SHOPPING...FIREFIGHTER STYLE!

One night we had a big fire in a huge winery.  They made fruit wines.  After the fire was knocked down, we were up on the roof standing next to a large hole we had opened.  We could look down into the warehouse.  Firefighter boots have loops on each boot so you can pull them on easier.  We tied a rope between the loops and lowered the boots down to the warehouse floor.  Another firefighter filled the boots with bottles of wine.  We did this over and over.  It got to the point where we would yell down to the fireman “no more blueberry – more strawberry.”  You have to remember that the bottles had been declared contaminated by the health department and couldn’t be sold.  They were scheduled to be destroyed.  That night, all of us went home with lots of wine.  It still tasted pretty good, even if most of the label was burned off.  

Another cold, snowy night a delivery truck skidded into a bridge abutment and flipped over.  The doors split open and hundreds of boxes of Saucy Susan Shrimp Cocktail were scattered all over the road.  Once the container boxes had been split open, the contents (packed in glass jars) was no longer saleable – so we all had shrimp cocktail for weeks and weeks.

In the firehouse where I worked, there was a large Italian neighborhood in our first-due district.  One Sunday afternoon, a fire alarm came in from a 2 family house in that neighborhood.  In those days, most Italian families cooked a large pot of sauce from early morning until their big Sunday dinner later in the day.  After we put out the fire, some of the firefighters crawled through the attic looking for any fire extension.  One of the firefighters slipped off the ceiling rafter and his leg went through the sheetrock.  We didn’t know that Grandma had snuck back into the kitchen to stir her sauce.  The pieces of sheetrock went into her sauce pot.  Grandma got very upset and started beating the firefighters boot leg with a big wooden spoon and yelling, in broken English, that the firefighters were “making too much dirt.”  

One night I was called into work because there was a major snow storm predicted to hit NY.  About 3 AM, we got a call via the Police Department that there was an accident on the NY State Thruway.  An 18-wheeler hit a bridge abutment and turned over.  The police were taking the drive to the hospital.  There were so many accidents on the Thruway that night that all the nearby fire crews were out on other calls.  We were about a mile away.  They told us to close 2 lanes of the thruway, leaving one open, and wait for a commercial truck-towing vehicle to arrive.  They would try to right the tractor trailer, but, if not, a crane vehicle would be called in.  In either case, with the weather conditions as they were, it would have been hours before anyone showed up. 

As we began to secure the accident scene, we noticed that the trailer had been split open and there were frozen turkeys all over the snowy road.  Once again, food products in that situation were considered contaminated and would be destroyed.  Since they would be a major hazard to traffic once the lanes were opened, we had to remove the turkeys.  We couldn’t fit 33 turkeys safely in the fire engine (32 firefighters and one for dinner tomorrow).  One of the firefighters told me he lived nearby and had a 4-man toboggan.  I sent him home to get it and, when he returned, we loaded up the toboggan with turkeys and he and another firefighter pulled it to the firehouse.  They unloaded it and returned to fill it up again.  By then, the tow vehicle arrived, righted the truck, and that section of the Thruway was cleared.  Everyone in our firehouse had a frozen turkey in their freezer for the holidays.  

Eating or drinking something that was in a fire is really not a good idea – especially if it was open or exposed to smoke.  We had a fire in a bakery and, after the fire was out, firefighters started eating pastry that was still in the oven.  They all got food poisoning and were sick for days.  Another fire was in a butcher shop.  A firefighter took a roast beef that had been in the open case back to the firehouse and cooked it for lunch.  No one could eat it – the taste of acrid smoke made them all sick.  

After a fire is knocked down, firefighters are looking for something to drink to hydrate themselves.  Water is the best thing, but hydrant water is unsafe to drink.  The pipelines have been super-charged and the water is black and full of rust.  Opening a refrigerator that was in a smoky room and drinking milk or orange juice from an open container is also a NO-NO.  

Firefighters are a tough breed and they learn quickly!  A cold, unopened bottle of beer is usually safe to drink.  It may not taste as good as a fresh one – but it’s safe!   

EARLY LESSONS LEARNED

There were a lot of hoops you had to jump through to get onto the Fire Department in the ‘60s.   The city wanted the cream of the crop for their department. The ACLU hadn’t gotten involved in civil service jobs as yet so the city still had very strict hiring code.  You had to be over 5’10” tall; your height and weight had to be in proportion; your vision had to be 20-20 or better; hearing perfect; a mouth full of your own teeth; and then you had to pass a battery of mental evaluations, a strenuous agility test, and a full medical exam.   

  

If you met all these requirements, you were put on a list and they would call you when they had an opening -- all for $112 a week.  My friends and some family members thought I was crazy to quit an office job paying $120 a week to go on the Fire Department.  I told them that working in an office I had to buy white shirts, ties, shoes, socks, and get a haircut every 2 weeks.  I had to work 2 years to get 1 week vacation, 5 years to get 2 weeks’ vacation, 20 years to get 3 weeks’ vacation, and work until I was 65 to get a pension. 

In the Fire Department, I would get 6 weeks’ vacation every year, 4 personal days, 10 sick days – paid in cash if not used – a dental plan, vision plan, medical plan, Fire Department doctor on call 24 hours a day at no charge, a legal assistance plan, and a 20 year ½ pay retirement plan.  Plus, the city supplied winter uniforms, summer uniforms, work clothes, as well as all protective clothing and equipment.  The only thing I had to pay for was shoes and a haircut every 6 weeks. 

After 8 weeks of firefighter training, I was sent to firehouse #11.  All new recruits were on probation for 1 year.  The city could fire you for any reason during that time period.  Once your probation was up, it was almost impossible to lose your job. 

Another “proby” and I showed up early for our first night shift at station #11.  Just as we were coming into the firehouse, the alarm went off.  Two 14” bells rang – one on the apparatus floor and one in the dormitory.  The lights came on and a ticker tape started running across the watchman’s desk.  The tape punched out a 4 digit code so the driver would know what sector of the city the alarm was coming from.  The voice of a dispatcher gave the exact location of the emergency through a large overhead speaker.   Engine 11 and Truck 3 responded.  They told us to wait for the night crew to show up. 

At about 8PM, the day crew returned and they were all happy.  Seems they had performed CPR on a young girl and saved her life.  Thirty minutes later, the Fire Chief called and told us the girl had a contagious disease and the firemen who performed CPR were ordered to the hospital for a few days to be checked out.  The other “proby” and I looked at each other wondering what we had gotten ourselves into.  

We went out on several calls that night but nothing special or exciting.  Everything calmed down around midnight and, after watching the Johnny Carson show, everyone went to bed.  The Captain told us to get some rest because at any minute we could be called out for an all-nighter.  The two of us sat watching TV until 3AM.  We had to creep into the dormitory and feel around for our beds.  We were so nervous we both laid on the bed with all our clothes on.  I leaned over and said, “I can’t believe the city is paying us to sleep.”  We both got the giggles and it took over an hour to fall asleep.  

It wasn’t all fun and games – obviously.  Most people run OUT of a burning building, not INTO it.  Even the rats and roaches are leaving – now there’s a sight you really don’t want to see! 

The other “proby” didn’t like this firehouse.  He asked for a transfer to a busier house in a rough neighborhood.  He wanted more action.  He was transferred and was promoted to Lieutenant about 8 years later.  One night, he responded to a fire in an old wooden tenement building.  Some women were outside crying that there were children trapped on the third floor.  He ran in without putting on his air tank.  He never made it out.  He left behind a wife and 2 kids.  There were no trapped children on the third floor, or anywhere else in that building.  Unfortunately, there are so many stupid, irresponsible people who are more interested in stealing TVs, stereos, boom boxes, etc. from their neighbor’s apartment than saving their own kids.  After they had stolen whatever they wanted, then they screamed for the firefighters to save their kids.  This happened time and time again. 

I once saved 3 year old twin boys who had been left in their cribs with wet and dirty diapers while the building went up in flames.  I got them out of the tenement and told the Assistant Chief what had happened.  He was a smart old guy.  He asked a group of women standing nearby who the boys belonged to.  No one said anything, so the chief just put the boys down and they ran right to their mother.  She picked them up and ran away.  That was a lesson I never forgot. 

First Day on the Fire Department

I reported to the Fire Department Academy which was adjacent to Fire Headquarters.  There were12 candidates to begin.  One quit when we began climbing ladders.  One man went all through training and was accepted to a firehouse.  He finished his college education and, after 2 years, quit the job to take a teaching position.  Out of the remaining 10, 2 eventually became Assistant Chiefs, 2 Captains, and 5 Lieutenants.  One man didn’t want the responsibilities of an officer so he never took any promotion exams. 

When I graduated from the Fire Academy, we were told that each of us could pick 2 firehouses that they would like to go to.  They guaranteed that you would get one of your choices – all except me.  The Assistant Chief found out that I grew up, and still lived, 3 blocks from fire station #11.  That was to be my assignment.  It was really great for me.  My Dad had retired the summer before I went into the Fire Department and he sold his house to my sister with one stipulation – I came with the house.  

My parents moved to Florida in July of 1964.  That following summer, I was still in on the house in the Hamptons except that now I worked shifts and most weekends.  I went out there mostly during the week, but it was pretty quiet then.  The weekends were the real party time.  Sometimes 200 people would show up – we would hire a band and have a great time.  Usually the police would show up about 1:00 AM and shut us down because of the town noise ordinance.  With that many people, there was usually some repair work to be done afterwards.  I made a deal with my friends that, if I could use the house for free during my off time, I would repair any damage that was done to the house.  It was a done deal.  I did this for the next 3 years.  Almost all of the 15 guys who started going to the Hamptons were still there 10 years later.  But most of us were now in our early 30s and one by one they were getting married and not returning. 

I had been on the Fire Department for 9 months and it was the middle of November.  An Assistant Chief made rounds every morning.  At roll call one day he told me he wanted to speak to me.  I was really starting to like this job and hoped that I hadn’t screwed something up.  The Chief said that I didn’t take my vacation for that year and time was running out.  Since I had one more day on my day shift, he said tomorrow is your last day.  You go on vacation and take your 4 personal days for this year.  Come back on January 3^rd.  

I called my Dad in Florida and asked if I could come down for my vacation.  He said sure, but I didn’t tell him how long I would be there.  I saved that until after he picked me up at the airport.  

We all had a nice welcome drink around the kitchen table.  My Mom worked every day so my Dad loved having me there for company.  He loved to go fishing.  We would go 2 or 3 times a week.  I felt bad about how long I was there, so I took my folks out to dinner whenever they would agree to go – which wasn’t very often.  I trimmed all of their trees, painted the trim on their house.  I said to my Dad that I never thought I would see the day when he would have a house with pink trim.  He assured me that it wasn’t pink – it was “coral.”  It sure looked like pink to me.  

The roof on their house was cement tile.  I had to bleach it first and then paint it with a mixture of this white powder (I think it was pulverized sea shells) and water.  The paint store gave you very dark plastic eye glasses that you had to wear over regular sunglasses to protect your eyes from the glare.  

It was great to have Thanksgiving and Christmas with my folks.  I flew back to NY on January 2^nd and reported for duty on the 3^rd.  The Assistant Chief told me that since I was junior man in the firehouse, I had to take whatever vacation was left after the other men had picked.  I asked exactly when that would be – he said I started on January 5^th and reported back on March 24^th.  I called my Dad and asked if I could come back for my next vacation.  He agreed.  

This time I showed up with a 5 pound block of frozen shrimp in my suitcase.  My Mom didn’t like seafood at all and wouldn’t let my Dad cook fish or shrimp in her kitchen.  I told him not to worry – I would cook the whole 5 lbs. of shrimp in the morning after Mom left for work.  We opened all the windows, turned on all the fans and sprayed the kitchen with Lysol.  I did that and then froze half of the cooked shrimp.  We had shrimp cocktail every night for a week. Whenever we went fishing, I would cook the fish on his outdoor grill – the thought that was a great idea. 

On one of our day trips on a drift boat out in the ocean, he said to me “So, you lost your job and you’re afraid to tell your Mom.” I assured him that I hadn’t lost my job and that my pay check would be coming every two weeks until the end of March.  He asked me how I could be off for so long.  “You’ve been here since the middle of November until the end of March.”  Then he said “I had to work for 20 years to get a 3-week vacation.  I told him that’s why I no longer worked for Western Electric. 

I said I felt like all the rich people in NY who spent their winters in Florida.  When I got back to the fire house, I told them all that I “wintered in Florida” and I did that for the next 5 winters!  I had found my perfect job!

The Hamptons -

At Western Electric Co., the women outnumber the men by 2 to 1.  The girls often formed groups of 6-8 friends and they would rent a summer house in the Hamptons on Long Island or on the Jersey Shore.   One night I mentioned this to my group of friends at our local hangout, the “spoon.” I told them the girls seemed to be having a blast while we were hanging around looking for a softball game.  One guy said he knew a group of girls who rented a house in the Hamptons and that they only used it on weekends.  Three of us took our vacations at the same time and rented the house from the girls for a week.  We had a great time.  When the girls showed up on Friday night, we talked them into letting us stay through the weekend.  

My friends and I spent most of Saturday telling every girl on the beach that there was going to be a cookout at our house that night and everyone was invited - BYOB.  My logic was that the more girls who came, the more guys that would show up – that would make our girls at the house very happy!  About 150 people showed up!  Wow, what a blast.  The girls at the house thought we were the greatest thing since sliced bread.  They spent most weekends looking to meet guys –now they had almost 100 guys at their house to choose from.  The girls called us during the week and said most of the girls had found boyfriends and would be spending most weekends with them.  That meant there were open bedrooms at the house and we could stay there any time. 

We took advantage of the offer and were there almost every weekend.  We brought food and beer and had lots of parties.  We’d ask any guys who showed up at the parties for a dollar or two for a beer run. We always had lots of money left over from these “collections” so we gave it to the girls as a Thank You for letting us stay there.  We also spent a few weekends at the Jersey Shore, but we liked the Hamptons better. 

In January, I called a meeting of my friends and asked who was interested in renting a house of our own.  I also told them that we had met some really great guys in the Hamptons who lived and worked in NYC.  A lot of them also wanted to go in on a house.  In a week, I had 15 guys.  I made an appointment with a real estate agent and two of us went scouting.  We decided to look for something old and cheap until we were sure if the other guys would like spending the summer at the beach.  We could also upgrade to a bigger and better house the following year.  We rented a 5 bedroom, 2 bath garage that had been renovated to accommodate a large group of renters.  It would only cost about $100 per person for the whole summer.  We had a great time so, the next year, we found a bigger and newer house right on Peconic Bay with a dock.  It would cost us each $250.  We had all the money collected within 2 weeks.   Today, you would be lucky to find a motel room in that area for 1 night for $250.

I had been working at Western Electric a little over 2 years when I told my Mom I really didn’t like working behind a desk.  I wanted more action – somewhere I could go outside when it was nice and inside when it was cold.  My mother told me she had read that the city needed lots more policemen.  They would be giving a test every month – why don’t I try?  Here we go again!

When I told the guys at the “spoon” that I was going to take the test, one of the others said he was too.  The test was being held in a high school in Chinatown and we had to be there by 7:30 AM.  We found out that 5,000 men were taking that test and that every month similar numbers would show up.   I figured we didn’t stand much of a chance, but we took it anyway.  We both passed!  We were told to report to the Athletic Club in lower Manhattan.  

This place was 4-5 stories high, very old, and really big.  The first floor was a huge gym with weight and workout rooms.  There was a ¼ mile banked running track on the second floor overlooking the gym.  This was the agility part of the exam and we were there all day.  We both passed that part, too!  The next part was the medical exam.  We had to report to a medical clinic in the Bronx (at least that was close to home.)  Again, we were there all day.  The police department wanted the cream of the crop and had loads of guys wanting the jobs.  They told us that the civil service list would be published in the Police newsletter in about 2-3 weeks.  We got the paper and both of us were in the top 100; not bad out of 5,000.  I was told to report to Bailey Avenue Police Precinct in the Bronx for an interview and then I would report to the Police Academy.  It was now June and I was in on the Hampton House.  I asked for my name to be moved back on the list – they agreed.  In the meantime, my Mom told me that the Fire Department was having an exam and she made me apply! 

The day of the exam arrived and she had to wake me up and kick me out of the house to take the test.  I kept saying “Who wants to be a Fireman?  It sounds dangerous to me!”  There were 586 who took the exam.  By the time the agility and medical parts were done, the list was published.  I came out #8.  I figured I was a shoe-in at #8, so I quit my job at Western Electric and put off the Police Department three times more that summer, waiting for the call to come from the Fire Department.  I spent the whole summer in the Hamptons waiting.  After Labor Day, the Hamptons dies, the weather turns cold, wet and damp, and there’s no one around. I figured I’d better go home and make some money. 

 I took a job driving a taxi cab.  Most of my passengers were junior executives who would ask me what a young guy was doing driving a cab.  I would tell them I was waiting to go onto the Fire Department and I needed to make money.  They would wish me luck and give me a great tip!  I made a lot of money that fall and winter.  I didn’t hear from the Fire Department until February.  I was told to report to the Fire Academy on February 26.  So would begin a new chapter in my life.