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 Load Darren van E. I shadowed them out, he said,
good morning. So I'm like, where the fuck is this guy from Darren
van Morning? Look aback, Get Salty Experience podcast, the one that brings
the fire outs, gets your table to you even Roofie with a flashlight because
he has no power. But that's the kind of guy he is. Bro,
He's he's he's dedicated, his dedicated guy. He's got his phone and
the flashlight and the light is just shining on those drapes. It makes him
look even more beautiful. I got no every every gods every morning I called
it. Picks up the phone. I'm like, I'm just glad you picked
up today, little buddy. Welcome back to the greatest podcast first respond to
podcast ever featuring Gowns with the Good Hair, No Power coming coming to you
live from the dungeon, coming to you live. He's got no you got
no heat either. Nothing. I just pulled out the generator. Tom,
I just I said, I told my wife, what do you think you
know? Usually I don't wait, I don't. I don't stop pulling out
the thing until then I'm like, she's like blue and she's shivering. Then
you pull it out. Well, it's like, well the fire is going,
you know, the fires going. But the man that would be out
about an hour and a half. But then she called her cousin up the
road, and cousin said that there's a transformer out, and the guy said
that it's probably gonna be a while. So then I started calling out the
generator. I started it up. It was running great. Get cocked out.
I checked the gas. It looked a little shitty. I changed the
gas. Now I can't get it started against. Oh my goodness, that's
not like you, bro. I know, I'm not happy you're slacking.
Yeah, I usually you're on top of ship like that. And uh so
my wife just said to me, oh, I don't want I don't want
to repeat what you It must be the heart, don't you know? You
got to say it don't stress me now, I got that. Don't don't
get any take it easy. I could go, oh god, that's scary.
That's scary. See right right up his nose nostrils. Man, if
you're in the cave there just about Oh, you got a lord charge from
the left coast today. Bro, this guy looks like a tough guy and
he brought like a hard charge and he kills and he kills stuff, which
Louis likes. Both of you guys like this guy. This guy working out.
Where do you get this guy from Sarah Goose, oh Tony Sarah Ghost
to gaming? Yeah matteract. He said, this would be the only guy
who's gonna recommend me. Really, this guy is the guys. And by
the pictures he showed me, he's got some uh crazy he was only in
the rescue for twenty two years. That's all just a couple I want to
he supposedly got trapped right. Oh, that's that's early on. You know,
he had a couple of pictures that had in the back of my neck
was standing up, was like, oh, look at this scary video to
the video and you know, it sounds a little bit like hole cold and
if you close your eyes when he hey brother, brother, Pip dodge brother
and I hoisted tie over my head. Brother, give me give me again.
Let me tell you something on top of the game today. All you
okay, you're frozen for a second there. Let's get to the commercials.
Yeah. And I love to call him chief. I gotta call him Tony,
Tony blog blog. Here we go. Listen to our boy, Vince
called Tony. Give me the blooney. That's what I'm not gonna fall for.
The banana, the tailpipe. You're not alright. Here we go.
We gotta hump Armor to firehouse flooring was recently installed in Station number seven,
the newest of the Cab County fire stations in Decatur, Georgia. Meeting Deputy
Chief Smith of Supports Services, Vince explained that Armour tough interlocking flooring is the
only floor that is tough enough to withstand the abuse of fire apparatus along with
fire personnel at a very busy station. Chief Smith explained the flooring in all
of our stations over the years gave us multiple problems. We need a floor
that can last as long as the walls and the roof. That's why we
chose Armour. Tough. The installation team came from New Jersey and in three
days they had completed their work without any disruption to our daily operations. We
were very impressed with not only the product, but with the workmanship as well.
I highly recommend Armour Tough for your station's floor. Calvin's Today for a
no obligation. Quote at nine oh eight nine one seven seven six nine seven
coll Vin's for a floor. But don't ask them to take you off a
dinner because you got out here around I roof, you did it a little
long time. We're gonna get him. We're gonna get him in India though
paid last time, didn't pay last time? Yeah, but I wasn't there
paid. And then I got into an argument with at the tables. Right,
there's a little tightly when we got guns tonight. That's it. That's
it because you have your normal two on Thursday. Brother, at least that's
what you told me, all right, So roough with your flashlight? Do
you think bring him in here the whole Colgan on the West Coast? Are
you ready? Guns ump suck? Yeah, bro, I hope I pronounced
his last name right. Coming to the stage, Beka Chee Chief Tony Smurdell.
There you go. Let me wait, well, let me tell you.
Did you do that for me? Let me see how it goes.
Let me tell you you can do it. Got the pipe of the twenty
four pythons. Alright, let's let's get patriotic before we get too far and
getting silly with ourselves. 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 that.
That's kind of world. Yeah, Louis doesn't have power. Still the best
country in the world. All right, let's go back. We gotta go
back pretty far. This guy got on back in the seventies, before most
of you young Whipp's snappers were even born. I can tell you that not
that Gods, of course, he's an old man. But uh, I
would ask you how you got interested in the fire show, but the business.
But you told the story that your dad was a Hart Charger, Right,
he got on a nineteen sixty fourth. So let's go back. Let's
turn back the clock to the early days of Tony Smurdell. Where'd you grow
up? We know your dad got you involved, But give us your first
take on. Yeah. No, I grew up in San Francisco, and
it was really excited growing up in the sixties and seventies in the city.
You know, my mom would bring us down to the firehouse to visit Dad
down there. She bring all the neighborhood kids down there, and he cooked
lunch for us, hot dogs and beanies and weenies and ice cream, and
all the kids in the neighborhood looked up to my dad. My dad was
big Terry, my little brother was little Terry. But it's pretty interesting growing
up and getting the firehouse life. So I got a big taste of it
from from early on, and I just knew that's where I wanted to be
man having fun and fighting fires man. I know from the Jump Street.
Then I did. I did, And it was very love firehouse right everything
about it. And it was very lucky to get an apartment back in the
seventies and eighty because there'd be like six seven, eight thousand people testing to
get in for a couple hundred jobs. So how big is that the pub
there's about two thousand people. There's about three hundred on duty every day right
now. I've been out for twelve years, so things have changed a little
bit with the medics coming in everything. But yeah, they still use wooden
ladders there, still use wooden ladder. That's why I wore the shirts and
I feel, oh, let's see that iron men and wooden ladders. Baby,
oh that's right there, fella. Yeah, you got the fifty foot
three hundred and sixty five foot fifty foot ladder and the thirty five Oh they're
all woods. You know, engines got the aluminiums on them. But bussy
oh waesome, I mean yeah, so it was really cool, you know,
growing up as kids. And then we used to go to summer picnics
at the firehouse and and you know, talk a little bit about the guys
that I worked with younger, but we've turned out that we were at the
same picnics together because our parents are ads all worked in the fire department.
I told you when I first got the station seven, there were six of
us that were unassigned kids there, and five out of those six were fireman's
kids. Wow, and sitting down around talking bullshit in one night, remember
that you were there? Yeah, I was there, were you there?
It's like and it's a small degree of separation in San Francisco. Man,
you know, you tell I'm from San France, I'm from San Francisco where,
well, actually I'm from the East Bay, or you don't know I'm
from now if you're from the city, it's a small degree of separation.
The first question anybody asked, what high school did you go to? From
the high school? You got the three Catholic schools and the public schools,
and Tuesday that what high school? What year? And then it's off to
the race. You know that guy his sister, I married a sister of
blah blah blah, and on and on and on. Yeah, so it's
pretty guns pulled up few pictures of his dad's don Man, Well, did
your father push you towards that or that you just you were already there?
No, no, no, My dad had thirteen years in when he died.
He died in nineteen seveneven that was two years before I came in.
But he was a tough guy. Me and my brother, we were powerlifters.
We powerlifted for years. And one afternoon, hey, dad, once
you come down to the gym and work out with this. He's got a
cocktail and one hand and a mall bro and the other goes hee you an
f you your little punks, I'll drag you down a smoky hallway and you'll
puke your guts out and die rotten. And we look at a shut up
old man. Had no idea what he was talking about until I got in
and worked with the men that my dad worked with, and then I realized
what he's saying about puking your guts out in a hallway because I got to
work with a lot of guys that my dad worked with, so it was
pretty cool. That was cool. So you take the test? What you
take the test? I took the test probably in nineteen seventy seven, seventy
six, so he knew you took the test. He knew that was the
direction you were going in. I did. I did well. You know
when I ran the family business when my dad in seventy seven we took over
to the family business. I always wanted to be fire. I took the
test, but that didn't come to fruition until seventy nine when I got hired.
What was the family business? Like? Were you collecting? What are
you doing? It was eggs bro, not that exciting eggs My dad was
the eggman, so he he would take he would have trucks come up from
the valley bring eggs and he sold them all. He had clients throughout San
Francisco and what not. Like the old days, they didn't make a lot
of money. Fireman did not. A lot of guys had second jobs,
hobby job, just to make ends. Me. You know, mom didn't
work. We had three kids, so most firemen had jobs to make ends.
Me. My dad was an eggman, so when he passed in seventy
seven, me and my brother took over and ran the family business for a
number of years after that. But I hit the lotto, dude in seventy
nine, man June, And you know, I tell these young kids,
I go bro Getting into the fire service is better than winning the lotto.
Yeah, people who win the lot of and in a couple of years they're
broke, divorced and disarray. You know. In the fire service, Holy
shit, man, they pay you for thirty years. If you're lucky.
A lot of our brothers are not. They'll pay you another thirty years.
But beyond that, man, you you the best of friends, the best
friends you'll have. And I got lifelong friends for forty years that I started
day one within the fire department. So it's it's it's truly a blessing.
Yeah. I mean I think about it now and how excited they is to
think about when it was time to go back to work, and like,
holy shit, I can't leave to go to work. Man. One of
the job is like that. There is no other job like that. You
know, when we started, we had four days, you know, you
had three days off, four days off. The guys at stationed two in
my first house loved me because I was working trades, because I didn't want
to be away from the firehouse. You know, I didn't want to miss
any fires or or or or any the fund, the for volity, the
stupidness of the firehouse. Again. Yeah, and it's like, you know,
I tell you, I tell you know what, is there any union
guys? There's probably some union guys out there. So a cover year ears
for a second, but I tell him, Hey, if the city came
and said we're out of money, we can only pay you half your wage,
I would still go to work every day at half my wage. And
then and then if they came back and said, hey, we're really out
of money, we can't even pay you. I would super free, bro
is. I would probably pay every day to get on that goddamn fire engine
and go to the firehouse every day. That's how much I love my job.
Man, it was great. I used to pay forty bucks to go
to work every day forgot that was right, Yeah, oh yes, and
tolls. Yeah, that was the entertainment text. I used to say.
You can't write this stuff, man, it's just crazy, crazy stuff.
Yeah. I mean we have a little niche he So everybody who watches the
show knows what that is. But people outside of our bubble, they really
sees in the supermarket, you know this sees going to fires or whatever.
They have no clues what it's like to be in that firehouse with these guys.
Man, so much fun. But when that bell hits, man ship
turns around. Yeah yeah it's on. But you know what, after the
job, you go right back to the same thing, man, And that's
the fascinating popper. You go right back to break with each other's bulls,
you know, getting on this guy, getting on that guy. And when
a business man, that guy you're trusting that guy that I trust you.
It's it's serious, is you know a heart attack, bro, And you
come back from real stupid, really glory stuff whatever, and you're right back
there having dinner talking people. How did you do that? The guy said,
was just exploding pretty good? Yeah, yeah, passing other people.
Yeah, that looks like his eye didn't that look like his eyes alight?
Don't mention heart attack? All right? Please? Sorry, roughly, I'm
sorry, bro, Okay, don't get to it excited, Keep it down,
keep it down, keep it back, deep press, deep bass,
talking to my guy all wrong? You get called in seventy nine? How
long is Proby school or the academy? There? Academy was like ruling six
weeks. It was six weeks, six weeks of training and then a week
of driving and then they sent you on your way. You know, you
got two prob houses. And just to back up for a second, when
my dad passed, you know, Tony Sako, who was a vice president
of union, he arranged it so I got my dad's badge, and I
wore my dad's baths as a firefighter. And when my brother came in,
I gave it to him, so he wore my dad's bats my dad's badge
also, but I also wore turnouts. Every day. I wore his helmet
and I still had it hanging up. I got newspaper stuffed in the lining.
You know. I wore no, it's over here, that's anod N.
You know, six when I got my dad. So it's beat up,
dude. I mean it's all rotted out. It's just all totally beat
up. But I wore it every day untill I got promoted to the tiny
chief job and in his turnouts, you know. But it was six weeks
of training and then you go to your pro b house and that's where you
really learned. I mean in the school, they touch had a coupleans together,
and how to lift the ladder and tie whatever. When you got out
in the field, it's it's the men that were there as your officers back
then, and they were like men of fire man. I'm so so blessed
work with so many great firefighters who are mentors to me and and helped me
along with my career. So you can have a lot of like Vietnam guys
there or Korean War guys consider you know, not so much because you know,
they stopped the draft. I think in seventy two or seventy three.
I graduated in seventy four. You know, my dad marched me down when
I turned eighteen. Man, he stopped in front of mccallis street. Walk
upstairs, kid, you're you're signing up for the draft, just like that.
Man. So I didn't. There wasn't There wasn't a whole lot.
When I came in Vietnam, vets for sure. In the job Korean where
that was in Korea, Korean and I worked at some pretty badass World War
two bets, and there was asking that, yeah, those guys pretty impressive.
That nothing face right, nothing, relax, kid, we got its
right. What's that broa those guys? Yeah exactly, Oh no, no,
no, yeah, so that's pretty good. So you do a six
weeks of training, you know, get out of there. Luckily it was
pretty funny, is one of my training officers, and they're pretty strict.
You know. Okay, boys, is how we did. Then the night
after it's like, wow, let's go kids. Tony Stefani, who wound
up being that Captain of Rescue one, he pulls me aside and goes,
kid, your dad broke me in. Your dad showed me how to be
a firefighter. He was approbe at my dad's house. So it's kind of
like passing it on a little bit. Y very very excited about that.
How many how many guys were in your class? We started with thirty two
and we wound up with twenty eight of us graduated. Yeah. Yeah.
So then after that you get split up and you get assigned to either a
truck or an engine for six months. So my first assignment was truck two
in Chinatown. And I told you guys earlier, I worked Watched for Watch
with six pack Jack Conway, and he named Deserbedly and he was a driver,
you know. I learned to drive the back of that steer, the
back of that tiller box in Chinatown, man. And there was you know,
red light, so let's see how that go. Green light means go,
orange light means go fast, and red light means run really fast.
There was no assemblings. People were all over those streets. I mean narrow,
narrow streets and ladders strength. I'm not a truckman, I'll see this
right now. I mean a lot of truckies out there. I very very
limited experience on truck. My proby house and during my two years floating around
before I went to Station seven, you know, I spent a little bit
of time my truck won a little bit of truck. Truck thirteen was in
the financials, so they don't throw any ladders. There's just small, big
buildings there. So I've never really really been a fan of truck work.
I mean I just kind of you and the rescue for twenty two years engine
for sure, and then I'll tell you how I got to that rescue squad.
Just happens stance, for sure. So I did rough roofy happenstance that
you Okay, I was gonna stay. How did how did you get the
two truck? Once you get the two truck? How did I get the
two truck? Was it a busy house? House? It's a great house.
Yeah. They were gonna send me in a fifteen truck, they all
did. And the officers know that kid. He'll fit in the station too.
That's like there's like this, that's Terry Smurdell's kids. Send them over
to send me the two trucks live. Yeah. So I did my six
months there and no big fires. You know. A couple of my thoughts
going to Chinatown, you know, tightly packed lots of wood buildings that'd be
burnt nothing six and those Asians don't burn that ship down that that Uh,
everybody's awake, you know. When they do well, they try to put
it out themselves because when they do, it's usually a riper. Yeah when
they do yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. So then I finished up at
two and they sent me to station forty three in Crocker Amazon And that's kind
of where I hung out, Crocker Amazon Park, and I was telling telling
cubes earlier. The firehouse is right across the street from the park with the
stands where we used to go over there and participate in libations as kids,
drinking beers or whatever. So I felt like I was right back at home.
And sure enough, there's still kids drinking in those stands, you know.
So I went back to the neighborhood worked at forty three engine for six
months. George, Uh, well, jeez, I'm drawing a blank on.
I was gonna do my captain's name, horrible, terrible chief. You
are can't believe it'll come to, It'll come to. It'll kiell me tonight.
I'll call you guys back later. George. George NEA's great man athlete,
a gymnast, you know. But I went through all my engine stuff
with him. Never caught a fire there at forty three in my next four
months there until I got detailed out to one of the slowest houses in the
city at three o'clock in the morning, got a rip in third alarm.
First doing on a third alarm on San Fernando Way. I'm going, wow,
this is it, man, Yeah, get the line out, go
up to the front door, trying to shove that front door and opens up
and there's a lady laying there and she's burnt really bad. So we pull
her out and the lieutenant goes work on her. You're an empt or,
work on her. I missed the whole goddamn fire. I'm doing CPR thing
with this lady right here. When I missed the whole goddamn fire. My
first I just watched it all so and he won't giving a mouth to mouth?
Will you out the mouth? Yeah? Yeah, this is back.
I did a couple of times, did mount the mouth man. I'll tell
you. I'll tell you a story later on about al capy. Damma.
I felt very, very obligated to do Mountain Mouth because should have jump out
of the third floor window instead of trying to save his life. So anyway,
I finished up at forty three. Was great working with great guys out
there, and then you started your tour. You know that you're unassigned,
and they they moving around from station to station where they need it. So
I spent a little bit of time at truck one. Like I said,
I wasn't a truckman, a little bit of time at truck thirteen. I
went to station twenty five for a little bit, Station thirty eight up on
California to where the rescue squad was, So that's about my four house.
How many rescues do they have? There's two rescues. Rescue squad one which
used to be on California Street above the Marina. I was there the night
of the I wasn't working that day, but I went up to night at
the little Maprieta so there on top. And then they moved back to station
seven where I got to go back home, and and the other one rescue
one downtown they were in the alley the Alley Cats. Then they moved to
Third Street. But there was always that competition between the squads man always and
when I when I was a cap, lucky enough to be the captain of
the squad for a number of years. One of my best buddies, Pat
Garner, was the captain of Rescue one, and we grew up together.
We paid pal football together. We're six years old in the neighborhood. So
we always had had this labor. I came in maybe a year or two
ahead of him, so he made lieutenant, lieutenant, captain, captain chief
chief. So we're falling each other. Did we'd have fist fights in the
hallways. Yeah, So two squads in the city was pretty much. How
do they ride, chief? How do the engines of the truck riding with
the manpower? How many guys have engines? Who were one in three?
So one officer with three men, and then the trucks were one and they
used to be one and five and now they're one and four and the and
the squads are one officer and your three firefighters on there. Yeah, and
back back in the old days before before nineteenth ninety eight, the rescue squads
just got dispatched in their first alarm area. So everybody's got their little districts
right here. So if the fires in Rescue ones district or Rescue two's district,
they would go and The only time they went outside of their district was
one if there were special calls for something by a chief or when they struck
a second alarm, and then we went and yeah, two rescues on the
box on the side. Long. No, no, just outside your area,
outside your although it's a fine line. Once we moved back to station
seven in the in the mission district, there'd be a number of times when
both squads would show up and the chief would just shake his head, you
know, all right, go to work, boys, you know. But
prior to that, because I did a little short I'd get ahead of myself
maybe a little bit, but I did a stint in special ops, and
that's we started really putting training on for the firefighters and the squads. No,
when I went to the squad in eighty five, there was no training.
You know. They were all firemen. They put fires out, you
know, And now would they operate as a truck and engine? What would
they how would they operate the rescue? Can rescue bro at a fire?
They just go in. Their job was going and search and rescue. And
the old back then, dude, you couldn't get a line because these guys
that we ran with at thirty eight where I was the rescue two was you
know you're running with forty one engine, three engine, five engine. These
guys were all tough, dude, and you got a line, they ain't
giving it up. Yeah, you know that's there. Today it's a little
bit different, you know. Would you like to tell Yeah, I'll take
that from me. So you go, you go for after you I must,
I will, yeah. But part of that we just stayed in our
little bubble. Right, there's special call. So when I had this gig
at Special Ops, I go, you know what, we got to get
out the bubble man. So I started petitioning the chiefs. Let us go
on all the boxes and there, no, we need to have you guys
in the service. So I said, how about this. Let's try a
little see if this works. So we split. They call the cards.
Everybody knows where they're going. You've got a big box of a big drawer
full of all box cards. Every corner has a street box and it's got
numbers on them. So anyway, I said, how about this. If
a box comes in an engine seven is do first rescue Squad two goes with
them and it's a report of fire. They go code too, and then
if smoke showing or or it's a working fire, then they could pick it
up. So that was pretty cool. Then rescue won the same thing.
If a boss comes in, they go code too. What its CO two?
Not lights and sirens not lights because the chiefs were worried, you know
the squad, Well, that lasted about thirteen minutes, bro, and it
was code for me the whole The rest of the time it was on.
Yeah. So after that, after ninety eight, the squads went to everything.
So we split the city and half we were doing like one hundred and
seventy five eighty ninety working fires from rescue to a year, man, because
we had the whole half of the city and that's one of the two days
more. Yeah, it was. It was pretty good, man. We
got a lot of fires. Yeah. Yeah, well you get that,
but we're a little ahead of ourselves. Yeah, man, I'm just rambling,
bro, that's fine. Where do you eat, like Roofie, we
heard this, I think we heard this guy have the copy. You have
to bid spots, right, yeah, how much time you have with something?
Every year, they have a vacancy list, so everybody would put in
for the spots that they want to make you know, and there's some good
houses, maybe some not so desirable houses. But if the captain of the
house like your crew. And there were six of us at Station seven and
the captains buried us, they moved us at seven between the engine, the
truck and the host tender. So I had six years in the job before
I made a permanent assignment. So they would move you around. But the
caveat was if you were the highest guy. Once all the assignments got put
out, and you were the highest guys unassigned that didn't make a house,
they sent you out to Boonville. Man, you had to go west of
the people. Why is that? Like you have the most time, and
because you don't get a spot, they're gonna send you off to They send
you to camm Center. Me and Mike Murphy, another Chiefs kid, we
went to forty engine, which ran like one two calls a day, and
we're running, you know, twenty plus calls a day in the engine and
the truck down there. So a lot of guys cried. They told you,
guys really cried and complained about, oh man, this is bullshit.
I don't want to here. So and we're calculating, dude, fire me.
You know, we got a lot of time on our hands in the
firehouse for a Cakay. This guy's here, this guy's here, this guy's
here. So I figured I'm good. I'm going to stay another year at
Station seven. This comes out, I'm going to forty Engine. I go,
that can't be. That's not right. So check it. Well,
there was a kid ahead of me who should have gone to forty engine.
But he's a paramedic and he was at Rescue one, Station one, Rescue
one, and you know he's a ParaMed so they kept him down there and
and I guess because he was a medic, but also to oh yeah,
Mike Sullivan was his uncle and he was a captain of the engine. So
they buried him. So I went to forty. So rather than fight it,
I signed up for John Adams EMT School. I got an empt certificate,
finished that up in four months. I made an appointment to go down
and see the deputy Charles Cressey. Didn't know who he was. Walked in.
I got my class ason looking good, Chief, I have a seat
there. What could I do for you? I go, you know,
I want to get out of forty engine. You know, you got Bobby
Xes down and rescue one right then he should be there because he's a paramedic.
And you know at that time the the squads will run a lot of
medical calls, going yeah, yeah, what do you want? Yeah,
well, here's my AMT certificate and I'd really like to go back to station
seven, please, And he looks at me a little bit and he goes,
yeah, okay. He takes in his sound to the side. I'll
get back to you. And so I stand up and I give him a
salute ad buy sir, And he puts his hand out to him and he
grabs my hand. I shake his hand. He goes, I loved your
dad. Your dad was one of the best firemen I ever worked, But
he was the latest. Two weeks later, I was at rescue two.
There you go, squad. Yeah. And one of the funny things when
I first made the rescue squad is after the fire was out, the squads
were going home. There was no overhauling, no clean up. There you
rapp is, they're packing hose nothing, bro I mean that changed over the
years, man, we started sticking around. But when I first did that,
what do you mean we're leaving, We're out of here. Yeah,
so that's how. That's how I got to the rescue squad in nineteen eighty
five, and then the next year at eighty six, I made the spot
as a firefighter at the rescue too. So that's it. Yeah, what
did you say you hit? You hit the lot of right there, Bro,
Well, you hit the lot of when you got on the jump,
but hit the lotto then, and then I hit a lot of going to
the squad and then I tested pot the lieutenant and I did my six month
little tour thing there as a lieutenant, and then got back to the rescue
squad as lieutenant four years later. I pointed to the captain, just spot
opened up and I came back. So it was just stars, moons were
all. So wow, before before you get too far, we talk about
the job. But you only had a short time on when he almost bro
Yeah, yeah, So what's that man? You see? That's Brian Leon.
He's a forty one engine falling out of the third floor right there.
I was a young kid. I had the night watch at Station thirty eight
Rescue to squat you was thirty eight, and I never slept when I had
the night watch. I stayed up and did stuff and uh, the chiefs
operator, Jimmy Cook, he was keeping me company. And at three o'clock
in the morning stand by for the box box three two one two poured it
out just Larkin Street and three engine shows and he goes, that's a bad
box. And we're up there. All of a sudden working fire, second
alarm, bam, the lights go on. So we go as the engine
goes, and then the squad went down there. We pulled up the thing.
It was five or six stories fire from top to bottom. Remember going
in the elevator shaft is one of those old ones with a you and the
engine of the truck chief. I was on the engine, I was on
the fire. I was on. We made a lead in there and it
was like a blow torch all the way up the elevator shaft. The lightwells
were just lit up. I mean every floor had fire, and I'm going,
yeah, so we're in there. We did two or three We did
two or three bottle exchanges and you know, fifth all on fire. There's
shit everywhere. The service squad that fills your bottle well the third, second
or third bottle change, I lost my crew. I didn't know where they
was, so I got a fresh bottle. No, I got it,
I'm going back in. So I go back in and this was like a
totally free burning fire man. It was everywhere. I'm making my way back
to the third floor and there's a crew working on the third floor. It's
forty one inchined. Jimmy Lynch was the boss. Captain lynchd lieutenant the time,
Brian Leong and I don't recall who last kid is. So I hook
up with them. Yeah yeah, So I'm on the back and we're going
and bushing doors in ding ding ding ding ding. The bell goes off again,
so I tap them on my shoulder, which was totally wrong to do.
I left my crew, you know, totally inexperienced, stupid. I'm
going to go down and change my bottle. I'll be right back. So
I go from the third floor and big round stairways. I went from the
third floor to the second floor. It was a freaking gates of hell.
Bro there was no second floor, just fire. So I go back up
and I'm pounding Jim Lynch on his back because yeah, yeah, yeah,
all of a sudden it got black. It went right down to the ground.
So we're in this long haul. When I knew that the windows were
down the end of the hallway, my bell was ringing ding ding, and
those old two a's, the lower they got, the slower, the bell
went ding ding ding ding ding, And I'm almost and they're backing out.
I'm backing out with them and I and all of a sudden, I take
my last breath, sucking face. Just as I get to the window,
I bust the window and I get out on the little fire escape. Oh
yeah, I made it cool. And then I put a ladder up and
get me and uh, the second floor blew out and I was like on
a habachi man. I just had to go back inside. Was getting cooked
on the fire escape. I went back in. They were at the third
floor window. Lynch. They were getting lynch out of the out of the
window, know, and I can't breathe. I got my nose is on
the on the dirty rug in there, and I'm just looking and dying.
And then and then my dad's helmet fell off, and I prized my dad's
helmet so much. My dad's helmet fell up, and I remember saying to
myself, smurdell, don't lose your dad's helmet. And I went to reach
it and I go, fuck the helmet, dude, You're gonna die.
And I went to sleep. I went to sleep, out out, I
went to sleep. If I never woke up, it was easy, man.
I was out. And so they pulled They pulled Lynch out. Brian
Leeong he saw him coming down backwards, flying out of the third floor of
the scot Did he get hurt, Yeah, he got hurt. Five Mosen
went to the hall. I spent ten days in smoking elation in the hospital.
They send him back up. They say, hey, Smurdell is still
on there. There's somebody on that third floor. So three guys went up
on that lad. If you fish back to that picture, who was that
Dave Haberlin. Dave haber is the guy in the top, Captain Haberlin who
retired as a division chief. The guy in the middle is Ted corporand he
was on rescue one. And the other guy is Jimmy Cook, who I
was up with talking with at Station thirty eight. The other oh yeah,
yeah. So they they pulled me out and got me out of there,
and I went to the hospital. Chief. So Chief, somebody saw you
at the window, saw you go back in the window, and then said
he never came back to the window. He's right there, He's right because
I ran back into those guys because they were trying to come out of the
other window. I was in a window in like a room and they were
in the window of a hallway and and and they go, hey, somebody's
up there, you know, because that wasn't my crew. I was at
the crew of thirty eight, which I left behind. Just stupid inexperience on
my part for sure. And Captain Haperlin goes, I thought you were a
dead dog when I kicked you on the floor. I mean it was black
down to this. So they pulled me out and went to the hospital,
and all's well, that entered what's the first thing you remember, like when
you came back? When you when you embarrassed? And I was so freaking
where why are you? Were you already out? Were you? Were you
at the hospital? When did you finally come to Oh in the back of
the end. I started waking up. I started coughing and waking They did
six broncostumis in the hospital. The guy, the doctor kid you ever smoking
and smoke you You've been smoking for twenty years. You got lungs smoking.
Yeah. But those three men right there, I got a couple of pictures
more of them. They saved my life. Man there. Jimmy Cook right
there, the operator were chit chatting at three in the morning when that box
come in. And then uh, the next there's Dave Haberlin, who was
a captain of Badass five truck right there. Man's man right there. And
unfortunately Dave Haberlin and Jimmy Cook died of cancer. And this is Teddy Corporandi
right here. I know Tom Sarah Goosha talked about him starting fired, and
I was just, well, if it wasn't for them, dude, I'd
be dead, you know. And I didn't talk about this earlier, but
both my my my dad and my brother died in the light of duty.
So they're they're both their names are wretched on the wall at in Colorado Springs
with at the fallen firefighters. I would have beat him to it, man,
but you might. That's my brother Terry right here. Man. He
got a job. He got a job in ninety ninety, nineteen ninety,
yeah, yeah, he got a job in nineteen ninety. I got to
put pitting Dad's badge on him. He wore that until he promoted through the
ranks. So that's a third alarm fire out in industrial aarry because he was
unassigned or wherever. And I bought him on the squad one day and so
we got to work together. We got a pretty good ripping third alarm there.
And yeah, that's us. We're except we're like twins man. We
did everything together. We fished, we hunt, we worked out, we
competed, and like two years, two months and twenty two years, two
months and two years, two mouch and twenty two days between us. Man,
but we we did everything together. That's great. Shore. And he
was working at Station two, Battalion one as a battalion chief and he was
having a little indigestion during the day and his operator, Mike Degree, goes,
hey, you know, why don't you get it's okay taking some rolades
and one of the guys made a really spicy lunch or something. I'm okay.
You know. They had a bunch of calls throughout the night, went
to bed, and in the morning, everybody's downstairs. He's my brother is
always on the floor. Six thirty seven, Have a cup of coffee or
whatever, and they go, we're smirt now and they h, I don't
know. So Mike Degree goes up beginning in the bed. So they started
CPR and him and didn't make it. Man, didn't make it. So
yeah, yeah, yeah, So both their names are etched on opposite walls
at the Wall of Falling Firefighters in Colorado Spring, So I have to see
that. Yeah. So, I mean, there's a couple of pictures.
The biggest funeral I've ever seen, man, he said there was over two
thousand people, right, it was crazy. Over two thousand people, man,
and so many people from across everywhere. Man. There's the pitch of
all the rigs that came in from across the Bay area and just fill in
backfill and all these firefighters. Pretty impressive. That's the holding area down by
Station four. Down there, we had all the rigs set up. So
it was Yeah, so what I would have been on the Wall of Zero's
not the Wall of Heroes for sure. From my Yeah, what ye did?
Pardon me? Your brother pass September tenth, twenty and seventeen, you
know, for for sixteen years, September eleventh, the Saturs Day in my
life. No now I got two sad days. September eleventh, my brother
passed. Yeah, tell a story about how you found out, because that
shows to me what what the brotherhoods all about. Man, amazing, man
amazing. This is Task four three, which I very fortunately be a member
of for seven seven years until I it's really a young man's job. I've
been retired for you know, retired in seven years after that I did this.
So we deployed. We sent out all of our our equipment was about
eight or ten hours ahead of us. And then we had two bus loads,
forty guys in each bus, plus a dog. We had two drivers
and each bus a bed in the back, so we never stopped. The
only time the bus is pulled over let the dogs out and pee. So
we're traveling all night and h in the morning. Saturday morning, the tenth
h we pulled into some little town somewhere in Texas somewhere and knew how those
USAR deployments are. The logistics are amazing. We got they got coffee and
everything set up. I'm in the back of the bus so I'm I'm great
to get off of my phone rings and my good buddy Tommy Jay wish he
was a manager, a rescue team manager, and he was on with all
the equipment, and he goes, hey, call the firehouse, sums up
and what do you mean. It's just call the firehouse and they know it's
Floyd Rawlins, and guys from my union call him and what the hell is
going on? So he tell me, hey, man, looks like your
brother had a heart attack and passed away. What gitting with a baseball baton?
Man? So I'm by myself in the back of the bus. Everybody's
gone, They're coffee fueling up and everything, and I'm just sitting there going,
oh, what can't be true. And I looked up and the next
picture you'll show is Mike Shaffer. He was our task force leader. He
was at the front of the bus and I looked up at him. He
looks at me, and we walked towards the other the middle of the bus.
Gave me a big hug. We're taking you home, Mike. We've
been Code three to earn my man to Florida. Just pulled my bags off.
I'll get home you. No, We're gonna take you home, man.
So they got everybody back on the bus. They turned that Cara Brown
around and went sixty miles out of their way and took me to Dallas Airport.
They got me to the airport. I'm getting off the bus and everybody's
hugging me, kissing me. Hey, sorry, bro, bro, And
one of our champions school guys, Eli Payton, who Eli Thomas is a
running his dog. So he gets off and me and my brother and he
gives me a big hug. Dude, I'm so sorry. And he goes
here and he reaches out and he hands me a lot of cash, a
huge wad of cash. I go, what are you doing? He goes,
hey, there's nothing we could do for you. Get yourself a first
tast first class ticket and get home to your family. Dude, No,
no, no. So we're tossling back and forth and Mike goes, hey,
your bag's out, let's go. So he takes the money and shoved
it into my blouse jacket right here and whatever I go in. I go,
okay, Mike, I got it. He goes, no, I'm
with you. Man goes to I felt like a little kid, you know.
He goes with me to the counter, gets my ticket and he comes
back and I got this money in my hand. He goes, what's that.
I go, Eli gave me this, He goes, why, he
goes, he told me to get a first class ticket. The dude give
it back to him and have beers on my brother. When you guys can't,
I will. Here's your first class ticket home four hours later. Enough
about the San Francisco Fire Department, Joane Hayes White, the Union, how
they took care of me, my brother's family through this whole event. Man,
very traumatic. You guys know, you guys lost brothers in the line
of duty for sure, So you know that's that's how I found my brother
passed. How many kids did your brother have, toy, He had two
kids and he just had a grandson. He just yeah, yeah, so
now now his son just had another son, and so the Smurgelle name lives
on great uncle of little Stephan, Stephan Terry Schmurdelle. So very proud you
get them on the job. I was just gonna say, Chief, is
any of any other kids going to towards the job at all? Do you
feel? No? No, no, no. His daughter lives in in
Boise, Idaho, and they're happy there. He's got two girls and they
have two girls and a boy. Back there. So I think I was
the end of the line right there. We were then the line and let's
little Stefan who knows you never know, brom down in the firehouse and the
young kids taking for a ride for sure. Just see, it's the brotherhood
that we share that makes this job. You know, I said a million
you can win a million bucks and it ain't worth nothing. It's the friends
and the camaraderie that we have in this job. It just fills you with
so much everything. Man. I mean, I've only been face to face
with you for like an hour and a half, and I think I know
you are ready. I feel like I know, you know, I feel
like my brother's already. You know. It's it's crazy. Well you know
that's where firemen are, bro, that's hey, hold on, hold on,
cheers brother, thank you, I blessom. Yeah. Wow, So
I'll have you know the dream about this. I want to yeah, I
wanted to ask you something, uh, just to get back to when when
you you know, we've all had a couple of those times where you know,
hopefully not too many of those times, but a few of those times
where you think you're getting it right, you think you're this is it right?
And when when you were in that spot you said, you know it
was pretty Uh. I was thinking about it because the way you described it
was you were you were breathing the dirty rug. Right. So these are
like things that just like such a detail that you think about when you're in
like this, the worst spot in your life, right, I mean for
the most part. Right, Oh yeah, yeah, go ahead, go
ahead. No, yeah, you're you know, for one minute thought I'm
gonna die. Next minute, I'm on on the balcony, I'm gonna be
saved. Next minute, I'm back in that room and the carpet. I
remember, I got my face buried in the dirty freaking tenderloin of apartment house.
Cart man. I don't know, I don't know where that goes wrong.
But yeah, but once again, thank you. When you when you
were unconscious, you didn't you don't remember anything. You just went unconscious.
You don't remember that you saw that left noodle on the aerial man, I
was out. They were banging me down that area, they said, yeah,
I was, I was. They got you into Stokes, right,
yeah, no, no stokes. Oh that's just a stretcher. Sorry.
I took a bit so that that's one of those clip of park stretches.
They got scoop stretcher. Yeah, ten ten days in the hospital, man
with boncosta me six. Yeah, so anyway, But but didn't tell you
from going to five after that, did it? No? Man? I
love its greatest, the greatest high when you smell it, you know,
then all of a sudden you turned the corner that whole third floor smelling.
I was looking at your pictures before. I was like sitting there like,
oh my god, it is good. We got some work to do.
Boys. Where are some of those pictures? Where are they at? Gone?
So I think if you go back, you have the wonder Station seven,
the picture of the trucks. Maybe they talked about that. But this
is what though. I just pulled this one off the internet. Is this
what you're talking about? I have, I have the truck. I have
read that squad too. Yeah yeah, but I have an old school I
don't know if the stool service or whatnot, But no, no, that's
not not I was working the day that went in the service. That's how
long. And that's in front of the hazmat unit right there, that's Station
thirty six, right there on Oak Street. Yeah, we used to have
an old open air one that was great, so the guys could just be
in the back wide open. Yeah, so what is it? What is
the new one? Go back to the new one. God, that's not
a walk through, that's just that's a walk inside. Yeah it is inside,
okay. Yeah, but we had some old ones there were just the
cab and then an opened their box on the bat right. Yeah. But
you know what you asked me about, you know Station seven. Maybe I
had a couple of pictures on there, dude, that's where I learned to
be a fireman. That's really my my love house for station seven. I
know we used to have talked about it, but that's where these guys right
here, Yeah, I mean these guys on the left there, there's Captain
Jimmy Miles, Captain Rus Edwards, Lieutenant Roy Bowen, the guy third from
the left. I guess we're looking at as Frank Circos. He was a
lieutenant there. He's the guy who really really took me under his wing and
taught me how to be a fireman. Man. We went to a lot
of fires, and all those guys on the bottom bottom portion of all officers
there and the chief of Paul Tobacco who became chief Department, Bill Murray,
who was one of the greatest truck officers, his dad was chief of department.
But not only officers, you know, I learned a law from officers,
but I learned so much from the men they they you know what,
you don't have to be an officer to be a good firefighter, you know,
or to teach, because I learned so much from these guys. And
then the guys at the very top are unassigned guys and those who are the
sixth guy who were there that they loved us. And every station had that.
No, let me back up. It's like guys like st Station one,
Station five, Station three, Station thirty six, they had a group
like we had at seven and the Captain dig Doug your act. They kept
you there and so we were still all great friends. Today. As a
matter of fact, today we just scheduled on old Timer's our old Timers luncheon.
It'll be the first week of June. I think with all these guys
and it's it was really a learning experience. Lots of fires there, man
m yeah. And then this is the new crew that some of us old
timers are out in front right here. But I got to work with so
many young kids on the squad. Who who wound up being just great fireman?
You know, Vic Wirsch, young kid on the squad. He retired
as a deputy chief. Mark Hayes retired as the chief. So the kid,
Tommy Maguire, whose dad I worked with, he was on the truck.
I said, dude, you got to come to the squad. And
I begged and begged and begged, and he finally came over. And he
worked on the squad for a number of years and he became a boss,
came the captain of Rescue one, and then just retired as a chief.
Matter of fact, we're all back in New York. Two weeks ago,
thirteen of us were back in New York a Rangers game and we watched the
Warriors beat the Knicks and went to scorely's uh farh's number of bars out.
You have another reason to come back to New York because we do a boat
ride in August. We have a fireboat that we that we get we go
around the Statue of Liberty with all our past guests of the year. So
now whoa, I'm here. There you go, bro, New York.
She's in the East village. Well, and you go stay with her and
you can come second see the first second weekend of August. We have a
boat, fireboat, an old fire but we go around. Yes, love
to do that. It's a great, great time, man, great time.
Yeah. And like this guy's at Station seven. Man. There were
some great firemen. Man, they were there. This one guy in the
engine, John Dobsinsky. He's kind of weird of the total weirdo dude,
but he was one of the toughest firemen I've ever seen. You couldn't get
a line from him. Man, He's so quick off the back tailboard and
you couldn't take a line from him. We come back from fire one day
and we're all dirty, we're taking our off and he reaches in. He
pulls out this big bag, plastic bag with a pull string on it.
I go, what's that for? He goes, Hey, if I can't
get out of that building, I'm putting that bag over my head there on
my Daddy's great. I looked at him. I know you were a weirdo
dude. Really now confirmed you're a fucking wind on mansky man. Yeah,
But there was guys like Frank, arbon Roney, Jerry have just great guys
that you know, took us young kids under our wings and taught us under
their wings and taught us the job. Man. This isn't that funny that
no matter where you go, not even in the country, in the world,
there's the same group of different Like we have a shirt that's the same
circus, different clowns, but all the same group of fucking guys in every
fire department. Right, you got the same type of guys in every fire
department and they all kind of congregate together. Thirteen guys back in New York
City ripping it up in your town. Man, it was great. Yeah.
So this guy right here, Gary Tushima, like I told you,
Franks took me under his wing, Andrew. And this man right here was
a fireman's fireman, Gary Tushima. He spent years on the squad and like
I said, he took me under his wing to fire. He's been packed
out more fires than I have. I've been taken out of a couple of
fires. That man falls to the wall and fires. And like I told
you earlier, when I got up to the squad in eighty five, there
was no rescue training man, no three to one, five to one,
no exit, first cliff rescue. It was a five to one mechanical of
vanas what does that mean? So they pulled the old Manila hemp rope out.
The guy did a guys lower him down, pick off. Now you
five guys pull right, yeah, five to one? Yeah you need bro
Yeah yeah. So there was really when I got there. I mean,
we got to a lot of fires and they were firemen. You know that
rescue whole rescue world with technical rescue that I got into. It wasn't happening
yet. Has Matt with Gary Tishma. We get a call up to UCSF
one night for a leak. So we show up on the rescue squad.
The heroes are here, will take care of it. I don't know what
I'm doing. And this room is just white, just clouds. He goes,
all right, get you grab your scotch. We got our turnouts on
and he grabs this jar of vasolene. He what's up? And he scoops
it and he starts spreading all over my neck and over my back. What
are you doing? He goes, We're gonna part your net. Kid,
put a scott on and with all this vasolene to protect you from what I
don't know. Hold on coat tails and this guy didn't even see him.
It was all white, but he knew where to go and how to plug
that leak up. And there till today. I might die someday from this
ship. I don't know. Who was the kind of guy that you would
just follow and do anything with me? You know? And you guys,
is just so blessed and so fortunate to work with these men that you know,
and and hopefully be able to pass some of the stuff that I learned,
not from these guys onto the newer kids. So who doesn't I think
stupid? So we got has Matt one is that engine thirty six and they
do the has mat. So when I was running the special ops for two
years, we got some federal funding and we put all the we put all
of our rectie squads, made him has Mat specialist. A lot of guys
weren't really happy with me man, because it was six weeks of training they
all had to go through. They got paid, they gotta, but it
certainly bolstered our has some material responses. Before you only have four guys.
An officer of three guys was your haz math Now they had eight more guys
on duty every day, and then we started doing the rescue training. I
mean, chief, you're you're you're in training there, so I mean rescue
systems one systems, two CS one cs c S two ZB numbers they give
them all now. But you know, we were really up the game for
the San Francisco fire, but especially our rescue squad. They all were hazmat
text. They were all all divers, open water divers, black mass divers,
all had to be searched, trench qualified, you know, high angle
qualified. So we spent a lot of time doing that. So pretty police
the way things kind of worked out for all that there you go, Yeah,
do you know Raydda? I know Ray Dido. I bought a wedding
ring from Raydido actually my my first marriage, many many many years ago.
My mistake. Hoops, I'm continuing on. Yeah, he worked the station
one. You know, keep Nicole, keep Nicolelo sent me a text he
was asking if you know him. He's a good friend of us. He's
thirty truck one. There's two butters, there's Ray and Ray Dido. And
he had a brother in department. Also, there's two brothers. Listen,
you only married twice, right, this is the second time. I love
my wife. Yes. Some guys are on three, some guys are on
the third. It happens, you know what I mean. You know,
I gave away a house and a pension. I gave away two houses.
It's okay, bro, Yeah, thanks you what happens? So that Bronzo
says, you know when I went to he's keeping me in line here because
I just did. Oh no, I wasn't. I was putting a keV
question. This guy's no, not this guy. Where's the other guy?
This guy's been asking the question. Hold, yeah, well, sir,
answer answer the forum. Ask him about cistern systems. They have it there
in San Francisco. I don't know know who systems are. They are cylinders
tanks in the middle of an intersection, and you could tell by the marketing
on the hydrant and then the bricks, big round bricks in the middle of
an intersection, and it's full of water. So in the event that we're
our hydrants are out of service, like in Loma Prieta. You know,
I was. I worked two days down on Loma Creator after that earthquake there
because thirty eight was right on top of that. So cisterns are just big
vats, concrete vats in the middle of an intersection where we could pump water
out of if need be there. You go, absolutelyful. Yeah, let's
talk about the earthquake. I want to talk about that. Yeah. Well,
I was working at thirty eight. That was October thirteenth, nineteen eighty
nine. October seventeenth, eighty nine. I wasn't working that day. I
was getting ready for the ball game. Giants were playing the A's and at
my house I had a little barbecue set up. My neighbors all were getting
ready to go to the party. It's all great, and boom the earthquake
kit Man, and it was big. I'm twenty miles off of the down
out of San Francisco, and I watched telephone poles just do this. You
knew what it was though right away, like this an earthquake and her car
is bouncing up. Okay, yeah, just oh. So once everything got
squared away home, I'm going to work. I went up there areas hat
but went up there, grabbed my gear and went down to the marina and
that fire burning on the visitor. Oh thank god, there was no wind
that day, we would have lost the whole city. The hydrants were broken,
the water mats were broken, so there's no water. And if you
ever look back to those to the pictures from Loma Prieta, that fire was
just burning straight up in the evening like this. We're typically always off that
bay. We got a big, strong wind coming into the city. But
whatever reason, that night it didn't. Otherwise we would have lost blocks rather
than just one block. So we went down there and again there was no
rescue training, no shoring, building shoring. If you look at if you
look at the some of the there's two by fours and four by fours,
you know, just propped up holding the buildings for tipping over. I remember
one of the weirdest things. I mean, we went to a building and
no search markings. We none of us had training back in eighty nine search
markings like we do now for FEMA or regional teams. And I remember looking
at this building, what's really weird. Why is the fire escape on the
ground, Well, that soft story just collapsed. And now the fire escape
that was on the second floor on the street. The buildings were all racked,
you know. And again we've come a long way since then in our
search and whatnot. But I spent two days. Now there Jerry Shannon,
you probably know that name. He he was a hero of the whole thing.
He stayed like, I don't know, eighteen so I don't know what
a long long time with this lady. Well, they cut her out.
We weren't part of that rescue, but Jerry Shannon work held her hand through
all this and got her out and they remain friends until today. There you
go, Man's that's what I'm talking about. Wow. And it was like
block on block on block, and again, you know, we just went
through every house looking for people and trying to find void spaces. And again
this is before any of us had really any type of specialized rescue training.
I went to my first rescue training in like February of nineteen ninety, a
couple months after the love preated earthquake. And then I continued on because then
I got into the rescue world. I totally dug it and that's what I
did the rest of my career. But yeah, it was pretty well waiting
for the next one that we're way overdue. Oh man, I don't sell
you. How long did it take to the city to get back on its
feet after that, like normal. It was a while because it was devastated
throughout the city. Man, they lost they lost a couple of people on
Bloxom Street across from eight eight Truck eight Engine Station eight because a lot of
brick facades and all the brick facades came down and fell along people. It
was it was quite a while before the city got up there. I think
of Earth quick. I think of the highway, right, I think of
the bridge that collapsed, and I think of the highway that pancake down on
itself, right that the Nimmu's Highway there, nimm It's Freeway. And I
had buddies working over as medics in Oakland and they go. It was gruesome,
man, because they were in there and they bought specialized guys and they
do extrications and actually had to cut people out out of the car. Yeah
yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. And it was Buck Helms is a guy
who lived like he was under there for days and they finally pulled buck Helms
out. I mean that was a big there watching the rescue trying to cut
them out. But he was in there for I don't know, five six,
seven, eight days. I don't remember that number was. He finally
died his subscrub to to his injuries, but they pulled him out. I
remember him waving coming out of the stove, stretching. Yeah, I remember
that. I remember that. Yeah, the cypress man. Yeah wow.
And then the Bay Bridge, the Bay Bridge took a dump. He actually
scored the car go off right thea that the car was just hanging on there.
So we got to go up there and play on the bridge after this
was all going on. So because the bridgers out of service, and that's
how we made kind of or anyway with the bridge guys, and so we
used that bridge many times for our high angle work over there. But yeah,
that little more creating that was there for two days and it was did
did any firehouses get red? So? But you know what, family members
came into station thirty eight and cooked because everybody was coming in off. Dude,
everybody was working. And I remember there was wives and kids and whatnot
at our fire I was thirty eight cooking and taking care of stuff for us.
Yeah yeah, I know pretty well. Yeah right, So you know
it's like and a little kind of funny story and the rest again, we
had zero training all right. So I'm doing water rescue. Now here's a
what suit kid, and I go out for my first open water rescue and
I swim out. I got a Peterson bowie with me and I'm swimming out.
I'm gonna save this guy's life. I swim up to him, no
training, and what does the guy do? Boy, he never expected to
get socked in the face once. That dude so hard man, So I
finally got it. So ever since I got miss Booey and swam back in.
But ever since then, I always took two booies out, one for
him and one for you. Super great swim man. I spink a lot,
you know. But yeah, and then I do. Have you ever
heard of the Mitchell brothers. The Mitchell brothers had an adult what is the
word I'm looking for or a cabaret, did the adult videos. They did
adult club, adult club you so. So Jimmy Mitchell and Artie Mitchell were
at the beach with their kids. The kids get in trouble out there,
so the two old porn star guys and there weren't porns, I just man
everything. They go out there, then they get in trouble, so we
show up. I pulled in Artie Mitchell and another guy gets Jimmy Mitchell in.
We take him to the hospital and they were so thankful we saved their
lives. Their kids all got in. They put a shrine in this in
this adult club to rescue squad too. Oh, I mean huge, huge,
as soon as you walk in, you pay your thirty bucks to get
it. How do I know? How did you know it's in there?
Bro? Well? That that's really young. Pictures of those guys man Aarty
already killed Jim already killed his brother. No, already killed his brother,
shot his brother. Yeah, they there were no so dysfunctional man that the
whole thing. But I came friends with already as we downer and hangout,
and they put this whole glass shrine and then every year they donated ten thousand
dollars to our water rescue team for training that I could have used. There's
somebody that's good. Hey, Gods with the picture of the guy with the
legs underneath the van, what was that? I saw? Those That was
some of the training that he did in different That was just a training thing
down at NASA. Because we did we did, I mean I worked with
a bunch of great guys and down in NASA, they have the Ames Dart
Team down there. Every year we would put on six six days of super
intense training from Guy Minnesota all over all over the United States, Canada.
We had guys come up from Brazil. Firefighter from Brazilia come up and and
do this type of training and and then we got invited down to train with
these guys. So this is the military down there, and the firefighters are
part of the military. So myself, Tom Wish, Arthur Belton, and
my good buddy on the East Coast. So with you guys, oh Tom
Billy, We've been down there five six times. Maybe they don't pay us,
they flew us down, they put up up with ship hotels, but
we got to work with. This is their this is their special ops team
right there. And then they have firefighters that are all carry guns. Imagine
that all the firemen in Brazil carry guns guns. Yeah, I love it.
Yeah, We're going out to lunch and they all got automatic weapons down
there back. Oh, I love it. Go to Super Bowls for the
meal. Can you imagine going We're sitting there and having you know, their
all their meat, meat dinners and whatnot, all got their empty fives or
whatever they got on the man, you're crazy. Yeah, well we got
to go down there five or six times and work with them down there and
again passing on a little bit of knowledge or whatever down there. So having
fun, drink and you've got you were more or less instrumental in bringing all
the training to the rescues. I was. I did. I did a
lot of that, you know, because I see because I got into the
rescue world and I saw what was happening outside of San Francisco a lot of
times San Francisco in this bubble and don't bother us, you know what I
mean. Once I got started training back in nineteen ninety when I took my
first class, this kid, Jerry Coleman from San Jose Fire. He took
me under his wing and really taught me the ropes. And then I started
taking classes and training, and I've been training. I've been instructors since nineteen
ninety four, doing all the different disciplines. We started a company in two
thousand and eight, right after nine to eleven, you know, all that
federal money started coming into departments to start training up and whatnot. And then
so we were doing at Treasure Island our training facility. We were doing two
classes a week, like a confined space, the systems one, Systems two
whatever. It was for like six or seven years, and then all of
a sudden, the federal dollars stopped and the department, I go, we
got to keep training. We don't have any money. So there was five
of us. We started a company, Norcow Rescue Training, and we just
took over with the department stop and we've been I sold. We sold the
company in twenty and eighteen. But I'm an employee. I just show up
on Monday morning. Hey boss, what do you want me to do?
But I love training, and I love being able to work with these young
kids. And most of these kids that come and take these classes, they're
motivated, they want to learn. You know, they're expensive classes. Some
guys pay on their own, some guys, you know, federal dollars pay
for it. But it's nice working with firefighters who want to learn. Because
I did. We did a ton of training for the department. Like I
said, every month we did two one week's classes, and some guys just
didn't want to be There was a pain in the ass. This is some
highline telfer type shit. We're doing here one of those things. So,
yeah, kick, What did you think about that guy in uh in what
was it Louisville? Or he went off the bridge? That was good?
What was that? Remind me? That was just the last week. The
tractor tra tyler was hanging off the bridge and they set up a high point.
I guess it looked like I don't know if it was a towel ladder,
maybe guns knows more. The truck was hanging off the bridge like this,
and the the cab of the truck was hanging and the guy was still
in the cab. Yeah, yeah, yeah, girl a woman, okay,
you got you gotta check it out. It was uh, it was
pretty incredible. Guys. How did they set up? Did they set up
with a crane the high point? What did they do? M I think
they put it. I think they tied off to the bridge, But I'm
gonna find out for sure how they did it. The only picture I have
is I'm gonna pull one up for you. Yes, because it looked like
they they didn't. I don't think they had. Yeah, because the high
point they had to put out over they used the Yeah, they use the
area like look at it now. I got a little short video that they're
plane. Yeah, they extended the the aerial and then they were piled down
from the area. Oh so they weren't even touching the trucks, just aer
all up and coming down. They get the lady out of the cab and
pull it up. Yeah, they pulled it. It was it was a
stroke the Yeah there is work man, Yeah doing it. So do you
still do the training I do I do for you? He's still in it.
Yeah, you know what. I enjoy it. You know, I
get to work with guys the firement from all over the Bay Area because now
the company's expanded, so they're all rescue cats. And then we again get
to pass that information onto these young kids. And that's what I really think
about you asked me. We'll talk later on about thought of the day or
whatever. But our job is so perishable, you know. I mean there's
not as many fires as you go to. And you guys in technical rescue,
I mean truly there are a few and far between full on technical rescues.
You know, you got to practice every day in some discipline, so
you're so you're ready to say you have to be so proficient because when that
day comes, Bro. There is no stucond guessing, There is no fumblings.
No, yes, oh there you go. Oh that's badass. Yeah,
you want to beat in that line, man, that's a rescue of
rescues right there. Man, you trained for ship like this all the time
and it just came in. This was this. They did it. They
did a good job. But that guy, that guy in and the line,
that's the easy part. It's the other guys on the backside that they're
doing all the work. The guy who came up with that plan of how
to get the hide and the regular that's the guy. Yeah. It looks
like a shared system that they're running right there is what it looks like.
Yeah, so they got probably some friction device PD or theyre using a clutch.
Clutch is a new way to go with the bro. That's it.
You guys remember the old r p ms. Yeah, RPMs we were teaching.
I have one old time guy, that's what he likes to teacher,
trying to get him up to the new wave of stuff. Great guy,
he's too small for his own good looking at our gam What is this thing?
Man? It's like, so when you go on the rescue squad in
San Francisco. They'll take you and they'll send you for the training. No.
So now, now what it is is you have to have your classes.
So you have to have five years on the job even to apply.
You have to experience even to apply for a rescue. And then you have
to be a diver. You got to be an EMT. We say,
all are you have to have your confined space training. You have to be
a hasthmat specialist. So they they provide you have to have those certifications when
you apply to become a you got to get them on your own. Then
you got to get them on your own. Sometimes the departments provide those because
through the federal dollars that happens, you know, but it's all on you
when you put your request in to go to that squad. You have to
have that whole list of things, and they provide the ongoing training certainly after
you get on the sit. That's a that's a big commitment that you know,
those guys really want to be there. They coming in there with those
certifications already. Man, the only place to be brother. It's a great
because we were hands off the chiefs. We pull up to a fire,
you know most Engine three reporting in cheap. When I showed what, they
put the fire out. Tell me what's happening. Yeah, usually I'm gonna
buy like that. Oh yeah, Chief got it, got the you know
what, and I got to work with the greatest kids to rescue too.
Man, they're just still today. It's happening today for both squads. See
if you had you had a couple other fires there that you had listed on.
I saw your timeline. What was uh one of them, I'll tell
you about. I'll tell you about one of them. That the the L
Cappy Tan Hotel. That was the one. Yeah, the L Cappy Tan,
Tom Shirk Goosey with Division Chief that night. Uh, it was a
warmth. It was. It was Saint Patrick's night. We're in the back,
remember the Station seven were playing cards, smoking cigars and then uh that
right there is cap Street fire. That okay, but the the let's go
back. I'll let's talk about that one right there, the Captain, the
scary one. I'll tell you, bro I have been that was like that.
When we pulled up. I had been to a lot of fires,
and by far, this was the hottest fire I've ever been into. And
it was wide open, three stories going up, kind of Romeo type thing.
And the arsonist he he put mattresses in the hallways and down the stairs
and then doused them with gasoline. So this this video was taken by neighbors
across the street. You can see how it's rolling. It took it and
the front door is down on the bottom here. So me and my partner,
I sput the squad. I said, two guys in the back,
we're going to go through the front. And I get to the front door
and the front door looked like that on the top right there. This is
going to take. So I looked back. The injured company pulled up and
they were having a little bit of trouble deploying that their ready line. So
me and my squad partner we pulled a ready line up and had to douse
the first floor in order to get to the second floor and then to the
third floor, which is totally burnt away. But I timed this. I
never seen this video until two days ago. Tom Sarah Goosa sent it to
me, And I mean five or six or third degree burns. We got
burnt like shit. Man, our legs, our back of our legs,
my hand, I got thirty degree burns I got I got a seven hundred
dollars Calosia fine for not wearing the right gloves at that fire and the vesseline
didn't help here then huh right here? Oh yeah, but yeah, so
that so what As soon as I showed up, we were the first riks
on. This was a block of two blocks from the firehouse at three o'clock
in the morning. And that's the way it looked. When we showed up.
Man lady jumped out of the just like boom. I looked in at
the lady laying right there. The medics were right behind us, so they
took care of her. We made our way up. It took a set
and I timed it on here. It was seven minutes from the time the
engine showed up until we had water pumping out the front window, out of
that window right there, and it was like a tiazzo concrete floors and stairs
that were just so hot from the gasoline and the mattresses. When the crews
behind us were spraying water and we were first up those stairs, all that
steam came up. The crew behind us got all burnt their legs, their
knees right above, right above their their turnout boots. That was a hot
two people dyed. We actually kind of grotesque, but we crawled over.
Didn't know there were bodies. I mean they were just kind of they were
melting on the floor right there. So but my buddies on the back of
there's a lot of good rescues that night made. Unfortunately three people were in
that fire, but it's gonna Yeah. That was a pretty good window.
You could see you could see the line coming through the windows. And I
timed it, I want, because when you're in the fire, you don't
know, you know, time just kind of stand still. So I really,
yeah, seven minutes up to to get water out that front window there.
Yeah, we're eight fifty five. Yeah, that's pretty good. Yeah,
that was a burner, bro That was a good one. And the
other one I was going to tell you about was the L Capy Tan fire.
And it was an old hotel on Mission Street. We're in the backyard
playing cards at night and I was say, smell that something burning. I
was saying, box, you know, boom. We pull up and L
Capy Tan is on fire. So the address is on Mission Street and and
we're coming up behind the building. I see the back flying. We pull
into the parking lot and there's a guy hanging out of the third floor and
who should I'm doing this? Stop stop, stop stop, We'll get you,
you know. And there's smoke all around. And for whatever reason,
that day, I had a proby on the rig, you know, rarely,
rarely, rarely, I think somebody's not assigned. But I had a
prob with me that day. And it was a wild ride. So and
I always pride to myself and knowing where I'm at in the building, right
turn left, turn right, turn and get out, you know. So
we go down. I got this kid with me, and that's black and
it's shitty as hell. So we go into the room, get in there,
and the guy's out the window. We go, okay, we're gonna
take him out. You know, we're gonna drag him through that smoke.
We're gonna get him out. We get him, go back to the door
and the door's closed. I don't know where the door's at, and the
guy is choking. So he dragged him back across the room, put his
head out the window, and I tell the probe he stay with him right
here. I'll find the door. We have one little spring hinges on it.
So we went in and closed the hinge, you know. So,
okay, go back. Where's the guy? Now he's on the ground,
passed out, all right, So now we're dragging in the hallway. I
got the proby on my back. We're dragging out and okay, turn,
we're out of here. All of a sudden in a wall. Oh no,
uh no, there was never a wall here, dude. And I'm
thinking to myself, where the hell am I don't taking my mind, you
know. And this guy he's half naked because we're dragging him. It was
an old theater and they had those pins that melted and closed the door.
The lead the lead, the lead fuser or whatever they used to call out
right, so it was boom. So now I got brought me on my
back, dragging this cat with us. Man if he's you know, now,
he's not coughing much anymore. Find our way to another door. I
hit the panic door and eleven truck is trying to get through. It's a
big steel door. They go what and all the smoke piles out and we
pulled the guy out and he wasn't breathing, so he asked mem about doing
mouth them out, So then I felt responsible. I should have just pushed
the guy out the window or let him jump. He might have broken an
arm or broken and now I killed the guy. So he did mouth the
mouth on this balcony and met it come up and I'm looking at this guy
and he looks just like my dad. I'm looking my dad. He looked
just like my dad. I'm doing mouth them out and he lived. The
guy the I was in back in the hospital. But that was that was
a pretty just knowing where you're at. You knew when you get those fires
man, you know, make a right, make a right, make a
right, make left, make a left, get out of there. But
all of a sudden something different. So anyway, that's a hairy job.
Yeah, So let me tell you some of our finest rescues were hawk rings.
What I've had a couple of those. You had a couple of those.
We quite a few of the San Francisco bro you know, it looks
like an all shapes and sizes. One of the best was a three quarter
inch plumber's elbow. There was laws right in the middle, so depending which
way you looked, it made a hard ride or all hard lid and Jerry
Coughlin was on the squads of that day and he goes looks like a red
delicious. We're in an operating room and doctor, please keep the jokes down.
Guys walk We walk in the nurses holding the head of his penis and
the doctor's got to hacks up relaxed. We get the drum all too while,
but they call us. You know, we got a call one day,
they called the firehouse fort Hey. We got a ring. It's a
it's a plate. It's a workout plate. And my first question is is
it a standard or Olympic plate? It was just crazy, man, so
many of those stupid I was trying to find it. Well, here I
go on to my wallet, hop home cock ring and that what it's said
on rescue patch rescue to hold the cock ring? Did the Afford method.
We had a guy right up this whole scenario. How to remove you know,
you get the dicktor pressor and somebody's got to handle the luggage. So
you and your man, you're luggage, got the luggage program, you're the
luggage man. So what's the other pictures? What's the other pictures? We
got down though? Do we have all the fires on it, I think
folloween from the so you know what I threw that in there show you got
you notice those aerial ladders are just going up. This was Halloween Nights sixteenth
and Sharon I was on Engine seven that they worked with Jack Skidmore and another
classmate of mine, Stevie Farat. Yeah, we show up and this thing
is just blowing like this from the get go. You know, these old
wooden buildings down there, they're like match boxes there. So that that was
a pretty good fire that night. And luckily there was a a grocery store
down below with a lot of waters and cokes and sodas down there, so
we got Thursday. After fighting that far we fresh ourselves down. One of
those looked like typical San Francisco buildings. What are those cold? Just just
wood frame type five. You know, that's a three story over over a
four story total over a store down there. When these get going, man,
they're all so close together, you know, I mean we've lost blocks.
I mean, we do a pretty good I think we do a pretty
good job of stopping those. But when you show up and it's going like
this, all right, a lot of pipes maybe who knows, Yeah,
but you know that was that was a pretty And the other picture I showed
you there was the furniture mark. It was like top four fire and and
and again it was just another one of those fifth along fires we went to.
But I marked thing too. Yeah it was on that one. Yeah
yeah, I mean that's not a really great picture of the fire. But
I was telling a gonzo or no cubes we uh, me and the officer
from station third six. We got a forty five minute time out at this
fire by the Chief of Department and deputy chief because we were on the fire
escape and we got a ladder. I mean, we got a bundle,
two bundles. We're hooked up to the wide down below, and we're going
to go in or we're putting this fire out. And they're screaming at us
on the radio cruise on the fire escape, Evacuate, get out, get
out, get out. I look at him, We're gonna go and put
this fire out. Man. So he reaches oms and he turns my radio
off. We turned our radios off. We're going in, we're putting this
fire. We're not listening to anybody. Stupid, stupid. Next thing I
know, I get this flushing blow on my back. It was. It
was one of the one of the battalion chiefs smashing me to the ground.
Come on, kid, you guys are all getting at her. So we
had to sit there and time out. So yeah, in the corner.
Yeah, we didn't poke them all. You look very scary in that fuck
him where? Oh yeah, I know. Yeah, man, that's creepy.
We gotta throw back photo. That's what I started working at. That's
cy Cursey pee wee in the chat just sent this to us. Thanks.
Yeah, that's the one of the rigs you guys were talking about earlier.
Pei. That's Nelly Bell. They called that Nelly Bell. Was a V
twelve rig. Fast man, that rig double cluestion, that thing, man,
nothing flew. I was a rescue rig, was it? There was
a rescue rig. Yeah, yeah, we're going to go down the street
waving the moms and little kids. Hey fireman. Yeah, now that's that's
that's old school, were you and uh, there's Rescue two in the district
where all those hills are in San Francisco, your hills everywhere? Y How
was that? Yeah? Well rescue too before it moved down. So Rescue
two was up on the top of the hill over the marina where the earthquake
was. Then in ninety three they moved the squad back down to Station seven.
So I love seven. I went back home. So in ninety three
the squad came back to seven. I went back there, and I stayed
there until two thousand and eight, from ninety three to two thousand and eight,
until I got a point of count chief. They were down there.
So we talked about this before. So you were the fireman there and then
he became you got promoted lieutenant, and you got back there as lieutenant.
Right, I got back as lieutenant. Yeah, how many years you worked
there as lieutenant? Then oh, probably five or six years, then four
years as a captain or eight years of the captain, four years of lieutenant,
and then eight years of the captain. And I'll tell you a real
quick story. I'm not a truckman by any means. I got a point
in lieutenant, and I get my assignments. I'm going to engine one great
twenty five to thirty calls a day, got it. Then my next shift
is the fireboat as the fireboat, and then my third watch is the truck
eight. I walk in the truck eight. There's five guys on that rig
with one hundred and thirty five years of experience. Hi, guys, what
can I do for you today? Tell me what you guys, There's no
way I'm Boston these cats around and it was a very humbling experience, you
know, because I've and I told guys, you know, you've got to
be proficient across the board. And I certainly am not a great truck person
by any any extent of the word. Because you see those hills and you
know, working in the mission history, working in in the Noe Valley,
they're throwing thirty five foot wooden ladders three hundred sixty five pounds on a hill
to these peak victorians. You know, if you're a truckman or an officer's
skillman. Yeah, it's like art, dude, you know, it's it's
just it's amazing watching some of these men, how they operate. And women
too. We got a lot of chicks in the apartment now, so I'm
kind of why do they refuse to go to uh why did they stay with
the wooden lines history or what's the history? I gress? Yeah, yeah,
we've burnt a lot of those up men. I've seen a lot of
pull that out of that window. It's smoking right now. Yeah, so
when when you how do you get the call to come back to rescue too?
Then as a lieutenant, like what happens? Oh, I did for
it. So I went out and I did my six months, you know,
at engine one, fireboat one, and then at truck truck eight.
Just hello, you guys, gotta bless you guys, take care of me.
And then they had the next vacancy list and I put in and I
made it. You know. It was like the stars and the moons were
all lined up. And I got back on the squad. I worked there,
I took the captain's test, I got promoted once again. Everything was
lined up, you know, and everything's lining up for this guy a lot.
I don't know that. Sometimes you know, very lucky, when very
very lucky, when you're good, you're good. I every day I thank
God for my career. One that I didn't die to It didn't kill anybody,
you know what I mean. So it's well, you almost did the
guy that you dragged out, you know, push out the window, man
out the window. Brother, They away from the light, little body.
Yeah, so you're in a perfect spot. You're a capital rescue too.
Why do you study to become chief? What do you think? Why you
know? I don't know, man, I you know what I talk.
I hate chiefs and I worked some of the greatest chiefs in the world.
And guys, go, aren't you a chief? I hate myself? Okay,
I went. I went from the greatest group of guys that do their
ship and you know, we get to a fire or to a rescue.
Very few words were spoken because we trained with so many fires. And then
I became a battalion chief and I'm babysitting five companies and these guys are you
know? You know so? But I don't know. It was the best
years on the rescue squad man. And there's guys Adam Wood. I mentioned
his name. He's just retiring right now as a firefighter with twenty eight years
on rescue squad too. Did some fires, bro Oh yeah, yeah,
guys go to the squad. They don't leave, manunless you get promoted.
It's the greatest job, is I would or city wide? I could go
anywhere. Do any of they want in the city, do anything you want,
just show up when they call you. Well, I think William flowery
keeps turning down, Chief, Captain rescue too down, Chief, it's good
for retirement. I guess. I don't know. At some point you did
all the work to study, you got to take it. At some point
you know, well, you know what, don't study? There you go.
I never had a prob. I never had one prob because I was
on the squad my whole life, my whole career, and programs except that
one day they don't get a signed prob's and guys on the squad. I
never did a report in my career. If you did a medical, the
paramedics did it. If we went out, a chief did it. So
I never did a report. Very rarely did I have to fill about what's
so funny about that Louis was supposed to do. Yeah. So when it
game time for the report writing section and the battalion chief's death, I was
lost. Man, I'm going to my buddies, Hey, what about this?
Never get a report? And then when I got appointed, I had
an operator and he did the reports. So I was a slug dude.
He stood. You live in the dream pretty much. Very blessed. Once
again, I'll tell you, very very freaking bless man. Yeah, working
the day there was two line of duty June June second, twenty eleven.
We worked for the two line of duty deaths. Oh yeah, yeah,
No, I wasn't working that day. That was Benny Perez and Tony Balio.
Yeah. They were in a up in our Diamond Heights area and the
houses are big and they go down the big side of a hill and they
were inside and the fire blew up and just came up the back of the
building and and very sad. Yeah, Tony Balerio and uh and we called
him the creature ben to Perez. He was at seventh for a long time.
Everybody's got a nickname in them, you know how it is. Everybody's
got nick Yeah, I got got rest their souls man. Yeah, Tony
Sarah Guza, I'm Tom sorry. In the chat says it was his job.
That's that duty. And he was instrumental to my brother pass too.
Totally instrumental and very helpful. He's a good guy. I like that,
Sarah. Guy. His name is Tom. Try to answering you questions.
Best time in your Korea sitting around the dinner table, yucking it up,
the best where what point in your career at rescue as a firefighter, lieutenant
of captain, I got it. I totally enjoyed my job as a firefighter.
You know what I mean, just you just you just did your job,
got to go to a lot of fires. I really enjoyed beat the
captain of the squad because I had time in and trying to help these newer
firefighters. Instilled the importance of training, Instill the importance of loving your job.
I tell you that you got to be Those who are good firefighters are
passionate about their job. We get today it's generational. The kids are coming
in now, it's different. You know. It's passion that makes you a
good fire fighter's passion that makes you a good a good officer. And those
guys who have it are good firefighters and good officers. And so you know
what, being the captain for eight years, you know I got to run
the show, if you will. But again, I always talk to my
crew, what do you guys want to do today? What do you want
to train them? What do you guys need to do today? Take care
of your crew, you know? And yeah, that's really and here's another
question for you. Who does more work rescue? Want to rescue? Too
well. Rescue one used to get a lot of work before those guys in
fire prevention and inspection put all the sprinklers. Downtown Rescue Squad two does all
the fires. Okay, Gardner, if you're listening. Next Capital Rescue one,
they call us the other squad. Well, the other squad got all
the fire because we're in the mission district burning, still burning today, and
we go out to Hunter's Point, we go into the poor section out to
Visitation Valley. Older homes out there would frame home. So right now,
Rescue two heads and heels over. Rescue one for fires, for sure.
But in the old days, back to the sixties, seventies, early eighties,
maybe they got a lot of fires until they started ret retrofitting all the
downtown tenements with sprinklers, which fire prevention I hate them, man, I
mean, along these fires, it was just amazing. Sunday morning seemed like
a good day for fire. Sunday morning, eight am in the morning,
the Concordion vans sift alarm cross the street. Another Sunday morning, eight am,
Jack Tar Hotel completely five alarm fires. But you know, and many,
many many of those down in the tenderline. But once they sprinkler rooming
contents at best, you know, all got out in the hallway a little
bit, okay, not like those far as you see how at that Marvel
Hotel and that was one of the first big ones that I see and my
eyes were like, whoa. There's another question if you could do anything over
in your career, if you could, not saying that you would, what
would you do over? I don't know, you know what, I don't
think I would really do anything different. I feel so lucky and so blessed
in my the way my career went. I mean, like I said,
I didn't know what this rescue squad crap was until I walked into with my
EMT certificate to the Deputy Chief Rescue. I want to go back to Engine
seven. That's where I love working. No, I don't think I would
change anything. Man. You know, I got to tell you, when
you talk about fighters in the fire service, you light your whole face lights
up. Bro. You're like, is it very flushed? Its high?
You know I've been high before, but this is the greatest. It is
no adrenaline rush. It's just the absolutely like me of who was the chief
from Chicago not too long ago? Was that mo Yeah, another guy,
that guy. Yeah, you could tell those guys are just crazy because you
love love love job. And you know, it's like when I learned,
these guys took me and I shipped myself many times. Man, what are
we doing here? You know? Talk about hang on kid? Yeah?
It was hang on kid, you know, And that's how you learn,
you know. And and I wouldn't change anything. I'm very blessed, very
lucky. What does this say, Tony? What does that say? The
question I got modest? Sorry I got Tony. Were you on the rescue
when they had the American La France rig? Are here? People always ship
talking of alf No? They were my favorite looking rigs. Yeah, I
think if I remember correctly, they were the old open cab rigs, the
old Americans of France. And the driver and the officer in the cab in
front, and then we're on the back, standing on the back. And
in those days we never wore seatbelts. You know, we'd be on the
on a fire rage and five or six are on the truck. You know,
nobody had seatbelts. A you go around corner, guys are kind of
off the rig. They're going around the corner. Yeah, they were all
there. They were pretty cool. Old race. They had the old Ward
LaFrance, the American La France. Yeah, I have let me see.
This is what I have. I got another courtesy of Pee Wee again.
He's zombie name tonight pro hooking me up. This is what he said.
So that that is one of the original rescue squads right there. So the
first one you showed was Nelly Bell, the very first one. That's that's
a museum each night now. But this is where I worked on for years
right here, Yeah, okay, And we stood on the back of Hey,
where do you guys? Where do you guys standing there? Right in
the back? It's open in the back. They get the little covers right
here. We had a great view of the city and you could tell us
because the officer and the driver in the front. But we got a three
sixty up on top and if we see that working. Yeah, spent many,
many, many many watches on that ridge. Wrap on the window guns.
We have headsets so everybody could look forward. So it's kind of like,
hey, yeah, we have the David Cluk headsets. So it was
just better than wrapping on the window job. That's those those days. Unfortunately,
question as a lieutenant, did you ever do that? You guys are
bringing back great memories there it is right there. That's at Station thirty eight,
right there, man, Yeah, yeah, that's when it was up
in the Marina. Look at that old Pieza. What's crazy. That's a
good old GMC, hard working truck right there, but a lot of fires
on that rig and you could see look at how my space there's not much
room for equipment. Okayly zero equipment like they carry on the squad today.
I tell you we were pretty bare bones for sure. But you know what,
the old cats got the job done. Three to one or five to
one. I don't know what we're pulling. How many guys are on that
line? Done? Man? This is great with the three cord of tweet,
yea turns on a dying man. Not so much the windows of room.
What's that? I did? You did? I did a few times?
Yeah, good for you? Did? I still do that in San
Francisco, bang on the window and is a job oh on the top.
Well in the old days, yeah, because on the wards and the American
of Francis, we all stood up on the back over the cab and the
officer and driver on there, so it would be banging on there. They
knew. Hey, we could see the smoke boom. Everybody's get all pumped
up. Cool, great metories. Man. I want to go back to
work one day and catch a fire. I am so ready, doesn't everybody?
Bro? You know it? You got it. Let me ask you
a question. When you're retired, did you ever have the dream that you
got to run you couldn't find your bunk gear? No, a lot of
five and have that dream, dude. I can't tell you how many retired
guys I talked to say they have the same dream. The back of the
fire house. They get a run, but they can't find me a gear.
It's going your boxers. It's all good, bro, We're good.
I'm here. Yeah. Yeah. No. If my body wasn't so beat
up, I would think about it, man, but I would I would
just absolutely crave going into another fire. What ye, you're retired? Chief
for you did you retire? I retired in twenty twelve, twenty two years
in. I retired the same day I started. I started on December tenth.
I retired on December tenth. That's funny. I started on October fifteenth,
I Talktoba fifteen. How many years did you do? I only didn't
almost nineteen two nights? Not enough. I don't know, I know,
I mean I missed the heck out of the job. What I miss is
going to fires and the dinner table everything else. Ruffy, what did you
do? Thirty twenty seven? Twenty seven, twenty seven? I was thinking
about trucks and squads having different colored helmets. Is that's it they do?
Yeah? The truckmen are red and white and the squads are black and white,
and then the injury guys are all black. Oh shit, I didn't
know that. Yeah, hold on, hold on one second, hold on
one hurry up, back he scroob. I'm down to five percent. So
I'm just gonna run it out. This is this is my dad's helmet right
here. Man. Oh yeah, hold on a minute. Oh man,
I'll show your mind, contest. The back is all rotted out. We
know you're sticking out. We know a guy that could fix that. Hey
see, perfect, Let's see what you got. Bumps? Oh god,
you man, you have too many. That was great. I should have
did that, my head. We still good times, good times, all
right? I think it might be that time. My face are left stop.
I'm not being that time, dons. I think it is that time.
What time is it? I think it's time for thirty nine. I'm
watching the clock like old school tip of the day of the day, day
day. All right. I don't know how much of an old school chip
this really is, but it is for all the guys that are still working
that will be old timers one day, or maybe old timers right now.
You guys really really have to pass on the knowledge. The skills and knowledge
we have are so perishable. And if you guys don't take these new kids
under your wing, if you don't teach them the art of truck work,
the art of engine work, whether it's dragging a line down through a smoky
hallway to see the fire. We talked about throwing a you know, a
fifty foot ladder on a hill at three o'clock in the morning flames blown out
of Victorian, or doing some crazy rescue like off a bridge with a truck
hanging over. You know, it won't happen. So it's up to the
guys that are working right now and gals who are working right now to take
the knowledge we have that you learn from the old timers and continue to pass
it on. So that's my tip of the day. Excellent, amen.
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to your stories and your career. You guys are awesome.
Man, it's so much fun. Man. What's that? Man?
Yeah? Wait for the boat ride? Well, you better get your ask.
I only hear no excuses, Sarah. You gotta show him the one
picture of the so and he's going to be on the twenty ninth of Bapril.
Man, I'm definitely tuning in from that. Yeah. Yeah, which
which other pictures you women to share? Oh? The duck pictures? Hurry
up before, dude, that's a duck hut, bro, look at that.
So hey, Lou, you got an open invitation, bro, duck
season October through January season season season. Yes, that's the wonder quiet.
I'm hunting weapons. What's the dog's name? Teeth? Wonder match? Yeah,
right there, that is my passion. I got forty one days in
a duck line this year. I'm I'm a duck hunting full and Lou,
I understand, huh Yeah. I got hooked on the ducks maybe about I
don't know, seven eight years ago. I go down to a friend of
mine, a fireman down and he lives in Mississippi. But we go out
to Arkansas. I go out in January February with him too, same thing.
It's just coops can't understand. I'm showing the videos of you know,
us in the boat breaking ice and you know, he's like, what the
hell are you doing so much timbers? What's that? Were you hunting in
the timbers? Yeah, we had some timber timber halls, and then we
go out in the fields in the afternoon. Yeah, yeah, nice.
Well you've got an open invitation, brother, come on out to California to
kill some California ducks. I'll do it. We'll do it. Maybe you
guys can go duck hunting. I'll hang out and do something else. How
about that, I'll hang out. Yeah, I watched this ready. Oh
we got one shout out tonight? Where is it? Yes, this is
a buddy of a friend of mine mine who's a little under the weather wishing
the best tonight. That would be Ned Jensen. He's a he's a Long
Island firefighter. I sent you another pictures, you get it? I do
there he is there, he is. He's the best Page firefighter out there
with the Patso brothers. I gotta tell you. I look at him and
I see quick here. Oh man, he doesn't my quick see a little
quicken. He looks like oh Johnny two as well. Yeah, so Ned,
we wish you the best bro from the the Salty getting Salty brothers to
you. I don't know how the little guy is, but he's awful cut.
Yeah future mother nice dash nice, really enjoyed you. Man, We'll
be looking for you. It's either the first of the second an invitation.
It comes out in an evite, comes in an evite. So I'm in.
I'm in, count me in. Yes, they're push it out.
Maybe you need come. You can come with him this time, so maybe
I'll bring him out. He was a little scared to come, but his
daughter was in New York too. I think my daughter too. Man.
Yeah, there you got a part of that's a home run. You stay
with me because God stays with me. I got room here. Don't worry
about it. We'll put you up. I used to have the people in
here. I like random Filipinos all the time living with me, so it
doesn't matter, you know. Yeah, my wife's Filipino. I got about
eight of them coming in in May. So I'm used to having a lot
of people, so you're more than welcome. Nice. Yeah, that's good.
All right. Well, hold, we got on Monday, rough Monday.
I think we still have opened. I know we got a bunch of
new guys. I just got I don't know, uh on the calendar I
looked, but we're here Thursday, though, we have Thursday. We have
Chris. How you pronounce Chris? Thursday? Thursday? He got on the
seventies. He was actually in the picture of carrying out for the judge.
He was at Telephone Company five. He was at twenty third Street collapse.
He was at the First ball Trades in him on me. So, this
guy's got some great stories. We have pictures. Do me a favor.
We're having Vinnie Done on the show. We're doing a Q and A with
him. I got three questions, do you guys not want to ask Vinnie
dun chief Done questions one of the greatest iconic guys in the f d N
Y And I got three guy damn questions from you guys. So sending questions
to Coubs Podcast gmail dot com. When Vinnie Dune's on in two or three
weeks from now. That's where you're gonna send it. Send it all right,
that's it. That's all I got. Chief, keep it up,
great count in the eye, and keep killing ducks. Keep doing what you're
doing. Work man, it's awesome. Man. Can't wait to crack open
a couple of you on a boat in August. We'll have a good time.
We'll do a couple for sure. All right, cheer, Have you
got anything rough than anything? Any shout outs? Hope you get your power
back really soon. I'm gonna go work on the generator right now, only
to get teen grand generak. He goes on by itself. Come on,
go there it is. The light makes it look like you get a wig
on with a little piece of hairstick. And I got Friday's. I got
a couple of feathers, all like guns. We'll see you guys on Monday.
Until then, sturdy long ago. Oh Thursday, alright, we'll see
you Thursday, whatever, Yeah, Thursday, Thursday, alright, guys,
settle up. Sounds like have a good night one