GETTIN' SALTY EXPERIENCE PODCAST Ep. 258: FDNY BC | TOM MARTIN

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, certainly, whoa what happens that we'll do this?

Guy?

Hey, hey, don't, hey, don't hey, there.

We go, Everything's gonna happen. Scoops, I did that?

Yeah, I think so.

I think you're pushing the buttons. I don't know what anyway, Sorry, that's my favorite.

That's was maybe putting roughly on the big screen like that.

Man.

Yeah, well, mixture of the boat trip gons no kidding.

I'm sorry. I had to take my dad, who uh. As you guys know, he suffered a little bit from dementia, So I don't know how many games I have kind of went with him.

So what game do you go to?

A Yankee game?

The Yankees were in town when they got swept along by the Marlins right first time, when the franchise history beat him up.

I was like, Oh yeah, I just just tell me the Yankees won. Maybe you won't not.

Yeah, he was, he's.

Still he's not that bad. I'm just saying, you don't.

Know, but it's legit.

A big line. You're talking to Gonzo, you know what I mean?

Like what that was a good turn.

Now you know who turned out Bob Morris Captain Rescue one, Captain twenty.

Truck another another for the fourth annual Perfect weather again, I mean perfect You.

Remember last year's debacle and it turned out to be beautiful.

Evans opened up.

And then all of a sudden the rainbows came out with Morris. Broke said he might he might even be interested in doing the show. It's such a good time.

So he actually, Frank Someton sent me a good pictures. It looks like you get. I think it's Tilly Ronnie, a bunch of guys with cruise on it. I could pull up. There's a female and I don't know who this is.

Let me say, I'm gonna see that.

That's my daughter.

Oh that god, Well there you go.

Old rookie family came was beautiful girls in a bit.

All right, Well, then there you go.

All right.

He looks like Tilly a little bit.

We're gonna play the membership We just Louis and I Louis did, and I just I'm gonna say that Louise said it.

Uh.

We're gonna randomly draw two members from the Love the Idea, two members and then getting a special invite to the boat. We're gonna put it in some kind of program and it kicks your name out. We're gonna get two guys and they're gonna go on the boat cruise next year.

So I actually I will get with my niece who does thirsty bartenders little plug. Yeah, uh, well has a system that can draw us those nice little names. Oh, we'll add to that.

All right.

Cool.

I like the input, John, we got fifty. We just went over fifty subscribers.

Fifty subscribers. Beautiful guys. Play a commercial really quick.

All right, Well, you know what, let's go here we go looking to take your love for the fire service the next level. Then join the Getting Salty Experience YouTube premium membership club where the stories burn hotter and the

That Mike Velvet Velvet, I tell you what is it? Let's get the two quick commercials. We had the Jimmy Guinea on the bows on the cruise, so let's play his commercial all right, here we go.

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Jimmy brought his dad, great guy. Jimmy also came in with the Chicago boss.

Jaggosimitch Mo.

Yeah, all right, let's get the other little buddy, my little Italian buddy, Vince.

We'll get that commercial like one another way.

He was on the.

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Mm hmmm.

And you know what's great. Jimmy the Guinea actually his father, his Folly department bought a flooring system from Vince. We'll cross over there.

You know what I'm saying, Commission, you know.

Yeah, welcome to Chad Harriple member.

Yeah, I just thank him.

Also, welcome to pro Oh no he didn't sign up. Okayea, let's bring it. Let's bring.

Yeah.

Uh and uh we might have a little technical thing here or there.

We're gonna work on, but just to all work out, so it should be good.

I love the guys from the sixties. Bro, we're gonna talk about the layoffs. The boys, guys.

Funny, laughing all the time.

If you smile, Chief, you smile, you ready, geh me a smile. He's he's like, all ready, let's go, let's go, let's go. Yeah, let's go.

All right, coming to the stage.

F d n Y Battalian, Chief Tom Barton, he is forty years four.

Oh, you got before we were born. I don't want to make it feel all cheap, but you got on before we were born.

Let's get before we get lost in associate All right, here we go.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic, for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice.

For all.

Excellent day. All right, crank it up, guns. We gotta go a little further back today in the way back, way back, way back in time.

Before we even get to the job.

I think he has a DeLorean in his driveway. Still. I think.

Let's go to the early days of a Chief Thomas Martin, where you grew up a little about the family life, your dad, stuff like that.

Yeah, yeah, Okay, where here we go? Uh? I grew up in East New York, Brooklyn, Wow, and uh had a great childhood with the Saint Malays down in Atlantic Avenue, Van Sickling. Your Brooklyn guys would know that. And then when I was twelve years old, we moved to Rockaway and spent ten years down in Rockaway. Uh. We we actually spent the summers there. We used to rent a bungalow.

It was.

Shay's bungalow. He was a fireman, a ninety fishery bo. He owned the bungalow, the set of bungalows where we lived. And so we used to spend our summers on the beach all day long, me and my two brothers for many years. And then in sixty two, the year and on a job I was still single of him with my folks, and we moved out the West Bowlin. And let's see after.

That, howd to find the fire service chief?

Well, it's a funny story, but it was. We have a relative, my maternal grandfather and if I can remember his name, he's my grandfather, Frank Owens. He was a battalion chief and I think the four to two battalion. He died in nineteen twenty six, so I have I never worked with him. I was glad to say. But my older brother went on the fire department nineteen sixty. My brother Jim went to sixty five Engine and I was in Well. He had gotten that in the Navy were not a fire department. So I was in the

Yeah.

I said, what were you in jail for? He's attempted murderers. I said, this is the job I'm going on. I don't think he passed the test. I hope, but I don't even think he made the fire.

So that came the Chief department.

Yeah, whatever my mark was, they put me in the list, and I ended up coming on a job in August of sixty two.

Was that one was that Wards Island?

No? No, no, it was.

Roosevelt Roosevelt Island, That's what I mean.

Yeah. So my brother was a sixty five engine at the time, and the guy who worked with Bill Moffatt is Bill Moffat's father was the captain of Engine one. And uh so my brother spoke the Bill, and Bill's spoke to his father and Yogi Bear. You remember Yogi Bear was running the rock back then. Yeah, you guys know that name.

No, no, Yogi Bear, the bear.

So he ended the end of training that day. This is Martin, come to the office. I go to the office. Yes, gee, you have to report today to Captain Moffort over an Engine one. Do you know why? So I had an idea, I said, no, Chief, no idea. Yeah, I think I know why. But anyway, so I went over there. I went over to one engine after the after the training tour, and so I get to the firehouse one in twenty four, which is our thirty first and seventh right to set Francis.

Fire I ended up talked about right.

Yeah. That was John O'Boyle, who was a great guy. So by we finished probably school my first tour, I'm a day tour. I committed the firehouse and uh it was the always had eight groups in those days. It was the old group system. Three guys in the group and you new guy. He always worked at the captains group. So I command forget what day it was, but the Captain's work and we has a roll call and he says, Martin go going it was it was from the other side,

Of me holy shit.

And he lived nine months later, he's back in the full duty. He's assigned to for twenty years an engine one and when he had was twenty and we had the ambulance in the searchlight re quarters. So the ambulance had two guys on duty at all times and the search of that one guy and ladlos old times when they did twenty years would switched over to either the searchlight or the annulalce. So he went to the animals.

How was the city back then? Chief in nineteen sixty two? Was it was were they doing work? Or what were you doing around there?

One?

At that time he was doing six hundred runs a year. I think they're doing six thousand now. Yeah, yeah, little doing six hundred runs. But one thing about the six hundred runs, we had no force alarms. We never had we work something. We had the fund district in our quarters. We had all kinds of factories and lofts, so a lot of sprinkler work which were not you didn't get a lot of fire, but you get a lot of smoke, you know. It was just of course, masks were like not around at that time, so it was.

A shirt and filter. Yeah, yeah, you pull the coat up.

Yeah.

The bay doors were all manual, right.

Or no one Actually we had one in twenty four had an electric door. Really. Yeah, they did the division. We had the division in quarters. They had a separate quarters. Next to that was a manual door. So and at that time the division outran all the companies. They used to go in all the boxes.

Is that right, division?

Yeah, So the deputies finally got that straight back because you know, they don't like that ship going on. So I was there. I loved the place. Great guy. I would say at least half of my company, both companies. Well World War two vets guys who are in their forties. Now, you know, the war was fifteen years old, so at war had ended fifteen years ago. So word World War two guys. And you know you never heard any stories from these guys. They never talked about it. Yeah, they

Yeah, so you went to you went to the truck right before.

What happened with tra is the guy I told you about the first night when he came out. Uh, Dick was a super student and he got promoted with six years at a job, so uh he he knew he was gonna get promoted. So we we did a swap. He went the Engine one. I went to twenty four truck. And that was a nice experience. I worked with great guys in the twenty four truck, Ronnie Brown and all the crudding. Just a lot of great person out we had. We had some asshole bosses and we had some great bosses,

You ride my back step back then though?

Right?

Was that you were riding the back step back then?

Oh?

Yeah?

In fact, I was riding the hose bed because we had a CD pumper and room for it had room for four guys in the backstep. I rode in the hose bed and we never heard it open there. It was an open cab, and we had the bell right behind the officer, and my job was to sit in there the hose bed and ring the bell.

That's crazy. I don't think we ever heard that before.

No, no, yeah, Now, it was a room for four and the CD pumpers and you know they were smaller and narrow, so there wasn't a lot of room in those things. But they got us, they got us to the fire. You know, they worked.

Could you like the engine of the truck at that time? Better? You know, what kind of work did you like better? Well?

I love that you work. I mean, there's nothing better to being a nasal man first doing the job. We all know that that's the best. That's the best position there is. And I enjoyed both, you know, I enjoyed the excitement of even the truck you off by yourself, you know, a little scary in the beginning, but you know you learned experience. So I mean I love I love both. I actually loved every rank I was in. I mean, there's that one rank I didn't really enjoy

Know where I want.

Some of the benefits.

Yes, And I was a little.

I was a little adventuresome.

They say, but how was the How is the kitchen table a baut then?

Was it rough? Oh? Well it's always been rough. Always no holes Bard, as we all know, no holes. Bard. You know, no such thing as ethnic Uh politeness.

Of course, political correctness.

I mean the kitchen is we all know what the kitchen is.

Brutal honesty. That's what it is. Brutal honesty. I can't take it.

Get out of the kitchen. And we had a lot of guys. You know, we had the we had the UH, the the search light, the animals, and the chief and the aid and the two companies. So on our table, you know we do.

Yeah, a lot of guys. Yeah, that's good.

That's a funny story. This guy, Ronnie Rader, a great guy, the truck, great fire and so, uh the meal was a dollar five one night and he went bananas, jumping up and down. What asshole brought this meal?

It's a red dollar, a dollar it was.

A dollar five, and oh man, the ship hit the fan. He went and he was very well respected. So the guy that bought the meal was like, oh, I'll never do that again.

What was what was your pay in nineteen sixty two?

Well, do I remember? Is because we had deputy quarters and Pat Connois was the division commander and UH, on payday, the junior man in the company on watch would have to take the deputy's check, go across the street to the bank and cash it. So that was always me the junior guys. So I remember going to walking across the street. My take home was one hunting forty nine dollars every two weeks. That was my check every two weeks. And I remember walking across the street and I'm looking

The hell is he doing all this money? I love it?

Yeah, I was making a hunting forty nine dollars I want. I was one of the few guys in my provy class that actually got a raise coming on the fire department. Most of the guys were construction working, so they were taking a hit coming out of the firefarck. We were making out of forty eight hundred bucks a year or something like that. I don't know what it was. I was working for wester Indian Laboratories. I was making less than a hunting forty nine dollars every two weeks. Because

On, Yeah, when did you when did you decide that you wanted to when when twenty six to two opened up?

What was, Well, what happened was, uh, when I switched, when I went across the floor to twenty four, I became the uf A delegate. So we had this deputy in quarters, Harold Matheson, and uh, he got detailed downtown for the TIPS program. That's a long time ago, but it was. I think it was tactical information for parilous situations tips.

And yeah, pos parlous I gave you a tips stay out of the stock bucket.

Yeah.

So the Vision used to carry his ship in their truck the Tips program, So he went he worked on that for a couple of months down there and now the division. So he made a contract while he was down there. And so I'm home on vacation. I get a call from one of the guys in the truck. Hey, Don Matheson just had a roll call and he said that on the next Tuesday, we have to move all the equipment off the second floor, all the lockers, everything

Nobody touch any equipment.

As for the contract, you don't. We don't move any equipment. He comes into work and he sees the boat on the board. My name's on it, Martin. What the hell is that? So now he has he has another roll call and he says to the guys, if you don't move the equipment, you know he's mutuals. Mutuals are privilege, So if you don't move the equipment, you can forget about the privilege. So of course I get another phone call. I call him Palumbo again. It's here's what he'sa no,

That was the party.

I committed the firehouse and I'm on watch, and uh and I'm thirty first shooting on watch. We always wore to tie the jacket. He wore the hat unless you had the name plate. You can you can leave the hat up. All the rules. So I'm sitting at the desk at the house watch. We got a covered lieutenant, a little skinny guy and over again. He came from a busy company in Brooklyn and he's like a brand new lieutenant. So mattheson they went out on the run. So he goes out on the run. I have to

I mean, this is like so hook him up for socks. It sounds familiar. I didn't go very far.

He says, right away, you got three late watches, and then I'll figure out what we're gonna do after this. Okay, geez, the next tour, I get on the train. I was taking the train, lived in West Bamlo, was taking the train after West Bamlin and a good friend of mine, Ray Brown, who had been a firefighter at Rescue One where my brother was sixty five, was in with Rescue one then, and so I knew Ray quite a while, and I'm telling them the story about Mattheson. So Ray

Wow.

There was no paperwork because what happened was when they formed the second sections, the captains dumped all the guys that didn't want just got real. So there were a lot of guys in those second sections that didn't want to be there. So the policy was body for a body. If you could get somebody coming in, somebody could leave. So this guy who was the Statin Island guy, he wanted out bed and I want to live, so bingo,

Always that the worst.

About a week later, where's Martin Martin?

He hasn't gone, Oh my god, he must have been.

And Martin told and mart said, to give you this. I'm France forward about about five years. So about that was like sixty beginning of sixty nine. So I got promoted seventy three. I'm a cover lieutenant No. Eighty five engines.

And run into this guy again.

So there's no cellar in the tin house. So the only place the boys can have an adult coverage in the kitchen. So I am being a good boy and I'm on the app breass Well, I'm looking at the window, which is like I told us, so it's shitty app. I'm just looking at the window. Boys are in the back, and all of a sudden, this red car pulls up on the on the on the apron and said, you know, it doesn't look like a battalion car or a division car. Door opens up its mapes and he's now a staf chief.

Since he was five years but he remembered you.

In the back. I'm dead. I'm dead. So he stops walking towards the firehouse. His aid gets out of the car and I see his age. Mattheson turns around. He goes back to the car, and the car leaves. He goes to a third lam in the Bronx takes his three corner dive. He's out of a jug.

That's good.

You never had to deal with you would have you wouldn't have been able to beat him downstairs.

Probably another thing Martin.

Up twenty six too, And.

What was that like, Chief Pawan? What was that like like the first tour? Was it like a huge like? Well, change obviously was a big change, right, I mean these guys.

Here were all these I mean, he's some of these guys are legends. You know, twenty six truck. I'm coming from one engine doing six on the runs a year, right, I mean I've been the fires, but you know nothing like what these guys are doing. So I was nervous. Ray Brown was my boss, which was great. He was a gray Brown was a fabulous fire officer, a great person, but a fabulous fire officer. So, uh so the first tour. We we right, we got a job. So of course

Really, but just how much work were they doing? Like a ton of work? Were they going, Oh, we're.

Doing tom We're doing but we're doing I don't know what the numbers will be, three, five or six grand a year. Yeah, it was busy as hell. I mean we were doing thirty ones on the night to us sometimes cheap.

We messed this guys with one O three and one O three two. How are the guys from twenty six trucks.

They didn't do near the work that we did.

Really, I'm saying, did you guys?

There was a little animosity in one O three in one O three two, like did you have the same thing?

I tell you the truth, there was none. We got along like we've been there for a hundred years together. I mean, I'm not kidding. With the engine and the two trucks, we got along great. John o'reagan was the captain of twenty six truck. He was not happy that we would add because John, who was also a fabulous firefighter, twenty six trucks his baby. So when they made the second section.

You're taking some work, right, you're taking a little bit of work.

Yeah, sure, Yeah, he was not happy. But didn't he write it? Didn't he write ladders? John latter three? He wrote Lattice three with another guy. Yeah, and I'm gonna tell you Lattice three. If you ever look at the original Lattice three.

Back then there were there was a lot of companies being sent up relocating and guys changing young offices, and like then you know what's what's going on. He'd have copies of Lattice three for every company to come up there. Take a look at this rip and because if you followed Lattice three, it was very it was very good. Neeah, it was a great It was a great book. It really was, in fact the funny story. Years later on Lieutenant nineteen and I sent an addendum in oh ship,

Yeah, the mask, so bunk is optional.

Comes down to the department order, you know. Blah blah, doesn't mention my name, just as a change change in Ladder street. So Red knew he was the chief and he loved battalion. Now Jesus, and who the hell is changing my ladder three? So he makes some require he finds out me. So he calls me up. He's a uh, hey, Tomas is Chief Oreagan. I said, oh, hi, Chief, I don't, He goes, Did you send it in addendum right away? Oh? Ship, I said, I did, Chief, And I should have called

They mustn't.

Somebody woke up with day He said, what are your nuts? Tell guys don't take a scot you know? Yeah?

Yeah, yeah, Well Chief, what was it like? Uh? In the firehouse? How did you guys like?

Where?

Where were you were? You were behind the truck that you were behind twenty six where?

Yeah, it is the way it worked. Uh, but Monday a lot of twes six would be in front, we'd be beyond Tuesday.

Was no shit.

Really, that's the way he did it and and the way it worked was if it was the first do box, both companies went. If it was second due the company was the lead company, that was your first, you go and the other guy stayed back. That's the way they worked it. That was a good system.

You have all that work in the projects too, like great dad and you always I mean, were you in the project?

I tell you we had very little work in the projects.

Yeah, you know, we get.

The incinerators once in a while. When I was in nineteen, we have a lot more of that ship on on Webstern Avenue with the projects with the incinerators that much. And we were surrounded by project buildings.

In twenty six but yeah, right, right.

We didn't We didn't have but we didn't We didn't have much of that stuff. Now we had a lot of good work, of course, but we didn't have that. So what year is this? What were you too?

You're six seventy three?

Right, Yeah, I got promoted in seventy three in lieutenant.

When did they start talking about the layoffs?

The first heard the layoffs started in the seventy five Oh okay, yeah, so I was there about two years in nineteen when the layoffs started, and that was terrible times. I mean some guys get laid off over a year. Some guys get laid off. I think my brother. But my brother lives with me. He was easy retired five musher. I think he get laid off for a day. He came on in sixty eight, my brother. But some guys

What Italian guys? Man what? It was pretty Oh yeah, they would do.

And they have all the sandwiches ship made up on the gym, a nice sized truck and they would go around to the job. There's always jobs going on. They would just go around to the jobs with food self food to the guys. You know it.

It was great.

Wow.

Yeah, see if you mentioned your son, I just let me bring this one up really quick before we get too far ahead. They wanted to share that with our audio.

Yeah that's my son, Brian.

Yeah, he got on the job right, No he was, He was not on a job.

No one of your sons. My son was on the job. Is that other picture at Memorial Day? That's it. Yeah, that's my son. He was a nineteen truck. He's out of the job. He got hurt. He got the next fusion operation and he had to get in the job at eighteen years old. He was the last class of four nine to eleven. Really, and I'll tell you, I tell you a story about that. Pete Dancy actually saved my son's life. I'm at family Day, my son's brobi class, and People's a friend of mine on him a long time.

Well?

Put him in twenty six truck. And then he said to me, you know, Dad, because when we were when I was lieutenant there, I used to bring my kids in all time. They used to ride with us all the time, putting out rubbish. Fried He is, I really like to go to the nineteen truck.

So that baby there, hot chief.

Look at that one. Yeah, well that's what I don't think.

Anything beats those sea grades back in the day.

Man, I tell you, I like I like the rear amount. Man. I'll tell you when I went to twenty six too, because we were second section. They didn't. They really didn't treat us well, didn't they get we had the worst saws? All that ship they gave us. When a new saw came out, we got the old saw.

Twenty fasters find twenty six.

Yeah, we had the fifty three America of France. That's what we drove. I mean, it rowed great and had a great timetable. Man, you could throw that ladder up lickety split, really really good. But it was an all piece of shit, you know. That's that's where we were driving around in.

How long the twenty six two stay in service?

They went out of service in seventy five?

Wow, so it was only only missed two years, you know.

Promoted? Uh yeah, yeah, yeah. I was there beginning sixty nine to seventy five, seventy three, and then seventy five they did away with them. Yeah.

Did when did you start studying? Chief? Well, you're always studying.

At started studying. I've never studied in one in twenty four for other reasons. But you know, a little bit of party in time. But when I went up to twenty six truck, believe it or not, as busy as they were. Everybody in that firehouse was studying, except the real real old timers. They weren't studying. Everybody else was studying. I guess I gotta study, you know the hell. So I ended up I ended up sudd him. But when I get the nineteen, I love that so much. I passed up two camp sets.

I was going to find your really.

Jack corpor you know Jack Cork.

Yeah, of course, yeah.

Jack. Jack was my show for nineteen for a while, and he said, you you got to take that test. You can't keep passing it up. So I ended up taking a test and getting promoted in eighty one the captain.

But how did how did you get nineteen? Were you bouncing around at all?

Like?

Yeah, I was bouncing in the sixth division. Me and Bobby Love. You know, you know the story you heard Bobby Love? No, oh Bob Love.

He was I've heard the name. I've heard the name.

Oh yeah, Bob Well, he was a Booklyn firefighter and he was in twenty six truck with me, and uh famous story. Bob comes into work one night, you know, something with the with the adult beverage, and uh there's load on and he said, yeah, you know what, he's having to make a roof rope rescue tonight. Yeah, so now we all go to bed. He went to sleep on the running board so we would miss the run. They got a job and he made a roof rope rescue.

The chief space. Looking at the chief space.

He did he did the Babe ruth he pointed out where.

True story. Yeah, Bob was something else at a position. Bob, we called him. He was deware was supposed to be.

I know guys like that, allegedly chief allegedly. I know if you guys.

Yeah, he's a great guy. Bob, Yeah, a great guy. So we were we were lieutenants in nineteen truck hether. This was fun what I'm.

Saying you had?

How did were bouncing around like you knew you were going to nineteen or side of.

The sixth division. And I was covered in eighty three and twenty nine. I was doing a couple of vacations there, and.

Uh I had to be busy then, right, I had to be rocking.

Yeah, they were all busy. Everybody everybody up there was fourteen and I mean seventeen and sixty. They were running. Everybody was busy. Forty one So, uh, I put a paper in because it was a spot gonna open Three spots are gonna open up. In nineteen truck. Two guys we're retiring, and one guy was getting promoted. So I had covered the and I knew that was happening. So I put a paper in. Bobby Loved put a paper in. And when I was at oys, this guy, Jack Bows, I got to know, so I called him up and

Oh boy, his chief, how.

Am I supposed to see that. I'm in the front seat. It's your responsibility. Don't let it happen again. So the boys cooperated and I ended up getting nineteen truck, which was which is a great spot. In fact, the first captain there was Joe Calderrero when they had the Jennings Street collapse. Uh huh famous picture in WMAF all the rubble in the middle of the building and there's a

I'm sure he got to Tony Bennett for that one.

Oh yeah, it was good. It was a good one. Yeah, good guy. So, uh he came back the duty. But they wouldn't give a night. They said nineteen. He said, nineteen is too busy for you. So he sent him a fifty two truck and happy. Joe Calber a good guy. So how about that guy Milner? Oh, Mike, Yeah, he's in the chair. I see Mike every once in a while. He goes through a lot of fire department stuff. I yeah, you know, he goes to a lot of stuff. I see him. He went over the rescue.

Fo Yeah, that's where I met him. Yeah, rescue four.

Did you have to did you have to grab by the ear chief and bring him down the hallway, like, come on.

Mike, hold off to my coat?

Three two and rescued him a four case?

That Mike was good. But you know, if I met I met that. I wanted to mention something about when I was an engine one. We had a lieutenant who had been in World War Two that something happened to us. Picky in World War Two. He had absolute preference for Yeah, but back then he got absolute preference on every test for his career. But he didn't want to go about lieutenant. He made lieutenant. He was how bad.

Everybody say that?

John Hart a good friend of mine. We are prograged together. He's a god. Rest his soul. He's gone about six years now. But he was very John was very aggressive. I was aggressive, so It was always betrue, me and him, and I won't mention the guy's name. Lieutenant. We get to the door, is the fire, obvious fire? He'd hand one of us to light, say take the light, do a good job in it. That was it.

That's as far as listen. I guess.

Maybe if you get bullet shot, maybe you get a free pass.

I don't know.

I said, when you get bullet shot at you, maybe you get a free pass.

I don't know. Maybe you take a different, different thing.

I don't know, with a bad pinky.

I should have hit that picking out, you know what I mean.

The door. You would have been cheap by now rough, I know exactly. And Chief don't ask you back then, we don't.

We don't talk about this much. Did they have matrons in the firehouse when you go, oh yeah, oh absolutely yeah.

The matrons back then were all widows firefighters, right that line of duidows. I'm someone more, I'm sure, but any any firefight died. His His wife was elger have a matron.

And she would get a stipend, right, and she would come in and make the beds and to get but I forget how much the money was. It wasn't a lot of money.

But they used to make the beds. I think mostly every day, but a lot of times we'd call up the matron at night. Don't come in, you know, so we would let them good. A lot of times they didn't come in then need the end. I don't think any of them were coming in, I think they were just getting the stipend. Right. They were all older women, you know, right, not as old as I am now, but they were all they were old.

I remember my father taking me when I was a kid and they had a mate. They were one of the last companies on the job out a matron.

Yeah, yeah, I remember about what year was at.

I'm gonna say the eighties, early eighties.

Yeah, still that matrons in the eighties. Yeah, she was the last one on the job.

I forget what her name, okay, yeah, yeah, well I brought that up.

But that was a great idea. I mean it it was good for them because it was money.

You know, what was it? What was? Uh?

What was when you first got to nineteen like, new lieutenant, how how did you feel?

How are the guys?

Like?

I was nervous? You know the first time you're a boss, you know, you're nervous, and you know this is a busy company. It all look like an asshole. So I just did my what I Loveally, do you.

Know you had to feel comfortable.

I mean, you came from twenty six over that they knew that you had some experience.

Obviously as a supervisor. You know, it was new to me. So I asked Charlie's. Bill Bodie was the chauffeur at that time, my chauffeur, and we had the yell on Third Avenue still and he used to get down Third Avenue and you know that I'm telling you, I had to change my end underwear. He was something else, Bill Bodie. But I said to him, after a couple of months, I say, Bill, what did they? How am I doing? You just keep doing what you're doing. I took that.

Yeah, yeah, that's good.

Worked out all right. Yeah, So that was a great place.

You have any memorable jobs there that you remember, any any jobs.

That you were calls? And he and he what any close calls? Oh, it was a lot of close calls. Man. I remember being in a vacant with the Captain of He was a Captain of the nine of forty four and ninety two captain of ninety two lose something. His Louis Schaeffer. Louis Shaefer, his son Jimmy Shaffer became a fireman in nineteen unfortunately killed in a motorcycle action. But look, lou and I I don't know how we ended up where both on the third floor that is vacant. There's

Here outside watching.

That much.

I know, take a shot man today.

They had a lot of projects too, right heah.

A funny story about We were in one hundred sixty six Street in the old fire house. So they built the new fireous on third Avenue, one hundred sixty seventh Street, so it's ready to be occupied. They send fifty engine. You guys, you go over there. So fifty engine goes and they take the beer machine with them. Damn it, that's bad. Beer machine's gone now. So we're in the quarters with the division. So we get a job, go back to the job. It's day to us. So it's

We say this all the time.

Like again, you know, guys say all the time, you know, you shouldn't talk about drinking, you should do this and this. But there's no doubt that with the amount of work you guys were doing, right, that the chiefs let some stuff slide, right, guys said, right, there's no doubt because he could count on you guys, no matter what I mean.

Yeah, And the thing is, you can't you can't get out of control. Once in a while, we have a guy get out of control, you'd have to step on him. But usually the you know, and most of the time you'd be drinking and you might be having a beer and you.

Have to run. Yeah.

Right, you know you're gone for an hour and a half, you know, you go back and right, Yeah, but uh, I mean I.

Didn't think that was a drinking wasn't on the regulations until the seventies, right.

Somewhere around Nothing said about it, Yeah right, yeah, they didn't mention it. And then what happened was Mike car a five engine was killed. He fell off the rig and he determined that he was drinking and he was killed. So Hagen was the chief part, and then he might have been both had the two hats on it. I don't know. So he sent down the auco Yeah two o two, so I was in twenty six two. Then so we're in the kitchen, we're having a call. One

We want to see it.

He just said I want to see it. So by a week later, working again, we all have coke cans except for one guy. So the chief comes in the same guy he was into the kitchen, Wilson and Chip. We're drinking out coachs and this one guy, Spooky, who was just a real character. He's kind of an alphol can drinking out of the alpohol can. And the chief was looking at him like the son of There was one bro that was Yeah, I mean they knew what was going on, and lors it wasn't out of control.

Right, they didn't really, Yeah, I mean guys were dead.

Some guys were death. You couldn you couldn't touch anything, right, you know, some some lieutenants.

And of course yeah, I mean now I don't think I mean, I don't know, but obviously now you could lose your job, you know what I mean, Like we're not we're not we're not condoning drinking on the job. We're just saying that this is what was going on in nineteen seventy, for God's sake, you.

Know what I mean, Like, that's fifty years ago.

Yeah, and you would and you would, you guys would do a couple of jobs tonight, you know what I mean, Like, yeah, there was.

No bunking gear or CBA just you.

Know, yeah, lous, what'd you guys had your drinks? Would you use? I saw I.

Used your old ladies underwear? All right? So you go get promoted to captain now in eighty one.

Wow, you were nineteen a long time too, chief, Huh.

Yeah, Yeah, I didn't want to leave. I'll tell you I did not want to leave.

I kept passing over the tests, buddy, you kept passing over the tests, right, you want to say, yeah.

I passed to test. It was crazy not my ass and maybe yeah. So I got voted eighty one, sent me over to Brooklyn and Frank Sellin, he was the captain of to sixteen at the time. I love you know he ended up somewhere. So even on vacation and John, I'm trying to think the damn division commander. He said, no, his damn ship. Well, anyway, they put me into sixteen and fill a vacation and Fellini gets promoted to battalion chief on he's on vacation, so they said, you got

Was?

I guess he was the chief of department. Then I'm home, get a call. My wife says, uh, there's a chief Bishop on the phone. Somebody's breaking my balls.

Yeah.

I pick up the phone. Yeah, chief Bishop, Yeah you know.

Oh yeah, oh oh oh, I have a paper here.

You put in all these trucks in Harlem. I say yes, sir. He says, would you like fourteen truck which I didn't put in for I said no, no, no, a friend of mine, A friend of mine. Denny Martin's going there. He says, Denny Martin is not going there. Do you want it? Yes or no?

Yes?

So he's okay. Click. So I call up Denny Martin.

All Denny, what happened? Yeah? What the hell's going on?

Reggie Julius was in the true Batanian you know, the Jewish brothers. Reggie they've both been both been captains over in Brooklyn. But Reggie was a Batan chief for the twelve. So Reggie and Denny for some reason, Denny was a great guy. Reggie is a great guy. They had a big blowout and Reggie told Denny, you're not coming here. So I go to fourteen Truck and now I'm working with Reggie, who was a passer. He kept saying you

Here, we got You're good. I have a picture of that. I had the picture of you.

He used to say that like every tour he was. He was a fun guy.

Is that you there on the left, that skinny guy.

I'm looking at a picture of fourteen truck right now?

Yeah?

Is that you're on the left.

Oh yeah, that's me. Yeah, that's me on the left, Bill Bruce next to me. It was like a scratch golfer Bruce. The third guy, Mike McMahon, he's God rest his soul, very good friend of mine, your best cooking the fire department, and uh that's Bruce Bruce got to see it. Next to him.

You get the little rug roun in the background.

Who that.

What? What was it like with the hundred foot towel ladder?

Yeah?

I used to bring my kid in. Fact, Reggie and I brought our kids in together. That both the kids in the bucket. But the third guy there, Mike McMahon, the guy two over for me too to my left. Two guys over. H Mike and I were carpool when I was a twenty six truck. I used to car pool Mike. He was in fourteen, so we had been friends for a long time. And then he ended up being my shauffeur, which was great. It was a great guy. And then he he could have been a chef at

Yeah?

Yeah, we got you.

Oh okay, I came back.

Yeah, what was it like driving around in that rig?

Well, you know, it was a pain, he asked, because all the buffs on Saturday, the goddamn bus would pull up two buses.

And you could get the rig out.

Buffs and they want said and they wanted to look then this whatever. I forget what we were. Yeah, it was no, it was little war was It was a little different anyway. I had his own pump.

It was an lt I right right.

Yeah, the rig had its own pump on it. So they get off the rig and they all of course, they all bring you know, donuts and ship and all that stuff. And then they would ask questions. And I remember a guy company, see me, can you tell me the RPMs on it? I'm looking at them. You got the wrong guy.

I just get on the rig, bro, That's all. I was.

How many r pms? And that I don't give you.

I don't know about the rigs man.

That was the pain, he asked for that. They all the busts are there all the time. But I mean they were nice people.

But it easy to get through the streets with it.

Yeah, yeah, it was. Yeah, even though it wasn't a tiller. Yeah, I mean the street. Yeah, I mean sometimes you have a problem. But in fact, when I when I first got the twenty six too, we had a fifty three American in the France, by the way, because I had seven years on the job. Then about Ray Brown, maybe the the tiller man, I had never driven a tiller, but he's you're the senior. I was like, for seven years, I was almost a senior guy in the company. And

I think he's a monster.

Oh that's a big I think that that's after I was there. I think, there, that's cheek.

That was a single truck.

No, no, we had the thirty five engineer and yeah, we had the trouble right on Third Avenue, right third twenty fourth, yeah.

Right, and the single engine was around the corner or something right.

Well, that was thirty six engine who was originally on Park Avenue in a in a house that was in a building that was rented by the city. They didn't own it, and fourteen truck was on the twenty fifth street and the old time fire house was the final staircase.

Yeah, which which way was most of the work when you were when you were when you went out, were you going north?

Were you going west? Like where we served.

Most of the work was going But that going to twenty six truck was first till whether the problem was more trouble would achieved.

The problem was, I see a reccurring theme here.

Third Avenue goes north, but all of most of our boxes we had to go south. So be in a former number twenty six. I didn't want twenty six truck to beat me in. So when I went out the door, I Charles Trump, right, we'll go pat you on track. We'll just get the traffic out.

Of the way, which yeah, yeah, yeah.

So there's one chief we call a toothpick. He says, you cannot go against traffic that's out. Well I don't saying. So he's working, I'm working. We get to run rapped up, he said. The mics go right, So now we're going down. We get a man down to about one hundred and fifteenth Street and here's the chief out in the moon. I got the fire were supposed to wear the boxes like on the street. We'll just stop, Mike stop. We stopped. Chief. Where's the fire? He says, are you going against? I?

It almost sounds like somebody's finger poking somebody.

I thought this, you know, I thought this hallm thing in the Bronx. You know, I thought everything was like honey Dory up there. I don't know what's happening with these chiefs over there. I don't know what's going on. I thought they were nice.

Guy.

This guy was a little different.

He was a little PONGOOLI yeah, guy.

I thought it was you go first.

No no, no, no, no, no, no, you go first.

That's not Brooklyn. Brooklyn, get the hell out.

Of I'm running ran you off the road.

Yeah, okay.

If we're getting a head on collision, I'm getting in there before you.

Oh yeah, man, that's crazy stuff. I hope they're still not doing that. I don't know, but a.

Little bit did that little little taste.

If we did that in Manhattan. If you a phrase, dude, you got it. We show him coming. We stopped.

Let them go, you know, like three blocks away.

If we saw him coming, we stopped.

Yeah, we wouldn't go.

We wouldn't go. Ahead of now.

Gonna they were fifty feet away in the world turns right in front of you.

You know about what both bridges like, squeezing into the.

Blox like this, you get out and you punch the ship.

Out of the guys.

Yeah that this old school mentality.

Roof yea, yeah, I like it. Watch How did you like being a captain chief?

I tell you, as I said, I loved every rank I was in. I mean, fireman, Firefighter was great, Lieutenant was great, Captain was great. But I'll tell you becoming a chief at the time I became a chief in eighty six, it was like dying going to heaven because no one bothered You could do whatever the hell you wanted. The deputies never bothered you at all. It was great, It was really really I really enjoyed it. I took advantage of it. I have to say I did a little traveling.

As a third battalion that you got that spot you went had a whole time. Huh uh.

Well, I actually covered five years in the division because I wanted to go to twenty six battalion. My old firehouse, nineteen truck and so I was waiting and then it opened up and they gave it to this little strip Jim Healy, he's probably listening. He had been a fireman and fifty engine and forty one engine. Great guy. But he uh, he told Van and he says, I'm going to be a deputy. I'm out of deputy, okay. So they gave him. They gave him two six times. So

Again who's Battalion three and with Chief again Battalion Yeah who.

Oh we were in ninety four forty eight Oh right, yeah, yeah yeah on hunch Point Avenue. But it was really a good with a lot of a lot of really good guys. Not a hell of a lot of work, but there was still work around. Of course, we had hunts points, we at the market, so man as far as the food goes, I think we had eight or ten refrigerators in the finals. Wow. Once a week there was just a few bulk and fill up the refrigerators. When you commit the work what you want.

Yeah.

Yeah, you just took whatever you want to it's great and put money in the Yeah.

Yeah, yeah it was, isn't it weird now now?

I well, you know, I talked to a lot of guys when I was getting I got on ninety three, I was, I had a lot of guys, went to ninety two, forty four, I had guys, went to all those you know, thirty three, seventy five, all those middle of the road, forty two engine.

Now it seems like the work is it's higher than them.

Now even them, the work is higher than them, like thirty two truck, right, the thirty two truck.

And companies that thirty.

Seven, even the numbers now.

Fifty two and fifty two, all those companies. Thirty nine truck is doing a lot of work, right, I mean.

That was a change.

Yeah, it was a camp.

Yeah, but it's it's all changed. But those, I mean, all those numbers you mentioned all good companies. I mean they did their work during the time. But I remember when I was in nineteen we had always had a contest with Bob Fowls to captain at thirty one truck and who was busy at thirty one and nineteen, so we knew Fowls always cheap with the numbers. They don't twenty thirty. Uh, but we were both really very, very busy.

The world forever, right, yeah, yeah.

And then they moved fifty nine uptown. I think they were with forty.

Right, that was the green one. That was the green machine. The eighty five.

Yeah. Well, my my brother sixty five Inns had had a green machine also.

That's right, yeah, yeah, yeah, So they moved them uptown.

I think they went him with forty three engine. I'll tell you a fort Lee story, you know, the Fort Lee, a fort Lee story. No, well, uh, working fifty nine has already lead uptown. Now they get a job. So they we get to okay, you're relocating the fifty nine engine. Okay, we get on, we get up. We're going across the crossbox and get a call ten to two back the quarters. So I said to the shuffle, well, just go across

That hasn't changed much.

Put a cup of coffee in her hands.

So I said, pull up, I said, listen, is a firehouse around here? I said, yeah, you're down about two blocks. Maker. I grew up the hill. You'll see it, says I think Steve Corbo was driving. I see, let's let's let's take it right up there.

We get up to the top of the hillerator, the drive down to this depression.

It was about ten days or huge firehouse, huge fire. So uh, we drive down. We have we have a spare rig. It looks like a piece of ship. I mean really a piece of ship. It was powerful. We were all dressed in rags. We don't know. Beautiful. I look in there's nobody. There's ship just staying. The entourage comes back about eight ten griggs. They want to run.

One better looking than they other.

Oh, beautiful, So they stopped the rig. They look him down and a couple of guys get out and they're looking down at us. So one guy walks down. He was an officer one race. He says, uh, but what are you guys doing here? He said, you had a job. So they relocated as Paul the relocated the fire. The FDNY O that they come down. We backed the rig in one of the bays there, too, took pictures, because of course they had a photographer with them, took pictures.

Yeah, so he's we said.

About a half hour we left. But it was the funny thing was Tony Alba, who was the captain of nineteen truck. Then he would have been fireming and rescue. I left you to Tony. He was the captain of one nine chuck to I think. So Tony's mother was lived in North Bronx. She was sick. So Tony used to take the rig when he was working visit his mother. So they called him city White Alba, I commit to work, and Alvia says to me, okay, what's the ship Fortley,

Bro, you just can't beat him on point.

But Mikey Millner, Mikey Milner said that it's still in It's still in the firehouse.

Of the US kid, I guess, yeah.

I mean, I'm trying to find something on it. I could trying to find it. There's no luck. I've been looking.

You talk about the picture.

Yeah, I'm trying to find something, but I only found this green truck from AFT.

I'm trying to find something that's.

My brother's company sixty five, So that's sixty it's.

Sixty five because there's sixty five, and then there is this sixty five, which is another Yeah.

I'm a picture of us in Fort Lee. It's still in the sitting room in nineteen I know that.

Yeah, that's what he was saying.

It's still there.

All right. So here's the question. Chief.

Let me ask you, if you had to pick one place that you could go back to work today and it would be the same.

Way, would you do would you be.

That's not a fair question. Answer?

Oh, well, you know, but if you're not fair, Yeah, and you're a young fuck, you're young.

Love every place I worked I'm.

Gonna give you a little inspiration.

Turn out, Martin.

I'm gonna have to say, nineteen truck, Really I had I had the most well. I had a lot of fires in nineteen truck. I had great experiences there. I still have a ton of friends from nineteen But I mean I have a ton of friends of all the all the firehouses. It's not like the others aren't good. Just something about man, I gotcha, I got you. It's tough to pick. I put you on great, great, great firehouse. So what made you want to pack it? In twenty five years? I still miss it? Very honest. Wow, what

Did you ever think you were going to do forty years? Did you ever think I never thought I.

Was going to get three courts? I tell you, I was actually free my whole time in the career. I was very very lucky. You know, everybody gets hurt in the five of them, you know I was. I was just very lucky guy. I never thought I was going to get three quarters, but but I did. What was the last question he asked?

Forty years? Ever think you were going to do?

When they put me out? I went down to see how Connley Al Connley, so Al says to me, yeah, you got to get out December thirty first. I said, no, how I want to stay into two because like, come on sixty two, because you've got to get out.

The thirty first because all your overtime.

I was in my fortieth year, but I got out December thirty.

How fast did that go? Chief? Forty years?

It went fast? And yeah, I mean it's amazing. But I'm blessed. Memories the last forever, you know, just wonderful memories. So I was very fortunate. I worked with some really great people. Well, Vinnie dam was the captain of fifty eight when I was there, Oh my, yeah, great, I mean great, great people. John o'reagan was the captain of twenty six. Ray Brown it was my lieutenant, and twitter mean, just wonderful people. I worked with, great deputies in the sixth Division. Bill Burke sec.

Ceiling was in nineteen right at that time? Was he ceiling? Yeah? Was he? I remember him. He was the captain of nineteen He came after me.

Yeah, he's the captain in nineteen.

Yeah, I worked.

I was thinking about beating him up, and I'm gonna hold off on that man. He's with the golfer. He's a great guy too.

Hey, God, they got some pictures. Show the chief some pictures?

All right, do you want? I have a lot of He has a lot of outings, So yeah, look at it. We'll get to those. We'll get to he has involved.

That means I didn't want to show you the fire.

Oh look at that who It looks looks like uh.

That's the picture Tom Kilker had in his lock up. Because Kilko is a deput in the sixth I never wore a fire gear and we go to a fire and because he was the commander, he had to wear his fire gear and you have the helmet on with the trap. And he looked at me and said, Tom, can't you put something on? It looks like you're going to a fire. Hey, Tom, do you know how silly you look? With that chin strap he was. He was another great guy. Tom, Tom kilker Man, awesome, great guy.

Let me go to I'm just gonna bring this one up here really quick.

Just yeah, I think that there's my time a day. Yeah, yeah, bring up boys from fourteen truck gave me the helmet when I got promoted.

Yeah, I also have I just found this one too. It was just sent to me.

Uh Bob, God bless hum. So you love that one man?

Yeah, all right, here we go.

I can't remember who the chief was.

I remember that's a.

Look at his face, like.

All right, so we're going to tell something about group shot. We'll start from twenty six nineteen that you have here.

Yeah, that's uh well, all the boys from twenty six Tom, Joe, Curry, Steve I came, remember last name Steve, Mike, My even ended up with. Mike was Bill Stewart's son of law. He ended up as a battalion chief, and myself. Bill Stewart was one of the senior guys in the twenty six truck. Great guy just passed away last year. I think, oh goodness, ninety five. Yeah, that's his that's his son in law. I was gonna say a ball guy. But I'm balled there also, so yeah.

It's overrated, it's over all right. We got another one for you.

And that's who it was. Oh yeah, Joe, oh shit man eighty eight engine. He was in twenty six truck and cho that's Joe Pintell, myself and Joe Dunovan twenty six truck. Then, yeah, that must have been a luncheon.

They had nice and we got another one for you a little. I tried to blow some of these up without ruling the picture when I get money in there.

That's another I forget the Battalionsi's name, he was there. It was a luncheon. And that's the guy kneeling down all the way in the left is Tim Hogan. He was the captain of fifty eight. He is a battan chief now and all the old senior guys from twenty six truck in that picture.

I think that was the same day he actually go to the firehouse and have lunch there.

Yeah, they had a big lunch for us. Yeah they sponsored. Yeah, Tim Hogan was the guy that invited us. Yeah, oh sweet, he and the captain. Oh, the guy all the way on the right kneeling he's the he was the captain of twenty six. Nice guy too. I can't remember his name. I don't know if he got promoted yet.

Good guys, All right, let's another twenty six truck reunion for you.

Look at the dust in that picture.

I was gonna say, don't fuck anybody.

Well, the guy all the way in the right sitting Joe Donovan next to him, was still with the ninety five year old just passed away. Oh bless great guy.

Yeah.

Uh Donny, Haye, did you work with Donny?

Donny had Now I didn't work with don I know don but he was the twenty six truck guy.

Yeah.

And John Henry in the back there with the purple shirt on fifty eight engine, and Dennis Callipy who just passed away right next to him. Unfortunately, the chief coops.

That doesn't want to come on. What's his name on the top left there, chief.

Top left top fluff his hate next to Haye.

You knuckle ahead.

I can't see what I said.

Yeah, I have to.

I can try to blow it up if you want. A few man, take me a couple of minutes.

And they get a ticket trick.

Yeah, it's hating the checking shirt. It's uh. He went to rescue too.

Uh Fisher there too, is there?

Yeah, I couldn't. I'm shut too. There's a lot of dust in that picture.

Chief at that picture says.

That Helmet could cough or if he could talk, sorry, it would cough. All right, is gonna love this one? Here we go boom.

He still had a good record that night.

Yeah, yeah, very nice. All right, we have a little moment here.

Yeah. That was the Legion that had a special with the Met game and I love it there sitting there.

Still you're still uh you're still participating, Chief, that's good.

Oh yeah yeah.

Uh.

They're honoring me at the Honor Legion for something I don't know what the hell I did, but I don't know what. They call it. Humanitarian Awarde, Nobel Peace Prize, something like that. Yeah, not very nice. And the Animal Society gave me the green Jacket about three years ago. That was nice. Wow at their at their Yeah, that was very.

Nice, nice, very nice.

Yeah, that's another Chief of the Department and h Timmy Corilla Colla I think it is, And that was over in Staten and Linda Thompson, who is a wonderful person. Any of you guys know Linda. She takes care of all the senior firefighters and the veterans. She does some wonderful job. And this guy Anthony's first birthday over in Staten Island run a number of those for real old timers. I think Anthony passed away.

I think this year all that I saw it in the paper.

Yeah, he's gone, yeah, wow, that's terrible. He loves to get that you line. This is ninety four and forty eight. A lot of troublemakers in this picture.

Richie Massie is there. I know Richie. Yeah, I was in once seventeen with him.

Yeah, a lot of a lot of Yeah, a lot of my golfing buddies are in there.

Golfing. All right, all right here, yeah we'll go we'll go back a little historic here.

Oh yeah, well we called it the Oys back in those days, which is the August actually trainings.

Yeah.

Now it's flipped, Mike Milner call it.

That's what I was gonna say. It sounds like a little uh, a little juicy.

Yeah. There's a lot of chops in that picture. Man looking at the chops.

Yes, anybody knows that Jack McCormick, who became a staff chief, is the fifth guy from the right. He had long red hair at that time.

Oh I see him.

Yeah, yeah, I'm just below him.

Oh I see you, Yeah, I see you.

That's crazy.

Look any different way the chops.

I like the Chops.

Only fifty two years ago.

You got a shirt and everything looks like you at home.

He's got the platform choose. Oh yeah, bell bottomed jeans.

Yeah, that's ak a picture.

That's the boys some Uh that's Eddie Garretty right next to me there.

Yeah, it's Pully Baldwin, Paul Baldwin.

Oh is that I'm all the way to the low and the left, the way to the left. Okay, yeah, I can't remember.

The guy looks familiar too. Yeah, yeah, nice.

All right, here we go. I'm gonna make Kilker happy. That picture. I was wearing fire again. This is uh my national gun out that Westhampton Beach, which I joined in seventy eight, and I ended up as the first sergeant for the last thirteen years. It was a great job. I worked for Hey, Susan Figueroa, who was a he became a full colonel, but he was a little Puerto Rican guy who lived around the corner from my firehouse on Seneca Revenue from the third Italian. Oh wow, just

Cops, all busters. Imagine that.

All busters.

That's great.

We were blessed with a couple of photos for some of our guys from the chat. Mister Tom, give us a couple extra photos. He'll share with you real quick.

That's Tom rap On that I'm talking to there, Chris King right, And I don't know. I don't know what this was. I guess it was a giant. I don't know where my helmet is. You got the code on all right?

The two bagger.

Man the little school suburban there, buddy.

Yeah, I'm trying to see what.

I have to blow it up? Wish is wish the software? Let us do it?

Is this getting bigger on your end than just don't lie?

That's getting big?

Is that taking the full screen for you, it is a full screen.

Yeah, but this is one of the full screen. Actually take a screech. No, it won't be for them, actually you actually uh yeah, it wouldn't be full screen unless you did this. But it's because we're in it. It doesn't work.

Ah ah ha.

And then the last photo we have.

Is wow, that's a nice picture.

Man again you have that on your front. Chief. Yeah, I'm not saying what you're seeing.

Hold on now, can you can you see us?

He went out, where do you go?

Okay, come back, listen to the old school health and safety tip.

While I was gone, Yeah for sure, let me get there.

All right, here we go.

The First Responder Center for Excellence is a not for profit organization dedicated to protecting the lives and livelihoods.

Of first responders.

Their education and research initiatives aim to bring greater awareness and understanding the challenges to the health, safety, and well being of firefighters, EMS personnel, and other first responders too. They are an affiliate of the National Fallen Firefighter Foundations.

All right, Tonight's the old school health and safety tip is there are many simple, no cost steps fire fighters to take to manage their risk of cancer, such as cleaning the inside liner of your helmet. Simple, you don't want the big C. So you know, clean is the new salty.

Take care of your health.

That's what I'm saying about.

Oh here he is, got jump off again that damn thing. That's all right, We got you now, Okay.

Leave it just like that, You leave it just like that, a little bit left to be okay.

Oh okay, I want to tell you a story, one story I meant to tell you about. I'm getting metal and can you hear me?

Yes, yes, right now we can don't move, you can hear me, gotcha?

Now, okay, all right. So nineteen eighty three, I'm getting the metal. So my dhorry, Hello, you're good. That was my bread.

I would get myself set up or something gone, So.

Sorry, chief, go ahead, take away, all right. So, uh so it's metal Day, so I'm gonna get a medal. And the guys had my reliversine for my family. So my sister in law who lived up to Katona, she had four kids, so I said, come on down and go to Meddle day. So she comes. She ends up at the firehouse on the third Avenue. Fourteen truck and we had a throwing apparatus in quarters. So it was the summer time, so you don't need to throwing apparatus. So I go down and take all the shit out

Stick love it.

It worked that well. It worked that well, and let's see what else. Or I did the old sneeze thing you guys familiar when you put water on your hand, you walk behind somebody and you make a seat. Yeah, like walk into the kitchen. It's a brand new lieutenant. So it was twenty guys sitting at the table. So I walk up behind him. He's got his meal. I give him the old sneeze, So I'm sorry little and.

He was.

He didn't look around, but everybody's staring at her at the table and he doesn't know if he should eat. Is so that that trick was still working. Has an old trick, but no German. Uh. My grandfather was a Battanian chief on a job, but he died in nineteen twenty six. He worked and I mentioned anybody, I don't know.

What we're looking at right now?

His nose.

Oh there we go.

Yeah.

So he worked in I think it was the four to two or the four to three battalions. He died in nineteen twenty six, So there is a little history going back. Uh. I was I was a I was at twenty six trucks annual dinner dance, and I don't know where how we had it, and the phone rings and the and the guy was always say, were looking for a Lieutenant Martin, Yeah, that's me and Lieutenant scold Franks Scoldin, Yeah, we're both dear. Well you want on

At a chief, a good friend of mine, uh asked me to ask you that he made a mistake.

He called your house one time. He was looking for a different Tommy Martin.

I'm going to get that better, remember, because I was trying to go back and find it about Eddie.

Yeah, yeah, I played golf with Yeah.

Make a little bit, little squirrel.

Funny story said he was cursing your wife out my.

Wife when I committed. I was covered in the in the fourteenth Battalion, and I commit the work next day and he comes always, Oh gee, dog, I'm so sorry. I just started laughing. I thought it was funny as well. But uh, my wife, my wife did didn't bother how much stuff funny?

She took trooper, she was a trooper.

She a trooper. If there's any other story, how much time we got we got twenty minutes about it.

Yeah.

Well, well I want to mention a few people. Let's see, I mentioned Owen's the band. Oh the band ninety four and forty eight with JP had a famous band that they would play in the back room and uh wow the band that's your hat, and of course we had. Yeah, Alvin has to be mentioned because what he did in training is just incredible. I mean, the ten years he was there turned that thing around. I mean it's it's an example very fire department in the country. Just a wonderful,

I think.

Yes, it was fun in eighty five juries nineteen. And the other thing was, uh, I wanted to thank Mickey Conboy, who's the president of the U of the of the oh god, my brain of the honor allegian. Uh. He called me last week and as they said, they're gonna they're gonna honor me on October first. I thought that was very nice that he did that. Awesome.

Yeah you go go, bradiest of all time.

Yeah, it's been it's been a good run. I have to say that a good bun.

How old are you know, Chief, uh seventy one?

Oh no, eighty five?

I was quick.

Guy's got jokes, got jokes, jokes, dream at the consistent dream I have all ben Yeah, but very happy man. I have a significant Yeah.

Yeah, he's trying to listen to it.

I think that's why he keeps putting it by.

Yeah.

And there's a lot of firemen in that family. Our sister's married to uh our sister, and he's married to uh Jay Patton, who was the finement over in Brooklyn. I don't like to say that, but.

Brooklyn.

I don't know when he comes back, it might be the time.

Yeah, I think something, Chief, and all three of us went in the Navy and none of us ever got shot at. We were in between the wars.

Luck.

Yeah, we're gonna do We're gonna do the old school tip of the day now because we're losing you a little bit, so we're just gonna do the the old school tips.

Will just stand by for a second, all right.

Okay, I'm getting log and plugging in.

Okay, go ahead, yeah, plugging star, It's time for the wait. The os of good.

Cheap.

I'm going to bring you in real cloak boom take it away.

Well, for me, I think the most important thing in the job today is the training. Uh you know, as I said, Galvin set it up and it's they have a great system over there, and there's so many different things that you can you can learn. Every day you can learn something new. I think it's very important the training that they stay with it. I mean it's it's still busy, they're still doing a lot of work, which is the best training you can get. But uh, to me,

Boys, excellent, Thank.

You for sharing a very real stories with us. I love it.

Pleasure it was.

It was fun telling those stories.

Anybody in trouble, no, no, no one one quick question, most shift or most tour with the most runs?

How much? What was the most tung you had on the tour? Do you remember?

Well? Yeah, twenty sixth tour we had over thirty one night.

I know that.

Wow, Oh god, okay, I mean we had a lot. There was a lot of bullshit, but we've always had a couple of jobs.

You know, back in the day it was several a day, wasn't it on an average of what three to six d.

My first tour that I ever had was a.

No boy.

Okay, on Christmas Eve, we had a fifth alarm, top floor lost the whole roof. It was about ten degrees out freezing. I ra asked off, we're there all night. So now it's like seven thirty in the morning. And his chief who just he just be leaving another chief, So he's just getting to the fire fires out, you know, we were keeping a little bit of fire going in the corner to stay warm. And he comes up. He says, a lieutenant, aren't you and your man up on the roof forgetting it?

Chief?

We're done? No, no, no, you start I want as a chief. We're not doing any more work. We're waiting for the day. Tour to me made you turny went down. So now we get relieved. I go home, spend some time with the family. It's Christmas day, go back to the fire house. We're still at the job. Back to the back to the job, freezing our balls off again that night. It was a terrible, terrible tool, just one of those things. Nobody got hurt, which was good, but that was like a typical top floor job boy you

Nothing. Yeah, we have anything. You muted your knuckle bird?

Were I get any money for this?

By the way, check.

Checks in the mail.

Uh George Heary, the president of the Five Chiefs Association, and Rocco Rinaldi and uh yeah, I'm I'm I'm the second vice president, so I'm still active with that. But we just want to say thanks to all those guys, Isa and uh, Charlie Clark, all those.

Guys trying to get Rocco to come on the show. Give them a little nudge.

Well. Sad thing is we had the col founding Monday fights us col Founding which Rocco runs the Big Raffle. His mother died that day. A right. I was at the way because I'm going to the funeral tomorrow morning. She was ninety six, So I'll sign up.

For sign the papers. We'll sign the papers for that to me too. Yeah.

The only thing is is only fifteen years away. That's what scares me.

Gods any shout outs.

But no, no.

I mentioned my niece earlier. I want to give a little shotow. She's been good to me, but we have to do something with her. And fireman and alcohol you know how you.

Know cute coontenders too. They love it. Yeah, I want to I mentioned. I mentioned my brother jim Man. My brother Bob mart was a five usher started and one thirty two truck and sixty eight great guy.

I just wanted to mention him. Sure, sure, yes, thank you kept it real.

I enjoy I hope everybody enjoyed it. I talk with you guys telling the stories.

Yeah, and I get of invitation next year for the boat trip.

Second week in August. We take out a boat with all the guests.

As we said to all the guys, wait, wait is it is?

It? Is it free?

Yes, it is.

I'll be the right words for me, for me, baby, I'll pick I'll pick you up, chief, no problem.

You don't even have to drive.

All right, All right, guys, we will see you next Thursday. You have another fdi ony guy on join us. Until then. You know what I say, rough, what do I say? Stay long and go?

Oh there you go, guys, we'll see it the big one. Everybody. Thank you very much. Yeah, thank you so much.

Remember we're rolling heavy in South Florida. Stay salty, everybody,