- il y a 2 semaines
A Good Job: Stories of the FDNY (2014) is a documentary produced by HBO and hosted by actor Steve Buscemi, who once served as a New York City firefighter. The film shares firsthand stories from current and former members of the FDNY, highlighting their experiences, dedication, and the sense of brotherhood within the fire department. Through personal interviews and archival footage, the documentary provides a heartfelt and respectful look at the lives of those who protect and serve the city.
A Good Job Stories of the FDNY, A Good Job documentary, A Good Job 2014, HBO documentary, Steve Buscemi FDNY, FDNY stories film, firefighter documentary, New York firefighters, FDNY history, A Good Job HBO, A Good Job full movie, A Good Job trailer, Steve Buscemi documentary, inspiring firefighter stories, New York City fire department, firefighter life documentary, American documentary 2014, heartfelt documentary film, real life hero stories, FDNY tribute, firefighter experiences film, Steve Buscemi host, documentary about firefighters
A Good Job Stories of the FDNY, A Good Job documentary, A Good Job 2014, HBO documentary, Steve Buscemi FDNY, FDNY stories film, firefighter documentary, New York firefighters, FDNY history, A Good Job HBO, A Good Job full movie, A Good Job trailer, Steve Buscemi documentary, inspiring firefighter stories, New York City fire department, firefighter life documentary, American documentary 2014, heartfelt documentary film, real life hero stories, FDNY tribute, firefighter experiences film, Steve Buscemi host, documentary about firefighters
Catégorie
🛠️
Style de vieTranscription
00:00Sous-titrage Société Radio-Canada
00:30Sous-titrage Société Radio-Canada
01:00Sous-titrage Société Radio-Canada
01:29Sous-titrage Société Radio-Canada
01:59Sous-titrage Société Radio-Canada
02:29I was a New York City firefighter for only about four years, back in the 1980s.
02:37What I didn't realize then was how much the job would stay with me and be a part of my life.
02:42Even today, when big events happen, like Hurricane Sandy, when so many people lost their homes, including a lot of firefighters, we all come back together.
02:55It's like a family.
02:57How are you and your guys holding up?
03:06Uh, we're doing, we're hanging in there.
03:09We'll bounce back.
03:12It will.
03:13It'll bounce back.
03:14The shack is there, though.
03:15They get washed away.
03:16All right, man, have a good Thanksgiving, brother.
03:20I'll see you later on.
03:22We'll see you.
03:23I'll never forget, right after 9-11, looking over, you were by yourself, and you were digging, and you had that old scrappy helmet on and an old jacket.
03:32And I said, man, that looks like that guy from Con Air, I think it was, right?
03:35Was Con Air out?
03:36And somebody goes, that is.
03:38He was a fireman in a 55 engine.
03:41I said, get the fuck out of here.
03:43I had no idea.
03:5581.
03:5681.
03:57Right now.
03:57Hey, guys.
03:58Oh, you put this up.
04:03What's up, buddy?
04:04How you doing?
04:05What you doing, man?
04:06How you doing?
04:07All right.
04:07Hey, Ken.
04:08How are you doing, Steve?
04:09Good.
04:09How are you?
04:10Good to see you.
04:10I'm not hugging you.
04:12Hey, I know.
04:13This thing is tugging you around here.
04:14Yeah, watch him.
04:16I see him on the street.
04:17I'm sorry, Joe.
04:18I see him on the street.
04:20Listen, I see him on the street.
04:21I go to hug him.
04:23He gives me a kiss.
04:24Yeah, you got to go.
04:25Anyway.
04:27It's what we deal with now.
04:29You're in a decision not coming back, Steve?
04:32Medical benefits, Joe.
04:33Remember medical benefits.
04:35I had no designs on being a firefighter.
04:38I had some vague idea about becoming an actor.
04:42It just, you know, I was sort of directionless.
04:46Same way.
04:47It was the same way, Steve, you know?
04:48I remember saying to my dad,
04:49oh, I never thought about being a firefighter.
04:52And he said, oh, it's a good job.
04:54He said, you should take the test, so.
04:56And my family, I have three brothers.
04:59Whatever civil service test came up when we turned 18, we just had to take it.
05:04And I was lucky that for me it was the fire department.
05:07All firemen are appointed and promoted under civil service.
05:14Applicants are required to pass a written examination,
05:18strenuous physical agility test,
05:20and are subject to close medical scrutiny before acceptance.
05:24It all begins at the Proby School.
05:27The Proby, more dignifiedly known as a probation fireman.
05:32Here, the Proby is introduced to all phases of his chosen career.
05:38On cover.
05:41Let's go.
05:41Sometime today, Dennis.
05:44Sit up.
05:45So, what was it about the fire department that made you want to join?
06:09I'm like the little kid who said he wanted to be a fireman, but actually meant it.
06:12I've always wanted to be a firefighter.
06:16My school was right down the block from the firehouse that I'm working in right now.
06:20Get down.
06:21Heads up.
06:22Heads up.
06:22Heads up.
06:25We are a team.
06:27We are only as strong as our weakest individual.
06:31Go.
06:31Fire.
06:32Down.
06:33I was on the police department list,
06:35and I was on the correctional list and the fire department.
06:38And I just thought about it.
06:40I had to go, like, I'm not really a gun person.
06:46I had seen a couple of fires when I was a youngster.
06:49And I was impressed.
06:51Impressed because I'm standing across the street and looking at this volume of fire.
06:56And I said, wow.
06:58They put all that fire out.
07:00Saved lives.
07:02Very dramatic.
07:03As a young, red-blooded Brooklyn kid, I said, wow, that's pretty exciting.
07:08F-T-M-Y!
07:12Straight fire!
07:14Good!
07:15Well, my interest in the fire department is in my blood.
07:18My father was a firefighter.
07:19My father-in-law was a firefighter.
07:21My godfather was a firefighter.
07:23And I do think probably half my cousins are firefighters.
07:27Je suis encouragé à être un firefighter moi-même, mais je n'étais pas très brave.
07:32Je pense que c'est dans notre blood, l'étchage est là.
07:35Je pense que mon père a l'air planté un seed, tu sais, deux de ses frères sont des frères.
07:40Et ça a l'air d'être à être un fireman.
07:42C'est dans mon sangue.
07:45Mon grand-fathers était un firefighter, et puis mon père.
07:49Je ne sais pas si j'avais une chose.
07:51Mon frère Tommy avait déjà été un firefighter, et mon frère Timmy et je n'avais déjà fait un test ensemble.
07:59Mon père a l'air sent l'application dans le service.
08:02Je n'ai pris le test, c'est l'un des premiers tests que je n'ai jamais passé.
08:06Mais il m'a dit, vous n'avez pas fait, il m'a dit, il m'a dit, il m'a dit,
08:11il m'a dit, il m'a dit, il m'a dit, il m'a dit, il m'a dit, il m'a dit, il m'a dit.
08:14Et je remercie que mon père a l'air, il m'a dit, parce que je n'avais pas de savoir ce qui était.
08:21Il m'a dit, il m'a dit, il m'a dit, il m'a dit, il m'a dit, il m'a dit, il m'a dit.
08:27Il m'a dit, il m'a dit, il m'a dit, il m'a dit, il m'a dit, il m'a dit.
08:32J'en avais, je sens que ton nez, c'était un petit peu, j'étais d'accord.
08:36Je me dis, je n'a dit, tu m'as fait un gros erreur.
08:39Je ne disais qu'il n'a dit.
09:12The truck is basically tools and they're ladders and they do search and entry and ventilation
09:18Well the engine is, they have the hose, they hook up to the hydrant, stretch the line and bring the water into the building
09:26I like to say the engine is the most important because we have the water
09:32And without the water you can't put the fire out
09:35Nozzle, a nozzle, that's the holy grail right there
09:38First year I was assigned the can position in the truck
09:42All right, the can is the two and a half gallon water fire extinguisher
09:45And you carry the can and the hook
09:48It's amazing what you can do with that little can
09:50And I was just like, I struggled to get my mask, to get the can, to get, you know
09:55I didn't even like know where the lieutenant went
09:58The other guys had to say, you know, you know, this is where you go in here
10:03You're rolling in, you smell it first, you're a couple blocks away, you know you got a job
10:11You want to have a good job, you don't want to have like, you know, a little one room stove top fire
10:19You want to have like, you know, one or two rooms going, you want to put out a lot of fire
10:23When they say good job, that means, I don't really know how to put this, that they got their butt kicked
10:28You know what I mean, that means it was a really tough fire
10:31All you want to see is flame, because with the smoke, you know, you don't know what's going to happen
10:37The smoke could explode, smoke is keeping you from getting to the flame
10:41So once you see flame, you know you got the fire
10:43You're basically, look, you're looking for fire
10:46And as the smoke and heat subside, you keep going
10:50If the smoke and heat doesn't subside, and the fire comes out, you don't go
10:54There's a certain amount of intuition involved in firefighting
10:59Where you have to feel what's going on
11:07Once you cross that threshold
11:11That camera has no business being there, because it'll be useless
11:16If you close your eyes, and that's pretty much about what it is
11:22You can't see anything, literally, you can't, you can put your hand up in front of your mask
11:25You couldn't see anything
11:26In my day, you had to have 20-20 vision
11:28First couple of fires I went to, I said, boy, why do they demand that?
11:32Because you can't see anything
11:34Seeing fire is a sound
11:40You know, it's a roar when you open that door and the windows are broken or vented
11:46You know, it's a roaring fire, you know, you could hear that
11:49I think one of the things that I can say about fire is very seductive
11:54You see the fire roll over the ceiling above you
11:59Sometimes it mesmerizes you
12:01You start crawling in that doorway, you hear the crackling
12:06Is it past me yet? Is it in front of me? Where's it going?
12:10You're listening for fire and the crackling noise to find out where you're going or if there's victims calling out
12:15They're fearful, they just want out
12:17We're trying to get in, we're trying to make headway
12:20You feel what's going on by urgency in people's voices
12:24If there's a lot of urgency in messages, you know, and the tone is changing
12:28It's absolutely incredible, like, you don't even think that your brain can work that fast
12:40I mean, I love it because you have to, like, it's the one time when I feel really focused
12:49Hey, guys! Don't lose it, guys! Don't lose it!
12:54You never have it, 100%
12:56I had a wake-up call a couple of years ago
13:01It was like a perfect storm type of situation
13:04There was an arsonist running around in Woodside
13:07They had a deck behind the house
13:09The guy had lit up the deck, you know, not a big deal
13:12All outside of the building
13:13It's about 11 o'clock at night
13:15And I'm like, we're gonna run upstairs and check the bedrooms
13:18Make sure no one's asleep
13:22I'm up there one minute, everything's fine
13:24And the next minute, it's like, it's piercing heat
13:29That has me flat on the floor, paralyzed, unable to move
13:33And, you know, I was trapped, I mean, at 33 years on the job
13:38I'm like, how did this, like...
13:41There was a wall of fire outside, trying to shut the door to the bathroom
13:44There's stuff in the way, there's like a rug on the floor
13:47And all this stuff, it's like red from floor to ceiling
13:50And I'm thinking to myself, I can't believe it
13:52Like, after all this, I'm gonna die in this stupid bathroom
13:56On the floor of this bathroom, you know, after all this time
13:59Like, how did I get into this situation?
14:02And then in my head, I'm like, well, you know, they know you're here
14:05They know you're here, just breathe
14:07And then all of a sudden, there was a shift in the temperature
14:13And it started to drop
14:15And I knew the line's on the way, you know
14:17And they were coming up, and...
14:19The water came, I mean, um...
14:22It was okay
14:24Once all over, you think to yourself, let's do that again, that was pretty good
14:39You come back from a fire, you sit at the kitchen
14:41You break each other's balls
14:43But the serious part was, you talk to each other about what you did at that fire
14:47Because everything is about bringing the new guy up
14:52Guys are saying, well, the job's changing
14:55Job does change
14:56Headquarters changes
14:57The equipment changes
14:58But the firehouse kitchen does not change
15:02Can you just talk a little bit about the culture of the firehouse
15:06And what the kitchen is like?
15:07There is no culture
15:08And why is...
15:09That's the wrong way, but I...
15:13Talk about the low culture of the firehouse
15:16Steve was happy to see me
15:18Because for eight months, you were the junior man
15:20Having your balls busted by these guys
15:22Until I came here, and then you had somebody's balls to bust
15:25I didn't know what ball busting was until you came on the table
15:29When I saw what they did to you
15:33I thought, oh wow, I had it easy, I had it easy
15:36But, remember Phil O'Mara
15:39Oh, yeah
15:40He was hanging out one day, right?
15:42And I come in, and you guys introduce me
15:44And he looks at me
15:45He said, what'd you do before you get on the job?
15:47I said, I was a furniture mover
15:50You were the mover?
15:52What did you move, flowers?
15:56We knew you had an actor
15:57We didn't know you were an actor
15:58It's just part of the tradition of the fire department
16:01You know, because you're living with these guys
16:03You know, you're working with these guys
16:04And I'm dependent on you, you're dependent on me
16:07You know, to make sure we go home tonight, you know
16:09So you want to see where this kid is
16:11And you want to see how much he could get involved
16:14And take the abuse
16:16But it's usually not abuse abuse
16:18It's just all good fun
16:20Oh, you put powder in the bed
16:22You put, like, baby powder on the pillow
16:24So that's why at night
16:25So when he lays down, you know what I mean
16:27The powder
16:28There was a really good one
16:30We used to take, like, four soda cans
16:34And put it on, you know, the four ends of the bed
16:37Under the bed where it sits on the floor
16:39And it was so strange
16:41The guy would get in the bed
16:43And nothing happens
16:44And around three or four o'clock in the morning
16:47I guess his weight built up
16:48The bed would collapse down
16:50As we say, there's a lot of love in this room
16:55You know, even when it's just the opposite
16:58I can remember one time
17:00I walked into the kitchen
17:02My house had been robbed the day before
17:04And I walk into the kitchen
17:05And I'm feeling down
17:06And I look on the board and it says,
17:08For sale
17:09Everything that was stolen out of my house
17:10Was listed on the board for sale
17:12And I realized, oh, my God
17:14That's that dark humor
17:15That gets you through the tough times
17:17See, when you go into the kitchen of Firehouse
17:19It's actually you're going into your doctor's office
17:22You're going into your contractor's office
17:24You're going into your psychologist's office
17:26The baby doctor
17:27Whatever you got going on in your life
17:29There's somebody in the kitchen that knows what to do
17:31You know, they say the ways of the world
17:33Are solved in the kitchen
17:34And it's true
17:35Every day
17:37So we should be eating around, like, around 10 p.m. tonight?
17:39The families at home that eat together, they say
17:42Are closer
17:44I know
17:45It was that closeness, that camaraderie
17:47You know, that second family aspect of the department
17:50That really hooked me
17:51Anybody can call takeout
17:53When I came in the fire service
17:55You know, my mother would make me lunch
17:58And the guys would say, you in or out?
18:01You know, you in a meal or out?
18:02No, I'm in
18:03I wouldn't eat my mother's lunch
18:06You know, and that's excommunication
18:09There was parties for everything in the fire service
18:12There was a party for a promotion
18:13Firefighter going off probation
18:15Twenty year retirement
18:17The best call to get is from Martha
18:20And she says
18:22Uh, Boys Night Out
18:24What I love is that Martha going, Boys Night Out
18:29Is
18:30Are you going, Martha?
18:31Yeah, yeah, I'll be there
18:32Okay
18:33Are you sure?
18:34I wasn't sure
18:35But I was like
18:36So how did you come to take the test?
18:38I actually, I saw a poster in an Vietnamese restaurant
18:43On Big Street
18:44And I didn't really know
18:45I was just working as a secretary at the time
18:47And I didn't really know
18:48Like I knew I wanted to do something
18:50But I didn't know what it was
18:51And I guess it was like an ignorance is bliss situation
18:55Because like I didn't know much about the job
18:57But like I figured like, oh I can do that
19:00So, it worked out well for me
19:03It did
19:09I don't know if you can measure the difference between 1982 and today
19:16I don't think that there's a word that is big enough to encompass how great it is now
19:22When women were allowed to take the test in New York in 1977
19:26There was great resistance
19:28You cannot emphasize enough how much resistance there was from the all-male fire department
19:34It was the 70s
19:35It was like Helen Reddy singing I am woman, you know
19:37And I thought, what do you mean women couldn't take the test?
19:40My father was a firefighter
19:41When I first said I was taking the test
19:43He said, maybe your sisters, but not you
19:47And I was at the time a secretary in Manhattan in a bank
19:50Not making any money
19:51I knew that these guys all raised families on a civil service salary
19:57You know, I was raised on one
19:59And I didn't picture that happening as a secretary
20:01Going to work at seven in the morning
20:03Getting home at seven at night
20:04And making no money
20:05Was not really appealing to me
20:06And you know, even the guys in the neighborhood that I knew who were firefighters
20:10They were all very happy
20:12I wasn't happy being a secretary
20:14It was just something I did
20:16So, you know, I thought this could be something that's actually worthwhile to do
20:23I really wanted to make history
20:25I wanted to make history in New York City
20:29In 1978, the only time women were tested for the fire department
20:33All passed their written tests, but failed the physical tests
20:37Brenda Berkman thought those tests were biased and sued
20:40The physical was like a bunch of crazy different tasks
20:43You know, some of them made sense, some of them didn't
20:45Basically, the judge Sifton decided that
20:48Well, they should make the fire department physical
20:50You know, representative of what a firefighter does
20:52Pulling hoses, raising ladders, dragging dummies, forcing doors
20:56Once they announced what the second test was going to be
20:59I thought I could do that
21:01Muscles were what young men
21:04That's all we have when you're young and stupid
21:07You join the fire service
21:08So, when that was taken away from us, that was part of the anger
21:13That was a biggie
21:15My attitude was that, okay
21:18I really don't like the idea of this
21:20People coming into the department sort of sideways
21:24It was handled badly by the city
21:27They just threw those women out there into firehouses
21:29Young men have difficulty being assimilated into a firehouse
21:32The women were not giving a break
21:35Oh, no, I was not like every other probate
21:37Absolutely, positively not
21:39It was definitely a hostile work environment
21:42For a very long time
21:43And not by many, but just by enough
21:45I really craved to, like, have my bunk flowered
21:49Or to have, you know, a bucket of water dumped on me
21:51Because that would have meant I was one of them
21:53And that never happened in my first firehouse
21:55A lot of things were just cruel
22:01Abs- out now cruel
22:03You know, if I went to a fire
22:05Sometimes they would say, oh, this is your last one
22:07And somebody urinated in my boots
22:09Some people came to work thinking they would just make my life miserable
22:12And they did
22:13Every probie
22:15Every new firefighter
22:17Has to prove himself or herself
22:19However, that said, there's no question that black firefighters, women firefighters
22:25Have had to prove themselves in ways that white male firefighters have not had to
22:31When I went to, uh, initially went to rescue one
22:34I was one of the first, you know, black firemen to go there
22:37When I went and spoke to the captain
22:39And he says, well, you know, maybe some guys, you know, might be prejudiced
22:44Or something like that
22:46So I said, Cap, I said, well, that's their hangup, but it ain't mine
22:51Now I figured it out
22:53He was checking me out to see where I stood with it
22:56You know what I mean?
22:57And I didn't realize that at the time
22:59Right now, I still can get on the rig
23:01And I can still walk out there in the area
23:03And you'll have some people going, wow, it's the first firefighter, black firefighter that I've seen
23:07Of course, today, you know, the fire department of New York is still more than 90% white
23:13You know how timing is everything in life
23:16I came at a time when civil rights was coming into play
23:20So as an African American in the black community
23:23I got sent to schools that were all white schools
23:26To be able to integrate them
23:28So I was always a first at doing something
23:30It was the time that I came along
23:33So that helped me, actually, in the firehouse
23:38I got promoted in 1994
23:40So it was 12 years later
23:42Accomplishing that meant a lot to me
23:45It really did
23:46I went from, like, liking my job and doing my job
23:48To loving my job and loving this department
23:51Firefighting is like a war
23:59You're in an uncontrolled, deadly environment
24:03I want to talk about a fire that I know that you were at that, before 9-11, was one of the biggest loss of life for firefighters, the 23rd Street fire
24:18I was a lieutenant in the 33 engine
24:21And all hands came in for box 598
24:26We were assigned on the second alarm
24:28Just around the same time that engine 33 pulls up
24:33Company 18 pulls up to Chief Riley
24:37Chief Riley tells Engine Company 18, OK, listen, get a line into Wonder Drugs
24:43Tells Engine 33, you cover the exposure
24:48Now I stand there, I look in the drugstore, the light is on in the store
24:52There's a light wisp of white smoke
24:54I said to the firefighter
24:55There's nothing here, let's get around to where the action is
24:58So we go around to Broadway
25:01Now what 18 engine did was they walked to the back of the drugstore
25:05Now they're standing on top of the basement of the building on 22nd Street
25:11And this building had a art frame business
25:16And they had drums of lacquer, varnish and thinner in the basement
25:20What nobody knew is that business was so good in that art frame store
25:25That they broke through the cellar of the building on 22nd Street
25:29And took over the back third of the building on 23rd Street
25:36The Wonder Drugstore had what they call a terrazza floor
25:39It's a marble finished floor
25:42And this thick five inches of masonry insulated the heat of that fire
25:47Then suddenly a large entire section of the terrazza floor collapsed right into the fire
26:00When the floor collapsed and all those firefighters fell in there
26:04It compressed the fire, the ball of fire and heat and smoke come roaring out
26:09Twelve firefighters died that day
26:13And the guys in engine 33 lived
26:20I often wonder what if those orders were reversed
26:23If Chief Riley said 33 you go into the Wonder Drugstore
26:30So I was a young kid
26:31I didn't understand what was going on
26:34I mean you lost so many firefighters
26:40I remember going home that morning after there all night
26:43Recovered all the bodies
26:44And I jumped into bed
26:46I was exhausted
26:47And my little daughter two and a half years old comes running in
26:49Jumps into bed with me and snuggles up
26:51And I said well there's a lot of kids who are not going to have daddies to snuggle up to anymore
26:56But then I fell asleep
26:58I make Deputy Chief 10 years later
27:07I'm in the Bronx
27:087th Division
27:10Commander up there
27:11And I start to write these training manuals for tactics and strategy
27:16And then I start to write about building collapse
27:19Floor collapse
27:20Wall collapse
27:21Ceiling collapse
27:22Stairway collapse
27:23And I can't stop writing about building collapse
27:25And I tell my wife
27:26I feel like I'm vomiting this stuff out
27:29I realized then
27:30That was my post-traumatic stress debriefing
27:34I held it in for 10 years
27:36And then I wrote it in a book
27:38Floor by floor and wall by wall collapse
27:42So that's how I exorcise my demons
27:49We're a little more not as attached in a lot of ways
27:52We can go to a fire
27:53And when we walk away
27:55Somehow you just kind of put it in the back of your mind
27:58And you keep going on
28:02When you're a firefighter in New York City
28:04The war is on fire and it's never ending
28:07Six New York City firemen died in Brooklyn
28:10I remember the wall bombs fire
28:15I just saw the headline
28:17And, you know, some sort of denial set in
28:21Where I didn't really want to know about that part of it
28:23I do remember thinking about it like
28:25Yeah, we're gonna be, you know, firefighters
28:28I don't think I really comprehended what we were getting into
28:31There's a lot of departments that are aggressive
28:44I don't think there's anybody as aggressive as New York City
28:47It's part of the way we were brought up
28:49The people that went through the war years with me
28:51They built the basis for what we have today
28:54It's on the backs of those people that went through the most difficult years we've had
28:58It happens 30 times a day
29:00Someone is burning down a building
29:02A landlord for profit
29:03A tenant for revenge
29:05Junkies, vandals
29:07Arson is our fastest growing crime
29:09More than 11,000 firemen were injured fighting those fires last year
29:13If it's tenable, you're going in
29:16If you're getting reports that there are people in there, you know
29:19You're gonna make that move
29:21Regardless of what's going on
29:24I mean
29:25You can't think
29:26You gotta get in there
29:27You gotta act
29:28Aggressive attack, aggressive attack
29:29And that's the best way to fight a fire
29:31Very aggressive
29:32We haven't went through anything that they went through
29:35We went through a couple of jobs here and there
29:37Where you thought your life was on the line
29:38They went through a couple of jobs a day
29:41We had Eliza on the line
29:43They came from the war
29:45Most of the men were World War II veterans
29:48You know, Pacific, Europe
29:50Our father, he came out in 1962
29:54He went through the war years, the 60s and 70s
29:56And he didn't talk about his experiences
29:59Until I came on the job
30:01And then he opened up
30:02Not a whole lot, you know
30:04He still had that Marine
30:06That's when mom told him that's enough
30:08Let's move on to something else
30:10But I got to see him in action
30:12Yeah, I was a probie
30:13And I couldn't believe how fast he was at a fire
30:15You know, no mask, no front piece on
30:17No breathing apparatus
30:19So I said, I'm gonna try this
30:21We start moving in
30:22And I just hear him talking
30:2415 feet, back to the left
30:25Down the hallway
30:26The room's on the right
30:27I had to follow him
30:29You know, like a duck
30:30Following their mom around
30:31I just followed him everywhere he went
30:33And now I'm pushing in
30:34I'm coughing
30:35I'm hacking up a lung
30:36My face is probably on the ground
30:38Trying to breathe
30:39And I couldn't hang with him
30:40I'm taking hits
30:41Hits, you know
30:42And he's just talking
30:43Like it's a walk in the park
30:44He said, get in the apartment now
30:45And I said, there we go
30:46Open the door
30:47Get in the apartment
30:48The whole stairway collapsed
30:50The interior stairway collapsed
30:51And that was probably the only thing he said
30:53Get in the apartment
30:54His nickname was God
30:56You know, which is kind of a big nickname to carry
30:59When you look back in 1967
31:04When my father got on the fire department
31:06They had come out with this new technology
31:09Called a mask
31:10And you put it on your face
31:11And you could breathe it in smoke
31:13Now, most people would say
31:15Wow, that's great technology
31:18You know, we all got to use it
31:19When do I get mine?
31:21When they insisted that this mask be used
31:24On a regular basis, cough-wise, this and everything else
31:27I remember, I think I was a captain at the time
31:30And I said, what are we turning into?
31:33Nobody wanted to use it
31:34Because if you were caught with a mask on
31:36You were looked upon as a coward
31:38Firefighters, given the work that we do
31:42We have to think we're invincible
31:44Because when you walk through a door
31:46And there's fire on the other side
31:47If you make a left, you live
31:49If you make a right, you die
31:51That's a subconscious decision that you're making
31:53That, you know, not too many people can handle
31:56I was relatively new
32:14And I worked a Friday night
32:19And early in the morning, we had a loss of life
32:30This is 49 years ago
32:32And it was my first mother and child
32:36The thing that struck me with that particular fire
32:38Was the bed had the same sheets that my son's bed had
32:41About 3 o'clock in the afternoon
32:43A tenement fire on Pitkin Avenue
32:45It was a loss of life of a child in a crib
32:48And it was tragic
32:52And I'm looking around and I'm saying, you know, what do we do now?
32:57You know, fire's over, we go home
32:59I don't know, I think I was just sort of like a little numb
33:02I mean, I think I've always been sort of removed
33:07A little bit, like a little bit distant from it
33:10I mean, I guess it's my mechanism
33:13I came home
33:17And my wife was packed, ready to go
33:21We had booked to go up to the Poconos
33:23Friday, Saturday, Sunday night, come home
33:27And on the way home, my wife was staying in the car
33:30She says, it's over, the marriage is falling
33:32She says, we're not talking
33:33And I realized
33:37I said, honey, no, no
33:39I love you as much now as ever
33:42And I said, but
33:44I didn't tell you what happened
33:46And so I described to her what happened
33:49She says, oh my God
33:57I pulled the car over, off the road
34:01And I broke down
34:02Which was, at the time, I thought inappropriate
34:06But now I look back and I said, no
34:09That's what you're, you're a human being
34:15We know that it's a cumulative effect
34:18All these different traumatic events
34:20That firefighters are exposed to
34:22And eventually it becomes too much for some
34:27To deal with
34:28Which we have to understand
34:30Is what we're putting these guys at risk for
34:35What's the name of the club?
34:39The Happyland Fire was certainly
34:40Something that would haunt me
34:42Did you know that it was a social club
34:43When you were going there?
34:45Did you know that there were
34:46No
34:47They really had no idea then
34:49What you were going to find
34:51No, I thought
34:52It might be
34:54Might not be anybody in there
34:55They're coming out running from where?
34:57They're coming out running from the club
34:58They're coming out running from the club
34:59They're telling you where
35:00You're kidding you, motherfucker
35:02We have multiple 1045s on a second floor
35:06You couldn't see
35:07So we didn't see the rest of the
35:09The second floor
35:12But after a while
35:14As more companies were coming up the stairs
35:17From the interior of the club
35:19From the first floor
35:20On the first floor
35:21And it was becoming more well lit
35:23That you could see
35:24You know, there was people
35:25All over the second floor
35:27A lot of people looked like
35:29They were just sleeping
35:30Because nobody was burned
35:32And you didn't see
35:33Like up there
35:34We didn't see people
35:35Who had a lot of soot
35:36Necessarily on their face
35:37The first person I removed
35:40A woman
35:41And I still remember
35:43What she looked like
35:44And you could see
35:46That it was
35:47You know, it was too late for everybody
35:49And that's what I made
35:52You know, I decided
35:53I'm not gonna
35:54You know, look at people's faces
35:56If I don't have to
36:12The arsonist
36:13He had just had an argument
36:14With his girlfriend
36:15Who was the hat check girl
36:16And he was really disruptive
36:18The bouncers had to throw him out
36:19And he threatened them
36:20I'll be back
36:21I'll fix you guys
36:22He did come back
36:23So he opens that door
36:25Splashes the gasoline
36:26The inside door was closed
36:28And he throws a couple of matches down
36:30And then walks away
36:38The superheating gases and smoke
36:40From the gasoline
36:41Went right up the wooden stairway
36:42And it just killed him
36:44Right in the spot
36:49At the bar, at tables
36:52People on the dance floor
36:54Just fell to the floor
36:56And it was still
36:57Lightly smoke
36:58And the guys were in there
36:59And they were saying
37:00This floor is awful soft
37:02It's spongy
37:03It might be ready to collapse
37:04It was standing on the bodies
37:06Of the people who got killed
37:10You see people
37:11Like a battlefield
37:12Just bodies
37:13Laying all over the place
37:1487
37:16All together
37:17I remember thinking
37:19You know
37:20I didn't want to be there anymore
37:22You know
37:23There was nothing more
37:24That we could do
37:25Um
37:26And um
37:35Drama
37:36Is an amazing thing
37:38You can't put
37:3910 pounds of shit
37:40In a 5 pound bag
37:41Somehow along the line
37:42This is going to pop out
37:43In stress
37:44In road rage
37:45You're going to bring it home
37:46You can't talk to anybody
37:47In the family
37:48Where is this stuff going to go
37:49You can't really talk
37:50To somebody outside
37:51Of the job
37:52About things like that
37:53You know
37:54You could talk to another fireman
37:55About it
37:56You know
37:57But
37:58I wouldn't bring that home
37:59To my wife
38:00Do you think
38:01That there's still firefighters
38:02Out there
38:03That are reluctant
38:04To seek help
38:05It's not
38:06A part of the
38:07Everyday firefighters
38:08Lifestyle
38:09To ask for help
38:10What do you need help
38:11For?
38:12You can't take it?
38:13You can't take the death
38:14To take the stress
38:15Of this job
38:16Don't feel sorry for yourself
38:17Nothing happened to you
38:18You didn't lose your life
38:20You didn't get hurt
38:21You don't need this
38:22You know
38:23Somebody else needs this
38:30It was a full moon
38:32I remember the night
38:33The stars
38:34You could smell it in the air
38:36We knew we had a job
38:38I was the inside team
38:39I was the can
38:40These guys were very diligent
38:42About
38:43Well there might be
38:44Somebody in there
38:45So we ran into the building
38:47We searched every floor
38:48We got up to the top floor
38:51There's a room
38:53The dead man's room
38:54That the officer
38:56Or we always have to go check
38:57Cause there's only one way
38:59Out of the room
39:00If you don't take the doorway
39:02You gotta go out the window
39:04And uh
39:05I noticed that the fire escape
39:07Had been set on fire
39:09As soon as I walked
39:10To the middle of the room
39:11To follow the officers
39:13And them
39:14There was an explosion
39:16I never saw a light like this
39:22And that's when I was like
39:24Oh no no no
39:25Because you know
39:26When you're standing in
39:27From a fourth floor
39:28And you're looking down
39:29And there's nothing but cement
39:30That's a long way to jump
39:32I didn't realize
39:33I was on fire
39:34Okay
39:35I had that new bunker gear
39:37I was cooking in it
39:39It was like
39:40I was like some beef
39:41In the oven cooking
39:42And I didn't know
39:43And when the fire started up my neck
39:45It snapped me out of my shock
39:48And I just closed my eyes
39:50And I stood in the window
39:51And jumped
39:52Then I never opened my eyes again
39:56The EMT guys were saying
40:01Open your eyes
40:02Talk to us
40:03But I thought I was in heaven
40:04I know it sounds silly
40:06Everything I'm saying to you
40:08I didn't expect to live after that
40:10I really didn't
40:11The guys were telling me
40:12How lucky I was
40:13Because the firefighters
40:15That had shown up
40:16Put their body in the way
40:18So that when I jumped
40:19I didn't break anything
40:20I spent like three months in the burn center here in Manhattan
40:31I had skin grafts
40:33I had third degree burns everywhere
40:36And then I was a little crazy after that
40:39Post-traumatic stress set in
40:41I was seeing people that we had been at fires
40:44Dead people
40:45In little dark areas
40:47Or certain lights hit you
40:49And it all comes back
40:51It's just like being a soldier at war
40:53You always ask, why me?
40:55But you know, if you've been on the job long enough
40:58You're gonna get hurt
40:59Your time comes around
41:01On that day, you know, when you hear the number of casualties
41:18Of civilians
41:20Yeah, I just wasn't able to even understand it
41:23Until I heard the number of firefighters
41:27And the first number that came in that I heard
41:29Was they were estimating that 100 firefighters were killed
41:33And that to me was unbelievable
41:37I didn't know who
41:38But I knew I was gonna know people
41:40You know
41:41And that's when it became real for me
41:44We knew he was working
41:45I think he even said on the radio
41:47This is a terrorism act
41:48My dad did over the air
41:50He knew what we was getting into
41:52I was actually on vacation
41:54And I was in New Mexico with my husband
41:57And when the buildings came down
41:59I turned to my husband
42:00And I said
42:01I think everyone I work with is dead
42:02So
42:05Sorry
42:06And basically
42:09That was true
42:10Almost everyone I worked with
42:11Who was working that day died
42:13So
42:15And I recall walking down West Street
42:22You know
42:23And seeing the devastation
42:24And walking up to Chief Crothers
42:26Who was my dad's boss
42:29At the time
42:30And I said
42:31Where's my father?
42:33And then he's like
42:34He just shook his head like this
42:35Put his head down
42:36He's like
42:37I don't know Joe
42:38Joe was in that area
42:41When I first got there
42:42We met eyes
42:43And you know
42:44He shook his head
42:45And so I knew what he meant
42:52It was about one o'clock in the morning
42:53I found out that
42:54Both my brothers
42:55Were in fact working
42:56So
42:57You know
42:58At the time
42:59I just told my mother
43:00They were just listed as missing
43:01I knew they weren't going to be alive
43:03But
43:04Until
43:05We found something of them
43:06I didn't want to take that hope away from them
43:11On September 12th
43:12I knew I wanted to
43:13Go and help
43:14So I rejoined my old company
43:15Engine 55
43:16And went to the pile
43:18With the rest of the guys
43:23And we all just started digging
43:26I brought my video camera
43:35And we all kept looking
43:58From Engine 55
44:00There were five guys missing
44:03Mais nous allions toujours regarder.
44:33C'est parti.
45:03C'est parti.
45:33C'est parti.
46:05C'est parti.
46:36C'est parti.
46:37C'est parti.
46:38C'est parti.
46:39C'est parti.
46:40C'est parti.
46:41C'est parti.
46:42C'est parti.
46:43C'est parti.
46:44C'est parti.
46:45C'est parti.
46:46C'est parti.
46:47C'est parti.
46:48C'est parti.
46:49C'est parti.
46:50C'est parti.
46:51C'est parti.
46:52C'est parti.
46:53C'est parti.
46:54C'est parti.
46:55C'est parti.
46:56C'est parti.
46:57C'est parti.
46:58C'est parti.
46:59C'est parti.
47:00C'est parti.
47:01C'est parti.
47:02C'est parti.
47:03C'est parti.
47:04C'est parti.
47:05C'est parti.
47:06C'est parti.
47:07C'est parti.
47:08C'est parti.
47:09C'est parti.
47:10C'est parti.
47:11C'est parti.
47:12C'est parti.
47:13C'est parti.
47:14C'est parti.
47:15C'est parti.
47:16C'est parti.
47:17C'est parti.
47:18C'est parti.
47:19C'est parti.
47:20C'est parti.
47:21C'est parti.
47:22C'est parti.
47:23C'est parti.
47:24C'est parti.
47:25C'est parti.
47:26C'est parti.
47:27C'est parti.
47:28C'est parti.
47:29C'est parti.
47:30C'est parti.
47:31C'est parti.
47:32C'est parti.
47:33C'est parti.
47:34C'est parti.
47:35C'est parti.
47:36I don't think so. Not that kind of stuff.
47:39You know, it's always going to be there.
47:41I don't feel like I struggle, per se, each day.
47:44Like, how am I going to get through the day?
47:46Why am I so angry? Why am I yelling at the kids?
47:49It's just when it happens, I say,
47:51I shouldn't have probably yelled like I did,
47:54but looking back on it,
47:56I attribute it to what we've gone through.
47:58I feel like it's like a hockey game
48:01with the plexiglass.
48:04I'm on the spectator side of the plexiglass,
48:06and my family, friends, and everybody else is on the other side,
48:09and I can't, I want to, but I can't get on the other side.
48:14I can't get on the ice, I can't get into the game,
48:17and they can't hear me.
48:19The only people that can hear me
48:21where it resonates with are the firefighters.
48:24You know, the firefighters are all tough guys,
48:26and I'll get through this on my own.
48:29And then September 11th hit, and everybody knew
48:32that this was something that was going to be way beyond
48:35what we'd have done, ever had done before.
48:47There was such an overwhelming need for counseling
48:51and for reaching out.
48:54We realized that when we were sending counselors there,
48:57psychologists, people weren't opening up.
49:00How did you get involved in being, so,
49:03so what is your title, first of all?
49:05Oh, good point. A peer counselor.
49:07A buddy of mine called me up after 9-11 and said,
49:09listen, the counseling unit's looking for some guys
49:11to work in the counseling unit.
49:13I said, yeah, I don't know anybody.
49:15He said, no, I want you.
49:16I said, no, you don't want me.
49:17I don't know anything about that stuff.
49:19He said, no, we're doing what we're taking senior guys
49:22who were there during the war years,
49:24and the guys will listen to them.
49:25Firefighters do not openly tell you what's bothering them.
49:31You have to pull it out.
49:32So instead of what I call stuffing it,
49:34you kind of get it out.
49:36You know what I mean?
49:37Whether it's yelling, whether it's screaming,
49:38you know, whatever it takes.
49:40We learned right after September 11th,
49:42unless we had peer counselors,
49:43people weren't going to open up to them.
49:44I guess you'd say we're the middleman.
49:46We go around to the firehouses,
49:48and we try to motivate them into tapping into mental health.
49:51I went there the first day, sat down.
49:53I said to myself, no, these guys don't know the hurt that I feel,
49:58the loss that I feel.
49:59And then the first guy starts talking.
50:02And I'm saying to myself, he stole my lines.
50:05Second guy, very similar.
50:07By the time they got to me, it was just more of the same.
50:10We all went through it.
50:12One of the things that the FDNY did in rebuilding itself
50:17was to understand that there is a tremendous fallout
50:21after such an event like that,
50:23or even mini 9-11s, which happen every single day,
50:26multiple times in the city.
50:28There's fires.
50:29There's people dying.
50:30There's, you know, tragedies that firefighters
50:32are the people that are holding their hand when they die.
50:35One of the things that I love about the fire department
50:43is the sense of tradition and pride that is just built into this job.
50:50What I also love about this job is that firefighters not only help other people,
50:57but you help each other.
50:59You really have each other's backs.
51:02And you help and support each other.
51:05You know, that's when you're not too busy busting each other's balls.
51:08I know that that also goes along with the job.
51:12It's been a decade now since 9-11, and the fire department is still feeling its effects.
51:18We have members who are still struggling.
51:20We have members who are sick.
51:22We have members who are dying.
51:24And some of their family members are here tonight,
51:27and you honor us by your presence.
51:29We've lost over 60 guys to cancer since 9-11.
51:36What you're seeing right now, really, is just, I think, the tip of the spear
51:40of what's coming for guys who was finding that they...
51:44We were always told at the time it would be probably about 10 years
51:47before these things start to metastasize, and you're seeing it now.
51:51I can't remember a day since September 11th that I haven't coughed.
51:57Well, just from our firehouse alone, we've had eight guys with symptoms.
52:03Well, they called it the World Trade Center cough, you know.
52:06Some guys, if you make them laugh too much, they'll call full blood.
52:10It's scary, Steve. It really is.
52:12That's one thing I think I put my defense up.
52:15You know, we don't talk about it, my wife and I don't talk about it,
52:18but it's scary.
52:20It's scary what could happen to you and what's going to happen to your family.
52:23I mean, you can't walk into any firehouse in the city
52:25without seeing five or six fundraiser flyers on any billboard for a guy that's sick.
52:35That's what we do, and that's what he did in 9-11.
52:39Larry was the guy you can count on.
52:41A couple of times in the holiday, he wanted to go to the Trade Center.
52:45He said, what have you done? I'm going to the Trade Center.
52:47He says, I'm coming with you.
52:52You know, Joey's brother's missing.
52:54He's back and forth there continuously.
52:56I mean, he just had to be there to become a way of life.
52:59There's a lot of resentment and regrets there.
53:03There was a lot of things that were preventable here, I believe.
53:07And, you know, you get statements from the EPA that the year is safe to breathe,
53:13three days later, you know, you're like, all the stuff inside that building that was crushed there,
53:18between the glass and the concrete, and where's it going?
53:22We're ingesting it. We're breathing it in.
53:27It's always on your mind you might get sick.
53:30I'm the chauffeur. I drive the fire truck.
53:33It's every kid's dream.
53:37Nobody wants to talk about the bad sides of the job.
53:39I have to say, the most thing that he loved about the job was the guys.
53:46You know, being around everybody and...
53:48Because nobody understands us more than another fire.
53:52Even our wives sometimes don't even get our jokes.
53:54They're like, these are a bunch of assholes, you know?
53:56That's what they would tell us.
53:58We had a talk one day, and he looked at me and I just looked at him.
54:10And I said, is there anything you want?
54:15And he just, you know, no, we're good.
54:17You know, just do what you do.
54:19And now we watch as these brave men and women who fought fires and fought so hard to save the lives in their careers,
54:34fight even braver battles against the diseases.
54:39Today, we remember 12 individuals and place their names on our World Trade Center Memorial Wall.
54:46It's a realization that, you know, you may get sick down the road, but would I not have gone there?
54:53Absolutely not.
54:55It happens again tomorrow.
54:56I want to be the first guy there.
54:57That's just how I am.
54:59You know, maybe some people think that's foolish, but, you know, that's why I'm a fireman.
55:04I think ultimately, you know, the best thing to do is to be of service to other people.
55:08And if you can find a job that allows you to do that, you know, what else do you need?
55:20And it's, the fire department has like turned me into a man, you know, like a mensch.
55:25When you first get on a job, you, yeah, yeah, yeah, I want fires, I want to do this, yeah, yeah, yeah.
55:33Then after a while, you go, ah, well, if it happens, it happens, I'm here to do it.
55:39Then as you go longer, you go, boy, I'm wishing a tragedy on somebody.
55:43You know what I mean? So you learn.
55:44I come in the fire service with nothing. I mean, it was a high school dropout.
55:51I learned how to be a husband. I learned how to be a father.
55:55I learned how to be a man in the kitchen watching those other guys.
56:04My life has taken me in a lot of great different directions,
56:09but I realize what I keep coming back for.
56:11It's not the fighting fires. I can't do that anymore.
56:16It's the guys. The family.
56:18John, thanks so much.
56:27You're very welcome. Thank you.
56:30You're off the hot seat.
56:32That was good.
56:33You're a character yourself.
56:34Yes.
56:35Well...
56:36You are.
56:37As you know, some of the best character studies are in the firehouse.
56:38Yes, they are.
56:39Yes, they are.
56:40Thanks for talking to us, Dennis.
56:41You're welcome.
56:42You're welcome.
56:43You're welcome.
56:44You're welcome.
56:45Thank you.
56:46You're off the hot seat.
56:47That was good.
56:48That was good.
56:49You're a character yourself.
56:50Well...
56:51You are.
56:52As you know, some of the best character studies are in the firehouse.
56:55Yes, they are.
56:56Yes, they are.
56:57Thanks for talking to us, Dennis.
56:58You're welcome.
56:59Not so bad, right?
57:00No.
57:01All right, Steve.
57:02Who's the toughest fireman you ever were in?
57:03Yes, they are.
57:04Thanks for talking to us, Dennis.
57:06You're welcome.
57:09Not so bad, right?
57:11No.
57:12Average hasn't lost his touch.
57:22You still got your touch.
57:25All right, Steve.
57:30C'est le plus de la flamme que j'ai travaillé.
57:32Je veux dire, c'est un mec !
57:46C'est un homme box, nous pouvons faire ça.
57:49C'est un homme box !
58:00Il me semble de toute façon, c'est un homme box de déclenche.
58:03…
58:04…
58:09…
58:14…
58:20…
58:22…
58:25...
58:55...
Recommandations
1:34:26
|
À suivre
1:18:13
1:45:58
41:08
10:23:36
1:37:23
1:32:55
1:42
46:27
2:01
0:45
3:37:40
1:23:24
0:30
1:21:22
1:24:23
2:30
1:08:13
43:34
15:39
1:33
22:44
Écris le tout premier commentaire