So he had some kind of has Met thing and we get there and I reported to the chief chief, how you doing. I think he might have been Battalian chief at the time. So I'm like he's telling me, hey, I got this thing whatever, and I'm like, okay. So I go has Matt to you know, I don't know what Phil's position was, and he looks at me. He goes, what are you doing. I said, I'm checking with my experts about what's going on.

You know.

I covered I could, and he got pissed off him. He's like, why are you asking him? I'm like, because the guy wrote the book has.

Met, So stick to you chiefs, do you.

So?

Anyway?

That was my only That's.

Only start A pledge pin uniform.

White socks as gosh, thats god more five pictures come on.

This is a funny story. So this I knew this building intimately because it's a rehab right And I was at another box with my aid. Uh it was funny and uh I looked at him. I said, that sounds like a job. I said, let's start driving down the Bruckner, you know. So we start driving down the Bruckner and uh ten seventy five. I'm the old hands chief. I reported to the chief and he said, I, Danny, go to the top floor. Go to the top floor. Sixty

Oh yeah, I got it, Yeah, I got you. I gotta let me just I'm looking for the I wanted. This one was the one looking.

Oh my god, this is a Richie Bond Cossa classic fire And he and I were just so dialed in on the same page. Soe o'clock in the afternoon is overrun Prospect and one hundred right down the block from the fire house, one five six whatever, And the whole thing the kids had lit up the garbage and it took the whole side of the building. So Richie shows up, so seventy three, hits it with the deck gun and stretches the line. McCutchen was the boss, and they stretch

Exposed and you wouldn't even known it.

Richie had the wherewithal to like like the deck gun, like I would that, that's my dream, Like, yeah, I wish all engine companies if they have fires like this, Yeah, pull up the deck gun and just get yeah, wucket man. You know they got a unit secuation for that.

By the way, nice, nice, sorry we go here we go.

So that was that was a that was an interesting job, right. So I call this like Archie uncle like land. You know, like in Queens you guys are too young for it, but like all in the family used to open up with a big aerial shot of Queens, right, and the world these two half story private dwellings and now you now you start having these like mc mansions, right, Like they take these three story monstrosities and they put them inside all these like two and a half story right.

Nice. Nice, Sorry, I got one more for you. Sorry. I was answering your boy fish.

Franky the motto.

This is just an old that that was from.

It looks like the rock holy ship waiting to see the guy come down with the.

UK to the guy that one little right. Yeah.

I was actually working in sixty engine that night. I was detailed to the engine and we put out I don't how many floors of fire, but they pulled out I think Timmy, I think Timmy Klekt took pictures at that job. I'm not sure because he was these are I think these are his photos. He's got pictures of it.

I don't know.

Another parking lot in the proxy.

So Tom did a great job at that fire, and I don't know it was it. Frankie Trummer was a mcdell of both of them. But normally when we used to respond to this box, we'd go down one four one against traffic and then that was our normal way to respond to Beakman and Oak. But this one day,

You know what we're putting this together, bro The spider sense a huge buff because a lot of times he's turning out listening to the radio. I don't know what's going on. There, plus the spider sense. We got to be doing a rescue multiple bump bull sounds like a job, not like a.

Job that's old audio, because that was. Yeah.

I saved some of the old ones. You know, gonna bring those back.

Those were amazing. Though I can't remember, Oh man, pull up, you're going to work.

You're still say fire Man's on this podcast.

All the pictures, I don't know. We have this burnt out show and whoa.

Look at seventy three engine job. Danny Sombrado was the captain. I I owe him a unit citation on this one, and we didn't get one. There was a little lesson learned on this one.

We had.

We had a fatality, and I don't know if I could say I dropped the ball. I mean the guy was dead anyway, so I mean there was no savment. We pulled up. It was Frontier. I remember pulling up and Richie again was driving. He knew that he knew that the hydrant was at a service in front, so he already addressed that they pushed that fire from the front to the rear. No problem. I pulled up and I looked in the back. I took a peek down the alleyway and I see the fire in the windows

And uh.

Someone had said to me, see, when you get an ABC, right, you gotta even though no, so I was first too. It was I first too. Somehow I had an ABC, and uh, and then the deputy came. So I got kind of lost in the weeds. But the people were telling me, hey, you know Jose or whatever, you know, he's there, and then other people like, nah, he jumped out the window. So anyway, in the interim, you know,

That's all.

It was a total burnout. But I mean, so I know if that was the reason why I couldn't put them in for the unit. But I mean the amount they kept the fire from going above I mean it was just an amazing right amount of fire that they put out.

So he's not available for overtime.

Have to go somewhere else and hire.

Yeah, all right. The last job pick I have is.

This, Oh, that looks like a good one.

It was a vacant. It was a vacant on one hundred and forty ninth in Timpson. So we had a job.

Let me ask you one question before you get that.

Do you have all these written down or all these coming out of your mind totally?

Should? We were going through I'm like, shit, I can't type that quickly.

Wow.

So we had a job on Elton, like in one hundred and fifty fourth and sleven was a chief at the time. He was acting deputy chief, right, So it was Tommy Mahoney's last night and sixty engine. So it was like a three story vacant, you know, and it was Tommy's last night. The guy had been through the warriors. It was like thirty years on a job and he was gonna have the nozzle right anyway.

So.

We uh, we take the front of the building fifty five at the time was still in the old fire out. So we had the front of the building and Slevin was like, we're ready to go in. He's like, nope, no one's going in. We're like, come on, chief, it's move man's last night. Like, let's let him have the nozzle and you're not going in. Set up the towel ladder and boom, all right. So we set up the towel and now I'm in a bucket with this guy Bobby, right, and we're knocking down all the fire and now I'm

Collapsed?

You know?

That always like stuck in my mind. So I looked at the kids on this on this ticket, I'm like, vacant building, you know, numerous voids, this and that and the other thing.

So the sure stick the thirty guy on his last tour in here, yeah, retiring, the guy dying his last tour.

First check, that's exactly. So anyway, I I just went the from the apparatus on the apparatus floor. I'm just like, listen, nobody in the building, and you know whatever, So wind up putting out with the towel ladder and whatever.

It look like a good one to go in there.

That's it.

The buildings falling down.

You almost make it to forty What makes you want to pack it.

In age on you? Yeah, feel out of bed.

You're like, oh, that don't feel so good.

Yeah, it just it was time, you know, I mean, I I was. I got some stuff that I just it's just it was time.

You know.

They told me that you would know when it was time, and it broke my heart, you know.

I mean, we just had this conversation right rough THEILD.

You'll know, my uncle, who had forty years on the job, said, you'll know when it's time like this, when you're coming back from vacation and you're not putting full of pisson vinegar and you can't wait to get back and you don't feel that way anymore.

It's time.

Yeah.

I was six, I'll be sixty four next week. And it's like, you know, my wife's retiring, we got a grandchild. You know, it's just enough.

Yeah, you've done your ship.

I'm trying not to think about it, you know, like I try that to dwell on it. I'm like, it sucks, It really sucks. I mean, he really does. I mean it's said, I mean, I mean, but you have to move on. I mean, I guess she's everyone's got to go through it, you know.

Yeah when you're asking, yeah, for you to do it?

So have you had have you had the dream yet?

He's not officially retired, right, you.

Haven't been in the fire house in a while, Right when?

When when the dreams? But being fires and stuff?

Now about not about having getting a run and not being able to fund your gear. I'm not that is that happened with every retired guy.

Let us know.

I want you to call.

It's gonna be on your mind now.

Yeah, now we just plane.

You're messed up my head. But I've I've been having dreams about, like you know, being back and working and fires, and I always keep having this recurring dream. So I grew up in the woodside in the Mets, and it was kind of a lower income type of place that I think if it had been in another borrow, it probably just would have burnt down. And I always have these dreams about this mets. You probably because you were in twenty eight. I mean you had been third duo

Worst squad there?

Yeah, I know it's close though. You got twenty five to ninety two. Yeah, you would be a squad. Yeah, But I always have these dreams about it being like a vacant like in the Bronx, you know, and like all the time, like it's always are you know.

But well it might have been if it wasn't your grandmother well Graham Man, Oh, very good for man. She had you followed. No, he passed ye fighters right, yeah, man?

How many years did he do like me?

Like thirty seven, eighth, thirty eight? He got on fifty seven and got out of ninety five, So do him with thirty eight. Maybe we had the same track. He started out in thirty three engine. It was lieutenant twenty five years.

That's not bad. I'll take you.

He was in fifty dash two he was, then he was in Brooklyn a little bit, and then he was a captain of forty one engine and then he was achieved in the three one but ten Wow the same track, Wow, same track.

But who do we have on from seventeen too?

Oh it was a while ago too.

Richie Richie. Guy's name is Richie maybe what's his name?

He was a captain.

Oh was it a kirk kerk No, not kirk Lester, kirk is in No, no, not kirk Lester. It's his last name was Kerr or something, Kerstetter something.

H Richie Kirsten. Yeah, a Kershner Richie, yep.

Yeah.

He used to come around the fireous a lot. Well, it's a funny story. One time we're in the kitchen in seventeen truck. We had this guy in the big room and his father was on a job and his grandfather was on a job, right, So this old timer comes into the kitchen. His name was Murphy. He was in Rescue three because Rescue three was in seventeen trucks quarters and this guy the ruin his father was in twenty nine truck, right. So anyway, he comes in and he looks at this guy in the room. He goes,

He thought he was his father, right, that's awesome ruin good guys, Not that we haven't got a lot of uh whiters.

But I think it's that time.

Bro, Is it that time? What time is that? Let me let me get this so cute up you guys. I was going to show two more pictures, but we will do this, yeah, said no, no, there's why I'm looking at too.

He wanted to chief found.

No, no, this is a Katrina story. Did you want to touch on control?

Oh that's a great story. I love that.

That was I want to make sure we get to it.

That was a great story.

Yeah.

So anyways, I got a few minutes, I'll tell the whole story. So I'm up in New Hampshire with these guys from Ecuador. I did a lot of work in South America, helping train guys down there whatever, you know. So anyway, I'm watching the news and like, yeah, so Katrina is coming to slam it to New Orleans, and I think, like what this got nothing to do with me? So anyway, I go to work, I guess that night and a fact comes over. They're looking for volunteers to

You know.

So I put together team and Frank Lee was my main guy. He was at the time lieutenant in three twenty four. I had Wayne Melton, Billy Butler. These guys had all that kind of rural experience, you know. So so Maine said to me him and Ceiling, I think was another chief. He says, go ahead, knock yourself out. So we went out and we tried drafting out of a milk truck and it worked. So I go back and I'm like Chief, I said, we were able to do it. He goes, forget about the milk trucks. I

Water dogs stick that in. I just remember.

Walk out falling. Thought it was the greatest thing. Was like, because now they weren't calling them task Force one A. It was like, all right, water dogs taking this and nice.

It was w w.

Yeah, some deputy chief in.

The first come on. The guy loves telling stories. Another guy can't get the.

I seen him down there, coops.

Did you what did you hit him up?

No?

I was talking with the other guys.

Oh bang them again today tomorrow.

But anyway, they used that water system for about two years. I ran to a guy because I became on the I M T. And then I met this guy. He says, yeah, they used that system for two years. But they got a big kick out of the names, you know, because it was like, you.

Know, the water dogs, the water dog, the rain days, the double the w d's.

Brows of H two o's.

Bultons, of the standpipes.

What once?

Once those those water resource groups went in the fires, they had water. Now they had twenty thousand gallons of water.

Who is this Frank talking about?

Bring this guy out, Frank is this guy used to be a lieutenant and him in the seventy six. He's the reason why I ran my first marathon. Ah, I was covering one day in the eleven botanions like because I'm running the marathon. I said, you know what, I always wanted to run a marathon.

And then I won up running the marathon.

So that was into what I thought about running the marathon one day and then I ate a cookie instead. Any other pictures gone Before we get to the.

Old noo, I mean, there's a couple of effort.

We're good, all right, all right, it's time for here you go, chief, oh the old stoopid kit.

Away.

Well, I tell you as a five fighter, I mean, if I could, if I could go back and do things differently, probably would have just put the cotton in my mouth, took it out of my ears and put it in my mouth and listened. Then just doesn't matter what they tell you, just like Yep, that's a good idea. That sounds like a good idea.

Yep.

Don't never use the words.

I know.

You know.

It's tough though, because you know, like you're new and you don't want to seem like you're dope, you know, so like, but it's really the reverse is true. Like when you're probably you really should just be like yeah, even if you heard it ten times, yep, that's that's great advice. Man, you know, thank you, so you know, I mean, we all know, get to work early. You know. No, I would tell you another thing as a firefighter, know

But we don't have time.

But know your tools. If you're in the truck company, take them out and drill with them, put ladders, put them up, wash them, just get your hands on the tools. That's I think this is why we watched the tools just so it makes young firefighters, Uh, touch them and work with them.

You know.

As a lieutenant a captain, I would say, trust your guys, trust your firefighters, just you know, give them a lot of give them a lot of space, man, you know, and uh I had a few times I would tell guys, you know, if you're having trouble at home with the wife or whatever, you know, when you come in that door, just leave those troubles in the car, man. And if you if you need, then take time go call the

You know.

So but you know, as an officer, just really just just lean on the guys, you know. You know, as a chief, you know it's a silly tip, but you know, use all your senses. I used to leave the windows open if it was zero degrees or it was one hundred degrees, the windows are open because you know, you never know what you're going to be exposed to. I mean I gave it ten seventy five one time, just because I had the window open, and I smelled something and turned out to be a top flur of fires.

You're listening to your career. Great career, great five stories, tremendous detail. I don't know how you remember all boss.

And they call it a spark. I have a they call it a spark. They call it spot.

Wicked smart, they're.

Wicked, well, they're wicked smart.

My daughter is wicked smart.

She lives in Boston. You know, I always put on a boss and accident she gets pistol because Dad, you're not from Boston.

But you live in you know.

Yeah, I started doing at your car. You know, I read directed my first two battalion chief with fire engineering, and I have Eric Petaway from Boston.

He's my my.

My counterpart now and he's got like twenty two years in Boston. He's just an amazing guy. And uh, we started like a YouTube channel and it's just gonna be all teaching stuff. We're calling it Imperium, which means command. So it's like we've only done two episodes. We're hoping that and I think it's on a podcast too. He's got it set up with a podcast. We're gonna go over sized up. We're gonna go right to cold as wealth. We're gonna go right into tactics and strategies.

And what's the name of it.

Imperi imperium, the Latin word command. His name is Eric Petaway. He's got his own channels and stuff, and he's got some great stuff on his channels too. And then we got the first two battalion chief of fire engineering. And I guess I'm gonna be still a little finger to in the fire department for the rest of my life, right why not? I just you know what I'm afraid of, what I'm afraid of, and I think hopefully now I'll know when it's time. Like I don't everyone want to

And I want to hold them and I want to fold them.

Time to pass the tork. So I think I have a few years left. I still have, you know, still the memories are still a little fresh, so I think it fresh.

I remember what box he went to, you know, thirty years via crazy roughy. What do you have for breakfast?

This point, I can't tell you what I put my I can't even tell you.

But there's a guy and I had a super chat before.

Yeah, he was asking about the hip boots. He was asking his question is Alex because because uh, he's asking about the switch from three quarter to hip boo to long coats to the bunker gear. He guess he wants to know what your thoughts are when you guys made the transition from boots to bunker pants.

So that was nineteen ninety three, and I could tell you. I could tell you it was a very tough transition because I was in forty one and it was a summer day. It was July, and it was a Sunday. I was I was thinking, I was doing a rosta and I'm thinking, like Sunday afternoon, it's gonna be nice and chill, even though it was one hundred degrees out and I was drinking coffee in the kitchen and that never would be a problem. But you had to remember

So we go to a job hot as fuck.

We go to a job on Walton Avenue, and I remember carrying a saw up to the roof and working or whatever, and then we get back down and then we get another job in Washington Heights and I didn't even take my coat off, and I'm still in my coat and I put the saw back and then we're responding up to one hundred and seventy fourth and whatever. And I remember going up to the front fire escape, and I just I don't remember anything else. I passed out. Really, I collapsed on the fire skate and I was just

Man.

I was very embarrassed by that because that never had happened, because, you know, when I was in seventeen, as I got a little older, I you know, I was doing the roof and stuff. I didn't even wear the hippoots anymore, you know. And now I'm wearing the snowsuit in the middle of one hundred degree summer day, carrying a saw and a mask on my back in a rig that's one hundred and fifty degrees, so I think. But what I saw with the bunker gear is that the burn

I mean it really eliminated the knee burns. I mean tremendously.

I mean guys, once in a while we're getting burns, I mean some crazy jobs or whatever, but not like we were in the beginning. I mean every job you go to, guys were getting burned at every job. It was just a normal it was, you know, doing business. And we had no hoods back then, so you know, your coat was open, you had no you maybe put your flaps down if you're lucky.

You know.

Sometimes guys didn't even wear gloves. I mean it was like they're wearing the Red Bulls and the wild West.

Yeah, I'll tell you.

I know we're running out of time, so I don't want to a lot. But you know, it's things are different the fires today, with the plastics and everything. I don't think you'd get away with it today with the stuff that we did back in the eighties.

You know, it's different.

It's a different animal today, you know.

Yep, you have no doubt about that.

Coops, you have a health and safety tip. I do okay.

The First Responder Center for Excellence is a 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, personnel, and other first responders too. They are an affiliate of the National Fallen Firefighter Foundation.

All right, so today's health and safety tip it comes from today. When I started my first day of PT for my knee replacement. I went in. There's like five friggin five and sitting in the bro so and I said to the one that I'm like, listen, man, if the job doesn't kill you, it will beat the living shit out of you over the cost of twenty years. So I know it's hard. Everybody doesn't have to be a fanatic when it comes to working out, but try to keep the you know, a decent body weight, stretch,

You want to be able to enjoy the your your retirement like my buddy Rouffy, you know, fly all over the country, shoot and ship and hit.

So that's what you want to do.

It's a nice little bit something to stay active at the you know, stay at a decent body weight and uh, enjoy your time.

Maintain, man, what's gonna do is maintain.

I gotta text some Nancy as I'm talking, she's talking about her ride again, looking for guys to come on the Ride's gonna put them up right.

Now, Okay, I have well I'll pull up the whole thing, but I have this.

This is the first part of it, and let me share my email that where you guys can read the entire thing here.

They do a nice job, the Friends of fire Fighters.

I mean so.

Uh it's through Friends of Firefighters, right. They can find the information on through Firefighters Friends of Firefighters right down on the website.

Right, So put up, I sent your big text, right Yeah.

Yeah, I'm gonna just share my email. That's a link the email.

But I think I think she's opening up now to even the whole country.

I mean, that's good. We got to keep sending stuff over there, guys. I know we had a show on it, but just because we had one show doesn't mean that we stopped sending.

It's a little harder, guys to see, but it's the riders from Stotsbury or September third to the thirteenth of this year. It's an unforgettable ride Ireland to raise awareness for our first respond with mental health and it supports Friends of Firefighters.

You've done that ride, right, Chief, Yeah, last year I did it, but I don't know.

So it's over in Island and it's a good cause.

It's a great cause, the mental health. I think you're looking to do this up in Boston now, and uh huh. If anyone from the whole country wants to join in on their ride, I would get in touch with Nancy and.

You can reach her at www dot Friendsoffirefighters dot org or if you.

Want to there we sorry.

So if you want to contribute, it's very It's a mental awareness man. And we had that show on and I can't tell you how many guys came up to the booth ruff and said, thank God, thank thank you for having that show on.

It's every time.

Yeah, So please give what you can, even if it's five dollars, ten dollars, whatever it is, send it over there, send it, send it, send it. And we have a couple of lines of duties, right Johns.

Yes, let me bring up their pictures, so because they have their names on them, there's Baltimore City, Uh, Lieutenant Mark Drevis. I believe this was a gentleman that fell from the truck or fell down the ladder, and I believe he succumbed to his injuries. It was within if I'm not mistaken, it was within a week that they have both of these gentlemen.

Away in a beating the last week.

Yeah, and this, I believe this was a gentleman who had a cardiac event over a medical event during training. So those guys that are out there training anything obviously be safe. And well, I guess Kob's going to ring the bells for him.

Yeah. We also had two guys in the UK I think died in a warehouse fire. So let's do the five bells for the line of duty. Yeah, rest in peace, brothers, that's for sure, all right? Rook? What do we have next week?

Man?

We have a guest next week?

You do?

I have my operation next week. I'm not going to be here.

How dare you?

And I have mine a week after?

Do?

We're all getting fixed up around the dog?

Did I tell you got to stay in shape? Showing his fingers.

Oh you got that, little guy.

It's the crawl next week.

He's every fire shots into the golf swing though perfect.

Right, perfect, Oklahoma might screw up, I might screw up.

You might be shaking a ball night that happened.

I know.

I love the Craws Chief. Thank you so much for coming on, your love for the job.

Just losing grew man.

You know you didn't get the name Spocky for out to sparking you and you know what you want walk.

You've been in all busy places your whole career following the fire around.

Good for you. I had the privilege of working for you, even though it was a couple of tours, but knowing you as well, appreciate it. Thank you all right, boys, ladies and gentlemen, thanks for coming in. We will see you well, at least roof you might not. We'll see some press for Roofie that night. And the bed fingers crossed baking to cross you may. I called the lady and get them on too.

I was gonna say, we're gonna go to the bullpen.

We gotta go to the bullpen. All right, guys, We'll see you next week. Until then, stay low.

And go and everybody will see it, the big one. Thanks again, Chief.

All Right, guys, have a great night. Remember we're rolling heavy down here in South. Take care, guys, a good night. Hold on thinking