Episode 377: The Best of the Bravest - Nationwide: Chief Dan Coughlin (New Haven)(Volume 7) - Mic’d In New Haven

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
You're listening to the Mike to You Even podcast hosted
by media personality and consultant Mike Glow. This is the

(01:10):
best of the Bravest Nationwide audition, Best of the Bravest
Nationwide edition with a local touch tonight. As I mentioned
the promo for the show, tonight's guest is from my hometown,
born and raised and of course still serving in the
New Haven Fire Department, as will chronicle momentarily when we
introduce him. Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen to this episode

(01:31):
three hundred and seventy seven of the Mike the New
Haven podcast has the March to four hundred rolls on.
If you haven't checked out the previous episode this past Friday,
that was best the Bravest interviews with the Ft and
Wives Elite, and that was with former Fday Commissioner Tom
von Essen, who of course oversaw the department from nineteen
ninety six until two thousand and one, was union president
prior to that, and of course had the very very

(01:52):
difficult task of overseeing the recovery efforts after the events
of September eleventh, two thousand and one. Great conversation with him,
great glimpse at a lot of components of the FD
and Y during that era, So go back by all
means and listen to that one if you haven't already. Again,
really looking forward to this one tonight. I know a
lot of my friends from class sixty five and across
the board and the New Aven Fire Department are going

(02:12):
to be watching this one tonight, So hello to all
of you in advance. We have a lot to cover
with tonight's guest. He's had a long career, but of
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sponsored of the Mike the New Haven Podcast. All Right

(05:00):
thanks to Vincent, Thanks to Bill. My next guest is
a fourth generation firefighter whose name has become synonymous with
leadership and legacy in the elm city, as he'll tell
me about tonight. From following in his father's footsteps of
Engine ten and fair Haven East Battalion Headquarters, to commanding
at major fires and other noteworthy incidents across the city,
his career as spanned the full spectrum of fire service roles,
from proby all the way to his current role as

(05:21):
Assistant Chief of Operations. Along the way, he's aided in
high stakes rescues, led companies in some of New Haven's
most fire pro neighborhoods, and been a steady hand at
the helm of the department's toughest cause, of which again
he'll chronicle with me tonight. Today. He carries forward not
only his family's tradition, but the values that define what
it means to serve the new Haven Fire Department, and
that for this volume, seven of the best, the bravest

(05:41):
nationwide addition from the New Haven Connecticut Fire Department, my
hometown department, Assistant Chief of Operations, Dan Coughlin, Chief, Good
to see again, How are you good?

Speaker 2 (05:49):
To see you? How are you good?

Speaker 1 (05:51):
Good? A lot to cover tonight. As I said, so,
I don't have to ask you where you grew up,
nor do I have to ask you where your love
of the job came from. You were essentially born into it.

Speaker 2 (06:00):
I was. I'm a fourth generation new Haven fire for foreigner,
raised in New Haven. You know, this is all I've
never known. It's what I grew up around. I don't
want to say it was bred into me, because you know,
we my parents were great about letting us choose our
own path, but this was the only path for me.

Speaker 1 (06:18):
And where did you work in any roles? Because sometimes
just to get the experience, some people work corporate dms
or anything like that before getting into the fire service.
Was that your case or no?

Speaker 2 (06:26):
I did. I worked for Hunter's Ambulance and AMR prior
to getting on the job. I got my EMT back
in nineteen ninety two and I was waiting to get
on the job. I took the commercial ambulance.

Speaker 1 (06:37):
Was New Haven the only department you tested for? Did
you test around.

Speaker 2 (06:40):
I tested around. I actually got a job for the
merit job offer for the Meriton Fire Apartment about three
weeks after getting started the academy in New Haven. But
I tested around a lot, a lot of local departments,
and you know, I did well. You know, truth be told,
I would have left in a heartbeat to go to
New Haven if I had gotten hired by them anyway,
So it was it was a good experience, of course.

Speaker 1 (07:02):
So your academy class is funny because every morning at
roll call, I would look to my right and where
I just happened to be standing in the hallway. We
would organize by squads. I would look up and I
would see fifty third recruit class, either fifty second or
fifty third recruit class two thousand and two. I mentioned
we share mutual friends from that class, Pete Reading and
Mike the Moster. We're working in Alleytown in West Haven.
You and Chief Samuel were actually in that class together.
So just tell me about your first day and just

(07:25):
the rigors of that six month academy.

Speaker 2 (07:27):
It was. It was tough. We started June nineteen, two
thousand and two, so we got the summer version and
we got into the winter version. You know, we went
all the way until November. The first day, as you know,
is well, the first day isn't that bad. It's a
lot about it's a lot of the paperwork aspect. But
that first day when PT starts and reality kicks in
and you know, the New Aven Academy is it's not

(07:50):
an easy academy. It is militant, it is you know,
they are hard on you. The PT alone is very tough,
and you know it was a great experience, but uh,
I would never want to do it again.

Speaker 1 (08:03):
Yeah. I think a lot of guys and that I've
spoken to over the years but say the same thing.
It is not The city runs are fun though you know,
I don't know if you're classed at a lot of that,
but those are always fun because you get to see
the people that you're gonna be serving and it really
strengthens your legs. So for those of you who are
trying to get on of course at New Haven, I
will give you that if I start running, if you
don't run already, because you're gonna be doing a lot

(08:24):
of it in New Haven's academy. So coming on, I mean,
you got your assignment of course upon graduation going to Tens.
What's nice about Tens And this is not you know,
a slide in any of the other firehouses in the city.
A lot of them are very busy in their own right,
but pretty much any box in the East Battalion you're
gonna go to. So just in your own first new
neighborhood alone, you're gonna do a lot. But think about it.
Seventeen's as boxes you're gonna go to, a number of

(08:45):
engine eight boxes you're gonna go to, and even a
number of engine four's boxes you're gonna go to. So
you certainly have your fill.

Speaker 2 (08:51):
Yeah, it was incredible to go into the same firehouse
my father was assigned to. But you know, Engine ten,
engine four, Engine ten into eleven ECHI. Those are your
big four houses. Whitney is in its own right, is
an important house because of the special operations as right,
But your four houses that burn are right there, you know.

(09:12):
And so to go to that house right out of
the academy, and you know, meant the world to me.
And there's a lot of experience waiting in that neighborhood.
You know, the New Eving police will tell you, New
Haven firefighters will tell you there's nothing like that district.

Speaker 1 (09:24):
It is wild, and I live in the district, so
I would know important race essentially in this district right
off of Exit eight, so I can tell you firsthand.
I often hear tens and seventeen's going throughout the day
or those rare days that I'm home. You know, I
hear their sirens in Amrs two for that matter, because
they're down the street from me frequently. So as far
as in this is a two part question, tell me
about the guys who really helped you learn early on,

(09:45):
you know, as you're seeingior guys, And also tell me
about some of the calls early on that stick out
the guys.

Speaker 2 (09:51):
When I got on. Nowadays you see a very young
new Haven fire department. You know, the new Haven twenty
put promotions and hold promotions and hiring pretty much on
hold for about ten years. So we went and hired
well over one hundred firefighters at once. So we were there.
It was good experience. You're in the firehouse a lot,
you're going to a lot of fires. But you know,

(10:12):
when I got on, the old timers were old timers,
and I mean they just knew so much it's incredible.
Even my father. You know, my father retired in ninety eight.
I get on O two. You know, he drove Engine
ten on the second division, and you go to a
fire and I'd say, hey, Dad, we had a fire
at this address last night. Oh blue house such and such.

(10:34):
Here the hydrants right here, this is the move. They've
got this, this and this and up until the day
he passed. I mean, it was the knowledge is unbelievable.
But you know, I was fortunate enough to be around
you know, captains like Bobby Gohooley, Jimmy Stacey, Tommy Hines.
I mean, these guys, but they knew Mike Grant. I mean,
what these guys knew is just insane.

Speaker 1 (10:56):
Yeah. Of course Chief Graham will talk about him. He
had a lasting impact on the fire service as a whole,
not just, of course, the new Haven Fire Department Specifically,
we're talking with Assistant Chief of Operations, Dan Coughlin. He
helms operations for the new Haven, Connecticut Fire Department. If
you have any questions in the chat, SUBMITIMU at the
appropriate time. Of course, we'll get to him. So do
you remember your first box?

Speaker 2 (11:16):
My first box was well, my first night in the
New Haven Fire Department My first call as a new
Haven firefighter was a box alarm and just to show
you how times were different, man, we had a middleman.
There was five guys on the engine that night. We
were heavy. There's a fire going on on the hill.
In My first call as a new Haven firefighter was

(11:38):
a box alarm at Dixwell and Henry in New Hallville
for an electoral fire in the basement of the church.
And that was the first call I ever went on
as a new Haven firefighter. Small fire, but a fire nonetheless,
when you're new and you know, I just saw it
a million dollars that night, you know.

Speaker 1 (11:54):
And I will say, especially considering your career path, officers
not to say that guys without ranks, senior guys are
very valuable. And that's something that has been instilled in
a lot of recruits. And I remember hearing a guy
like Lieutenant Tulo talk about that how the privates you know,
who never really go up in rank that are just
seeing your guys can really teach you a lot. And
that's certainly true. But giving your career path, was it
having officers early on in your career like that that

(12:15):
motivated you eventually don't want to start testing.

Speaker 2 (12:18):
Yeah, I would say so. You know, when I got on,
I never had any any ideas or any visions of
climbing the ranks, and I certainly never thought I would
be where I am today. But I did, you know,
when the lieutenant's test came around. After that ten year
hiatus the Supreme Court settled the even twenty case, the
lieutenant's test came out. You know, started talking to Lieutenant

(12:41):
Duran at that time, a few other officers, and they
really pushed me to do it. My father pushed me
for every rank. He was a career private, which is
you know, like you said, those guys the value they
have is incredible. My father pushed me along the way.
You know, he encouraged me to move up in the ranks.
You know, good friends that were officers encouraging me to.

Speaker 1 (13:02):
Move on and move up. You did, as we'll talk
about later. Now, you know, the mortality of the job.
It's known, and it's instilled in you very early on.
There's no delusions about it, and especially your class. You
came on June of two thousand and two, nine months
removed from nine to eleven. So if there was ever
a time where the mortality was on the forefronts of
aspiring firefighters's minds. It was that time, and not just

(13:22):
you haven't but really across the country, across the world,
you know, So it's definitely real. But you not to
say you hadn't had any sort of dangerous cause before that.
But the Howard McCann fire of two thousand and four,
now here's a fire just for those of you that
aren't familiar with the January of four, really cold day
and if you live in this part of the country,
you know how cold these New England winters can be.
I believe the uh summary of it, and we'll watch

(13:45):
the video and then discuss it further. Was that in
seeing the smoke turn white naturally, as you know, most
people would assume this, they thought that water was being
put on the fire and the fire was going out.
That was not the case. It nearly turned fatal. And
we have this video from wtn H News eight as
it was reported on originally in two thousand and four.

Speaker 3 (14:05):
Radio transmissions have been released now from Wednesday's Farce fire
that broke out in the Morris Cove section of New Haven.
As you listen, you will hear how intense things were
inside the burning building. Firefighters had to jump out of windows.
Another nearly lost his life. It was an intense few
moments that must have seemed like an eternity to these

(14:25):
New Haven firefighters. Smoke and flames engulfed the house when
word came that one of their own was trapped inside.

Speaker 4 (14:38):
We're hearing greens of help.

Speaker 3 (14:39):
For upon hearing this desperate cry for help, firefighters did
not hesitate.

Speaker 5 (14:47):
To act our help, need.

Speaker 2 (14:56):
Help getting out.

Speaker 4 (14:57):
We don't know where he did.

Speaker 3 (15:00):
Moments later, an act of bravery, Captain Howard McCann is
pulled out of the burning home, injured but alive. Word
quickly went out to others that McCann was okay, and
the tapes from that day will be used for firefighting

(15:22):
training forty years to come.

Speaker 1 (15:27):
There were problems, and thank you producer Victor for playing
that video. There were problems even before getting to that box.
I believe an engine got into an accident on the
way which compromised operations. I believe a bridge was closed too,
So just getting there was a problem, and then of
course we saw what happened. On seeing you, of course
were at that job, tell me about your recollections of it.

Speaker 2 (15:44):
I was excuse me. I was on Engine ten that day,
and yet everything that could have gone wrong went wrong.
The Grand Avenue bridge opens up. That cuts off truck
three and Engine ten from getting into the area. Engine
five pulls out of the firehouse, gets the woodward, and
Maine gets its struck by a car. They found out
after the fact, when there was water problems, that the

(16:06):
water company had worked on that hydrant and not fully
opened it up again. So there was water problems. Okay,
But like you said, we're driving there and we're coming
remember coming by the sea wall in Morris Cove, and
I see all this white smoke, and I said, now,
there's not going to be much left for us when
we get there, because they looks like they're getting it. Well,
we could have been more wrong, and this was just

(16:28):
the tip of it. And you get there, you see
the You see where that takes off, the front of
the building lights up. I was operating on the second
floor at that fire. The heat was unbearable. It was unbearable.
We got out the back window onto a back porch,
tar bubbling underneath our feet. I mean, it was something,
it really is. I'll never forget it to the you know,
for the day I got what a fire and you know,

(16:52):
you just kept hearing calls for help, hearing calls for help,
and we talked about senior privates and old timers. There.
The collection of men that you see on that side
roof there some of the best I've ever seen. And
thank God for them that day because they got Captain
McCann out, And that fire taught a lot of lessons
in the New Haven Fire Apartment. Well, you know, people

(17:13):
don't realize what's changed in just two decades. We didn't
have hoods back then. Really, we did not have hoods yet.
And that fire, because Captain mccannon burned his neck, that
was the catalyst for gus getting hoods. We also all
didn't have radios. Only the pump driver and the officer
had radios. That was the catalyst for every riding position

(17:36):
getting radios. So that fire had a major impact on
the modernization of the New Haven Fire Apartment.

Speaker 1 (17:42):
And one shutter should think if Captain McCann wasn't an
officer and instead it was the piper hydrant guy who knows,
you know, who would have known that he needed help? Yeah, yeah,
very scary to think about. And unfortunately that was that
the injuries that he sustained in that fire, mainly the burns,
ended his career prematurely. He had been to captain since
nineteen ninety eight. He had a great career in the
New Haveing Fire Department that was cut short by that incident.

(18:03):
He wrote an article on it, which I highly recommend
for any of you who are interested out there to
look it up and read it where he details it
in depth, so it's definitely worth the read.

Speaker 2 (18:12):
He ended up going on the Weather Channel because there
was a meteorological anomaly with that fire that was causing
the smoke to turn the way it was, and it
really sent the loop towards the incident commanders. You know,
you think you're getting it, and it really wasn't so right.

Speaker 1 (18:28):
And like you said, it's just one of those things
where everything that could go wrong did go wrong that day.
And thankfully though it didn't end with a fatality, although
it very well could have, and we're glad that it didn't.
You know, you're having a heck of a time despite
that incident, which was somber in nature, because of what
happened to Captain McCann. You're having a heck of a
time an engine ten. I imagine if you could have
you at a stage your whole career there. But there's
always room for advancement, and advancement you certainly made room

(18:50):
for in your career. So going over to Squad two,
this is back well before the rescue. The rescue wouldn't
come until years later. Squad one was at Whitney, Squad
two was over in the West Battalion Special operation companies.
You're doing a lot and basically any box city wide
you're going to go to in most cases. Was that
the appeal of it for you?

Speaker 2 (19:07):
I did like the technical rescue aspect of it. I
went over there. Nine's is a very respectable fire company
in its own right at that time, I mean there
was the place was just filled with legends. You know.
It was just an incredible, incredible firehouse to be a
part of some of the best times in my career.
But I was really interested in that technical rescue aspect

(19:28):
of things. You know, they were going to a lot
of fire so that was the draw to go over there.
Squad one, you know, Squad one was around as well.
Squad one was different than Squad two. Squat two was
the you know, the step child of Squad one for
lack of a better term, and the guys were just
so resourceful over there, and they had to make do

(19:48):
with I don't want to say second best because you know,
they had a lot of great equipment, but you know,
they they were the you know, they were the number two,
you know, and there was just incredible firefighters over there,
and so much to learn.

Speaker 1 (20:03):
And the thing about nines too that you have to
remember and you well know this, but for the audience,
I say this too much like Ten's is pretty much
going to go Danny Box and the East Battalion nine
is going to go Danny Box and the West battalion.
A lot of sixes as boxes they're going to go to.
And this is not even counting with Squad too, of
course being in action at the time, a lot of
fifteen's as boxes they're going to go to in addition
to their own first two areas. So that's a company

(20:23):
that is usually in the top three I think in
terms of call volume, not even without the box lumps,
just everything else they go to. Call volume wise, you're
going to see and do a lot of nines.

Speaker 2 (20:32):
Yeah, busy, busy house. The district is probably the size
of a postage stamp. It's not a very big district,
but it is populated. It is heavily populated, and there's
a lot of action in that district.

Speaker 1 (20:46):
Was Car thirty four back then located there back then too, Yes, Okay,
so you got the battalion chief there you could draw
from his knowledge as well.

Speaker 2 (20:52):
Oh, there's some credible battalion chiefs. And you know, we
hit a time where we had a lot of acting
battalion chiefs. You know, we had Captain Gahooley, Captain Stacey.
I mean, what these guys knew. It's just incredible.

Speaker 1 (21:05):
Yeah, And that's another aspect of your career, even though
it was very long, it was a couple of years,
like you mentioned, to be pre show, I will ask
from a technical rescue standpoint rather be MBA's or confined
space or anything of that nature. Certainly with East Roc
Mountain we see a lot of it. You just had
a situation like that where dogs were rescued. What's the
call from that air in your career that sticks out
as man that was really something.

Speaker 2 (21:25):
Well, unfortunately I had a call on the ellogress of
Boulevard and Legion Avenue. It was an MVA very prolonged extrication.
The woman driving the car was the wife of a
swat To firefighter on a different division, pregnant, and unfortunately
she lost the child that night, and that that sticks

(21:47):
out for that reason, you know, just because I knew him,
and it was just a tragic, tragic event. But you know,
there's a lot of good calls that come out of that,
you know, rope rescues that he at West Rock, you know,
extrications that took both squads. I mean just so much,
you know, in the fires there was just a lot
of fires going on then.

Speaker 1 (22:07):
So I'll ask because again I know what, I pretty
much have a good idea as to what the rescue does.
The concept is very similar to larger cities around America,
such as Chicago, New York, New Jersey, and so on
and so forth. But with that said, the squads in
terms of their function either as first do or just
outside companies going to boxes, what was the exact roles
that they would have.

Speaker 2 (22:25):
It's pretty much what the rescue does now. Squad one
was a lot more in debt, particularly with has match
trench was at the trench trailer was at Engine nine
for Squad two, But I mean, they pretty much mirrored
what the rescue is doing now.

Speaker 1 (22:40):
A lot of elevator rescues too.

Speaker 2 (22:42):
Yeah, yeah, elevator rescues. We did a lot of elevator rescues,
a lot of old elevators of the West Italian.

Speaker 1 (22:47):
So yep, frequently hear that on the scanner. We're talking
with Chief Dan Coughlin, chief of operations for the new Haven,
Connecticut Fire Department, here in the Mike the New Haven Podcast. Again,
if you have any questions in the chat, h don't
feel free to submit them. So around this time, of course,
I know it had been a long time because of
what you mentioned with the new Haven twenty, but eventually
promotions would start to happen again. You're a little bit
more seasoned by this point. What was it, I mean,

(23:09):
you kind of talked about it earlier with having the
officers who molded you, But what was it ultimately besides
them and your father that made you say, maybe shoot
for lieutenant because you're in a great spot. You don't
have to go, but you chose to go.

Speaker 2 (23:19):
Yeah. I was the roof guy on truck three at
this point. You know, all I'm doing is cutting roofs
me and Mike Gersher cutting roofs. What a great experience
that is. I mean, if you can't be an officer
being assigned to a truck, I mean, there's nothing for that.
And we were a great crew. Mike Gersher was probably
probably one of the best truck guys I ever saw
in that city, bene of the best roof guys I

(23:40):
ever saw in that city. But you know, I just
got to a point. It was, you know, thirteen years
I was had thirteen years on the job before I
was at eligible to test because of the the lawsuit,
and you know, I just felt like I could do it.
You know, I felt like it was something I could do.
I thought it was a role I wanted to step into.
And I did it. Man, I took the test that
I came out number two. And if you had asked

(24:03):
me if I was gonna come out number two, I
left that test that day and I said, I don't
think I did that well. And lo and behold.

Speaker 1 (24:12):
Here you are. Yeah, you know, things broke right. And
that's the thing too. You have to keep in mind
with the size of the department, which I have a
question to chat about that which I see your question.
Joe I'll highlight it momentarily. If you score an eighty five,
which is not a bad score, that's considered bad in
New Haven. It's not because, oh you're a dummy. It's
just the pool is so vast, so many people are
going for the position you're talking. You got to score

(24:32):
ninety five and up just to at least have a chance.
You'll get promoted eventually with an eighty five, but it'll
be a while.

Speaker 2 (24:37):
Yeah. And the guy that beat me for number one
beat me by three tenths of a point. That's how
competitive it is. You know, you've got some intelligent, intelligent
human beings. You know the days of the dumb meathead
firefighter are over. Well, you know. I mean, don't get
me wrong, those guys have value, but you know the
days of that are over. I mean, you gotta be
smarter nowadays. You gotta have that combination of both and braun.

Speaker 1 (25:00):
You know, it takes you a long way if you
have a good, healthy balance. There's no telling what you
can accomplish on the job, not just a New Haven,
but anywhere. Joe Oliga's question the chat is how big.
He's from Rochester, New York. How big is the New
even fire department.

Speaker 2 (25:12):
Ten engines, four trucks, a heavy rescue, three paramedic units.
Each battalion chief now has an aid. We have two
battalion chiefs a deputy chief. We are budgeted for three
hundred and sixty four firefighters. However, with the addition of
the chief said, we'll see what next year's budget brings,

(25:34):
because you know, that's four new positions.

Speaker 1 (25:36):
So and so, if I remember correctly, with the new
positions being introduced, thirty three and thirty four have drivers.
There's thirty two have a driver now too.

Speaker 2 (25:44):
Thirty two thirty two is the only one one that
a lieutenant for a driver. The other two firefighters.

Speaker 1 (25:49):
Okay, And for those of you that outside the New
Haven area, Car thirty three is the East Battalion chief.
Car thirty four the West Battalion chief. Car thirty two
is the deputy chief who's a citywide tour commander normally
for all four divisions. So, of course it's interesting when
one the hardest transitions in the fire service, as guys
have often said on this show, are firefighter to lieutenant
and then captain a chief. And you've done both in

(26:10):
your career, and what makes it hard is it's not
only now about your own safety. Not that you didn't
care about the safety of your crew before. You certainly did,
but now as the guy, at least on an engine
company that has to make those decisions, it's hard. You
want to make sure you go home, but you want
to make sure they go home too, so you keeping
track of them in addition to yourself. How hard was
that transition for you and when did you finally start

(26:31):
to feel comfortable in the lieutenant's rank.

Speaker 2 (26:36):
It was a tough transition. I don't want to say
it's tough, but it was. It was challenging. You know,
you're sitting there with guys that a week ago you're
sitting around laughing and joking, which we still did. Don't
get me wrong. I had a shift full of wild
animals and I need that a positive way. I mean,
these guys were fun, but you know, you have to
set that standard, that boundary line, you know, and they

(26:58):
were good about it. You know. I have no complaint,
but I found going from firefighter to lieutenant to be
more challenging than captain the chief.

Speaker 1 (27:08):
Really, yeah, I was.

Speaker 2 (27:10):
Fortunate as a captain I acted in the tag chiefs
cars for a long time, so I was pretty fortunate.
But I think that initial jump into some type of
leadership position is tougher than already being a leader in
going to the next level.

Speaker 1 (27:28):
I see your question, Steve Virado, and will continue chief
golfing momentarily in the chat. At this I feel comfortable
answering there's four divisions, so four shifts, because he's asking
how many shifts in the hours, and for now, I
don't know if it'll change in the future. The schedule
is three on three offs, so three day tours I
believe eight to six three days off and then three
night tours six pm to eight am. Is how that
works in the new even fire department, which I think

(27:49):
is new, even the only one, not that I'm knocking
it's been in place forever, is new, even the only
department in the state's still doing.

Speaker 2 (27:54):
That, I believe. So yeah, So.

Speaker 1 (27:55):
That's yeah, that's it's a vintage schedule. It's not a
bad schedule. It's what you make of it.

Speaker 2 (27:59):
So, I mean, it's all I ever knew. I'm a
day worker now, but we are in contract negotiations and
that is one of the proposals and go to twenty
four seventy two s.

Speaker 1 (28:08):
Yeah, I mean either schedule. Honestly, it's pretty good. You
can make a lot out of it.

Speaker 2 (28:12):
Yeah, I mean you hit the lotter either way.

Speaker 1 (28:14):
I mean it's not the job, yeah, exactly. There's really
no complaining in terms of that. I mean, once you
make it, you make it. In terms of a major incident,
either it could have been a fire, could have been
a major NBA or anything. Do you recall that first
incident as an officer where it's like, man, okay, I
gotta put these skills that I tested for to us.

Speaker 2 (28:30):
Now. Oh yeah, I go to a fire on James Street,
and it was it was an eye open experience. You know,
you're in the front seat now you're making the decisions.
Went smooth, but you know you're racking your brain and
I'll never forget. You know, remember, prior to becoming a lieutenant,
I'm a truck guy. Now I make lieutenant and I'm

(28:51):
on Engine ten. So I sit there in bed my
first night as an officer, I was I was on
nights and I'm in bed. I didn't stick a wink,
you know, and here I've got, you know, thirteen years
experience on the right belt. But I hadn't been on
an engine quite some time, and I'm like, you know,
I think I played every scenario humanly possible in my
brain that night, and you know I remember it and

(29:15):
my first, my very first night as a lieutenant. A
intoxicated guy drives his pickup truck down Ferry Street in
New Haven. Now I have two brand new rookies on
the back with me, and the guy's got a poor
dog in the back of his bed. He hits a
bridge abutment by the Fairy Street bridge, and then he

(29:37):
absolutely obliterates a telephone pole all over Middletown Avenue and
then the wires come down and they catch the grass
on fire. So I had everything and two brand new guys. Luckily,
my driver at that time was highly experienced. He had
been around the block a long time. And you know,
you go back to that senior guy thing. There's you know,

(29:58):
I always listen to my battalion chiefs, my deputy chiefs,
but you don't necessarily have to have a rank to
be influential in your own right. You know, there's guys
when they say something, you better stop and think about it.
You know, it doesn't matter what collar pins they have
there's guys. There was a driver I'll never forget it.
You know, he was on the second division and I
got this shift change fire with him. But you know,

(30:20):
if you're going somewhere and Ronnie Narghini says to you, hey, Lou,
you may want to think about you may want to
think about that.

Speaker 1 (30:28):
It's funny because I go back to something and this
is something I remember seeing in the Detroit Red Wings
documentary on one of their Stanley Cups teams, they're interviewing
Darren McCarty from the grind Line. There's you know, he's
talking about Steve Wiserman and that's exactly what he just described.
And it's just as applicable to the fire service, where
he said Steve Wiserman wasn't the type of guy to
say a lot, but when he did say something, you
stop what you were doing. You made sure you listen.

(30:48):
And there's so many guys like that. It's not just
what they say on the job that makes them who
they are, it's what they do. They lead by example.
He was clearly one of those guys. For you.

Speaker 2 (30:57):
Yeah, yeah, those guys are out there and you should
ever sell them short.

Speaker 1 (31:01):
No, No, they're a very very valuable commodity in the
fire service, certainly across the board. So you know, when
you went to captain, going back to truck three, it
was almost like not that you didn't like the engine.
I'm sure you certainly did, and there's great times to
be had on the engine. Guys do their whole career
on the engine without ever going to the truck in
some cases. But it felt like a homecoming because that's
what you knew. You've been doing it for so long
that transition must have been like a piece of cake.

Speaker 2 (31:23):
Oh yeah, it was great. I just always loved truck work.
I absolutely loved it. I did miss being on the
roof once in a while. You know, when you're inside
and you're you're doing search and you hear that chainsaw
dig into the roof above you. You get a little
jealous sometimes, you know, but I did. I thoroughly enjoyed
being a captain on truck three. It was a great experience.
I caught some great fires there. I worked with some

(31:45):
great guys girls, and it really was good, you know,
I got I was really fortunate when I was a captain.
I got a lot of lease. You know, we were
hiring a lot like I said, and I got all
these good guys and they're in their own right now.
You know, just about everybody that worked for me at
some point or another, it is either an a sign
driver or an officer. So you know, I was very

(32:08):
fortunate to get really bright young.

Speaker 1 (32:10):
Firefighters and motivated ones too. I mean, you don't want
someone who's just there for the check. They love the job,
you know, Bob Gallion and I'll clean it up for
the show. And from the documentary Still Riding he wrote,
FD and Y Rescue Too Forever. He said, you know, listen,
heart and guts, he said, something else for guts, but
everything else we can teach you. And really that's the
that's the case. As long as they have the heart
and the guts for it. Listen, they're moldible and you

(32:31):
had a handle molding them.

Speaker 2 (32:32):
Yeah. And motivation is everything you have to have. You know.
You see so many people that maybe they didn't have
a regular job before they got on the fire department,
and that's a disservice to them, you know, because they
don't understand what it was like to do roofing or
landscaping or something like that. I got very motivated individuals
and that there's so much you can do with them
when you have people like that.

Speaker 1 (32:53):
Yeah, absolutely, and that is the case. And I saw
a lot of those guys in class sixty five and
there they are now learning being the motivated probi's I
always knew they could be. And I shout out to
them for any of them that may be watching tonight.
One fire and I remember this fire. I want to
know if you were there for it, twenty eleven, really
bad fire hop skipping a jump from me over in
fair Haven where we had three fatalities. Now, I don't

(33:13):
know if the cause was arson or something electrical related,
but were you at that fire that night?

Speaker 2 (33:18):
I was at that fire. I received the Medal of
Valor for that fire. We pulled three people off of
the uh you pulled three people off the front porch there.
Long story shore. I'll never forget that fire because I
ended up testifying in federal court for the triple murder
of artisan.

Speaker 1 (33:35):
So it wasn't arson. Yeah, yeah, that's yeah. Tragic night,
tragic night. But just from an operational standpoint, what do
you recall about just getting there, what the initial approach was.

Speaker 2 (33:45):
Well, we pulled up on seeing the back of the
house is all lit up. Like I said, I had
a lieutenant at the time, Steve Durant. He was a beast.
I mean he was a beast. We come around the
front of the building. They're hooking up the hydrant. We
see three people screaming for their lives well the front
of the building. Myself, Lieutenant duran and a paramedic off
Emergency one plucked them off the front porch. That was

(34:08):
a report of a child being trapped inside this building.
We get up to the second floor. It's hot. I
break out the window with my helmet. They said he's
in there. He's in there, and the heat was just
building up and building up and building up. And I
remember my lieutenant looking at me and he goes, you
are absolutely not going in there. And thank god I

(34:29):
listened to him because if you see the video of
that fire, that second floor lit up and we watch
us at the bottom of that ladder ladder we narrowly
escape that fire.

Speaker 1 (34:40):
It was again one of the more tragic ones because
of the lives loss and the evil behind it that
caused it. Cause like this Orever easy mental health is
a big thing in the fire service, really cross the board,
fire police em as we're talking about it more, which
is good for you after cause like that. What was
the key to decompress and have a healthy outlet after
something like that.

Speaker 2 (34:59):
It's the guy. I mean, we didn't have EAP back then.
We weren't. You know, they weren't bringing in a social
worker or accounts third to talk to us. It's the guys.
I mean, you just sat there and not right away,
and you're not laughing at the incident, but you start
with the normal stone crushing in the firehouse and you

(35:19):
have to do it, and that's what gets you there.
Coffee that morning, we're all relieved. We could have gone
home coffee that morning, sat around that table having coffee
and we kind of unload on each other. You know
when you get back that night. You know, you get
back that night, you start up again, and you know
that's how you get through it. You know. We end
up having a pretty severe job the next night after that,

(35:41):
hitting Corey Condos Quinnipiac Avenue, And to be honest with you,
that was the best thing in the world that could
have happened to us, because we went in there, the
fire went like clothwork. I mean, you know, it was
a really well executed fire, and I think that was
good for us, you know. I think not that we
felt we did something wrong, but we needed a big

(36:03):
win and we got it, you know, so I think
that was part of the healing process as well. You know,
you need to stay busy, you need to get back
at it, in my opinion, you know, and we were
fortunate to get it the next night.

Speaker 1 (36:18):
And again, a lot of jobs in that district to
go around, for sure, that are going to keep you busy.
And that's the thing about New Haven compared to any
other fire department the same. That's not to say that
other departments in the state aren't busy. There are a
lot of really busy, good departments in this state. But
you can not that there's fires happening every day, but
you can catch a job like that, and maybe not
to that severity, but a working fire one night. Okay,
you're thinking about, Okay, I did this well, I did

(36:39):
that well, but I could probably improve on this the
next night. You especially with the three nights tours in
a row, you may just get a chance to improve
on oh yeah, yeah, especially with the volume of calls.
I mean, thirty six thousand calls alone last year over
one hundred, one hundred and ten I believe was the
exact kunt of a working structure fires in new Haven.
So new Haven certainly does burn. Doesn't matter which battalion
you're in. I did want to ask you about this too. Now,

(37:01):
you mentioned earlier going from captain to battalion chief wasn't
as hard a transition because you had been in ABC
for a little bit. But nevertheless, when it became official again,
you got not just tens and threes that you're overseeing now,
any firehouse in these battalion. So there's five in these
battalion for those of you that don't know, five out
in the West Battalion. Thinking about things from a broader

(37:21):
level not easy, but nevertheless, having great captains and lieutenants
under you had to make that transition flow a lot
smoother as well.

Speaker 2 (37:30):
Yeah, so I made battalion chief and for the first
time in my career, I'm not on the fourth Division.
I had done my entire career on the fourth Division.
I'm CAR thirty three on the first division now. And
you know, when you get into a larger department like that,
you know, each division, each house, each battalion has their
own personality, and it was drastically different than what I

(37:51):
was used to, not bad by any means, just drastically different.
And you know, I'm stubborn and the Italian. I had
to get to the town where to where I wanted it,
you know, my way of doing things, because that's what
I'm used to, you know. And I'm in commands, right,
but not without not without input, right, there's always compromise,

(38:14):
there's always input. So you know, I learned then that
I didn't use on the fourth division. So you find
that happy media and then you get everybody where they
need to be. And it's not that they weren't great firefighters,
because they were. We just had to learn each other's styles.
But again, I had already been acting, so the concept

(38:34):
of being a battalion chief, you know, the hands on
running incidents that I was comfortable with. And again just
like you know, I'm a magnet for crazy calls, I'm
a magnet for certain things. You know. I think I
was a battalion chief two days before I caught a fire,
so you know, I got to familiarize myself with them
really quick, you know. You know, it was just yet

(38:55):
another impressive group of men and women.

Speaker 1 (38:58):
It's a small detail, but I had just to imagine
to drive over to these structure fires before. I mean,
this is well before car thirty three and thirty four
and thirty two had drivers of their own. But you're
driving in your thinking, okay, who's taking the hydrant? How
are they taking it? Are they taking it coming in?
Where's the truck going to be? Where do I want
the guys? There's multiple phone calls on it, a lot
of moving parts, and you know, again on the initial alarm,

(39:19):
I believe the battalion chief has original command before it
may escalate, or if it doesn't escalate at all, the
battalion chief may keep it. Sometimes I know thirty two
will take command depending on what it is. So a
lot to think about, and then you get there, and
then there's even more things to think about because maybe
there's additional factors that weren't initially set over the radio.
So again, a couple of days into it, you catch
a fire. There's other incidents in mind too. If you

(39:39):
don't remember, it's fine, but around which time were you
promoted to battalion chief officially?

Speaker 2 (39:44):
I believe I was promoted to battalion chief in twenty
June a, twenty twenty.

Speaker 1 (39:51):
As Talian chief, which plays into the next question. We're
in the middle of a pandemic at that time. Things
are not easy enough to be a chief. It's not
even and harder when you're doing this in the middle
of a global pandemic, so a lot of things are
changing operationally. You guys are still going to ems cause
there's mega precautions in place. Understandably, what was it like
to be a new chief during that time?

Speaker 2 (40:12):
It was different, you know. You know, firemen are stubborn,
you know, so all these new protocols are coming out
about you know, disinfecting the firehouses, wearing masks. The city
had a policy on the COVID vaccination. You know, there
was a lot of uncertainty, and you know, you're the
person has to go out there and explain things and clarify.

(40:33):
So that was challenging, you know, that really was challenging myself.
I was promoted on zoom. Yeah, they had my father
and myself in the chiefs conference room and all the
commissioners were and the chief were on Zoom. So it
was a strange time. But yeah, that was a challenge,
you know, because the fires were still coming the incidents

(40:57):
were still coming, so.

Speaker 1 (40:59):
You know, and that's it's the thing that you talk
about essential workers. You guys never stopped. Certain people. I'm
not knocking what they went through during the pandemic, but
certain people had the option to work from home or
maybe even close up shop for a little bit while
this thing blew over. Not the fire service, not the
police service, not ems pretty much if you were in
any form of emergency response, you never stopped. You just
kept going.

Speaker 2 (41:19):
Yeah, and you know, we had firefighters testing positive for COVID.
They're not going home to their wife and kids, or
their husband and kids. They were staying at dorms in Southern.
The city had arranged for dormitories at Southern, and that's
where they were staying, you know, because they didn't want
to go home and infect the family, right.

Speaker 1 (41:36):
You know, Again, a very difficult situation and being but nevertheless,
there's silver linings to everything, even something like that. And
it's hard to believe it's been five years since it
first broke out. What were the things that you felt
the new fire department took away that have impacted operations
in a positive way since that otherwise terrible time.

Speaker 2 (41:53):
I don't think we really took anything away that affected
the fire aspect of things. I think I think the
you know, the the lessons learned from it is you know, preparation,
you know, and we were blindsided with it. We didn't
really know what to do. If you remember when this
came out, there was very little information cold you know,

(42:15):
it seemed like every day there was new information, you know,
the operations at that time. He was pretty proactive. He
went and ordered i mean an obscene amount of mass disinfectant.
We had the foggers for inside the firehouse. So you know,
the takeaway from that is being prepared. You know, you
can never be too prepared.

Speaker 1 (42:35):
Right, and that was certainly on display for the nmav
And Fire Department during that time because, like I said earlier,
it's the call volume and those poor those poor emergency units,
in particular Emergency one through three, they don't stop as
it is, as you well know, they really weren't stopping
during that time period.

Speaker 2 (42:49):
They were getting brutalized. It was unbelievable. You know, you
look at Emergency three. You know, Emergency three. People don't
realize that they break six hundred qualls a month. Yeah,
just imagine during a pandemic, but they are doing. I mean,
it was relentless and it really took its toll on them.

Speaker 1 (43:04):
There was a lot of fatigue, I believe somebody mentioned,
and this is pre COVID, but when Emergency three went
into service, it only took a month for them to
be one of the busiest units in the city, if
not the busiest.

Speaker 2 (43:14):
Busiest. Yeah, without without question, they have the busiest unit
in the city. And I don't think you're ever going
to take that title from them.

Speaker 1 (43:21):
No, no, especially not with their run at Engine six,
Truck four and Emergency three. And the thing too, that
you have to remember about the E units is that
the E units, at least not today in this era
of the Nuava Fire Department, they're not on standby at
fires either. They get down and dirty with the rest
of the guys. So it is a tough spot from
a call volume perspective. You're not going to get a
lot of rest. But it's a great spot too because
a lot of the boxes that happen in either the

(43:42):
East or West battalion, depending on where you are in
any one of those units one through three, you're gonna
go to which is which is the nice part? About.

Speaker 2 (43:50):
So the funny thing about Emergency three is with the
addition of Emergency three, we thought we would alleviate some
of the calls on Emergency one and two, but in reality,
all did was pick up a bunch of calls that
weren't being addressed before. Right, They're being addressed either through
AMR or the call was going without a five unit.
So here we add this thing and it ends up

(44:11):
being our busiest unit. And you know, like you said,
they're not only just doing bms. You know. One of
the first things when I took over as the operations chief,
we had met with the paramedics. There was these things
called paramedic town halls back then because obviously there's a
retention problem with paramedics and a shortage. So you know,

(44:31):
they said, we want to be firefighters. And I went
in and I instructed all the Talian chiefs, all the
deputies start using them, you know, start using them. We
started adding them, you know, so now every alarm go
to a second alarm, go to a third alarm until
we're exhausted. Bit of emmercy units, but they're all coming
as the alarms progress, and then AMR will take over.

(44:54):
You know. The als for the city. But they're in there.
I mean, it would be foolish of me as an
operations sheaf to throw away six bodies that.

Speaker 1 (45:01):
I could be using, right, And we have the benefit here,
as does Bridgeport, as does Waterbury where one of amr's
divisional headquarters is in the city. So you know you're
gonna get them on the fire stand by initially as well,
So that helps alleviate a lot of decision making too.
We're from a medic standpoint. You know you got AMR there.
You know they're gonna come automatically, so of course you
could put those guys to work. And I think there

(45:22):
was a fire over on Dixwell July first. The audio
is on YouTube or emergency too. You heard them on
the radio a lot, really helping operations there. So as
long as guys want to, and they all want to,
which is a nice thing about it, theyking once again
they can get down and dirty on the E unit,
which is a very very good spot to be. Four
boxes like that. Yeah, talking with Dan Cofflin here in
the Mike Dinhavin podcast. As I mentioned before, assistant chief

(45:43):
of Operations for the New Haven Fire Department here in Connecticut,
last note on your days's car thirty three before I
jump to your current role. Plane crash into Quinnipiac. You know,
and this is back in the summer of twenty twenty two.
For those of you not familiar with our area. We
have Tweed Airport here in Connecticut's located right on the
New Haven East Haven borderline there, and it was not

(46:05):
as big back then. Now it does fly commercial airliners
due to recent expansions, so you can take trips on those,
But back then it was more privatized aircraft, and a
private aircraft went down right by seventeens, I believe. So
this is a situation that turned out well, all occupants
on board, and I believe the dog survived. But nevertheless,
talk about a confusing and unusual incident to be in
command of. What are your recollections of that night?

Speaker 2 (46:28):
So I'm in the battalion chiefs car. It's a shift
change operation. The call comes in. Engine ten gets there
and sure, as you know, they say plane in the water, right,
so they got a small sesta. I don't remember that
was I don't remember the exact name of the plane,
but the planes in the water. I've got Engine seventeen

(46:49):
on the other side of the river, saying they could
see people in the water. I pull up, I park
in this marina, I look out, and yet there is
plane down in the water, narrowly missed the Grand Avenue bridge,
and luckily there was no injuries. It was pretty funny
when you look back on it now, I see a
man and his wife standing on top of their playing

(47:10):
which is sinking into the Cornipiac at this point in
a giant great dame. And you know, I'm looking at this.
So we launch our boats. You know, we have three
boats in the city. Marine one, which is our main boat,
has trouble in the Cornipiac because of the you know,
the low draft and all that. So but anyway, we

(47:31):
do end up getting Marine one close to this, and
we get the people off, We bring them to shore,
and in the end, like I said, they all go
and get evaluated. But I remember being at that and
I'd done all the you know, at this time, you know,
twenty one years on the job or so, twenty years
on the job or so, you know, I've done all
kinds of stuff, but I'd never done anything like this before.

(47:52):
And all I can think about is, I mean, there's
all these agencies that I have to call, right so
I started making my calls, my notifications. You know, I'm
glad we don't have any injuries, but I've got a
lot on my plate right now. And you know, the
press is showing up. But the one thing I'll never forget,
Like I'm I'm you know, trying to focus. We're looking

(48:13):
just to verify there's no other victims. We want to
make sure that we're not leaking fuel into the Quantitiac.
And I've got this guy that will not leave me
alone because and you know what, this plane lands on
a protected oyster bed. So all this guy cares about
and I understand because it's probably his livelihood, but all
he cares about is this oyster bed. Now, I don't

(48:34):
know a thing about oysters. I don't need him. I
certainly don't go and you know, and and I'm you know,
trying to be diplomatic about it, because you can't just
tell the guy, hey buddy, this is low priority right now.

Speaker 3 (48:45):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (48:45):
But it all ended up working out the uh they
told they told the plane too sure for the NTSB
and the oyster beds. Luckily we're not armed.

Speaker 1 (48:56):
And you know, again it's I'm glad that you know,
it's something that we can laugh about all these years
later that it turned out otherwise into an uplifting job,
since everybody, including the pat made it out okay. But
you well though, And we had a situation like this
recently where unfortunately somebody fell in and I don't know
if that person ended up getting swept away and drowning.
But that current can get nasty, especially with the weather
that we have today in the next three days. That's

(49:17):
a difficult current. It looks unassuming, but it's not easy.

Speaker 2 (49:21):
Beam is a tough river. Well, the currents, there's a
lot of world tools, there's a lot of undertoes. That
is a treacherous river and if you get it on
a stormy day like today, look out. If you go
on that water. You've had numerous people over the years
fall into that river. Some outcomes were good, some outcomes
were bad. But that is a dangerous river.

Speaker 1 (49:41):
Yeah. Indeed, that brings us into March of twenty twenty three,
and that, of course is your current role. And I'll
share the picture here because you were promoted alongside true
Master Floyd, which is one of my instructors and I
love her she's the absolute best. But this is a
problem moment for you, of course, and there have been
a lot of them, and there's a picture there you
Gi Fallston and a few other individuals. But nevertheless, you know,
twenty one years in the job by this point, a

(50:02):
lot of different roles. And to look at where you
were on June nineteenth, two thousand and two to this
moment right here, when you were told you were gonna
be the chief of operations, just tell me what your
emotions were like, especially giving your history.

Speaker 2 (50:15):
I was stunned. I really couldn't believe it. It's not
a position I had ever thought i'd go for. But again,
you know, you see my father there in the middle,
and he just kept pushing me and pushing me in
a positive way. You know. I looked up to my
father and he, you know, he was the inspiration for
a lot of this, and he you know, I had
some really in depth conversations with my father about this,

(50:37):
and you know he's the one who sold me on it.
So I went and I you know, I interviewed for it.
I did well got the position, but I remember Chief
Alston calling me on the phone. It was just before
the Saint Patrick's Day of parade. It was two days
before the Saint Patrick's Day Parade to tell me I
got the position, and you know, I was like a
kid at Christmas. It really was. I never thought I'd

(50:58):
be here. You know, you grow up in the city,
you live in the city, you know, you spent your
whole life here, and to get to that point was
just mind blowing to me.

Speaker 1 (51:09):
And again, definitely well learned with all the work that
was put in. You have a lot of support too.
And the nice thing about where you are right now
is you kind of have like the roof top of
the roof viewers I like to say, you know, view
from the top floor essentially, because you could look at
operation city wide. It's no longer just the East Battalion
as Whisky case from your car thirty three. Now it's everywhere.
So getting into that position, you have a chance to
really get a lay of the land, and you pretty

(51:30):
much already know. But nevertheless, I'll ask you, what were
the aspects of operations at that time that you thought, Okay,
we're doing really well here, and what were the other
aspects that, judging from your experience and the experience of
other guys, you would inevitably, of course, talk to you
about these things or the aspects of operation citywide, where
you felt, okay, let's implement this and try to move
the mission even further ahead.

Speaker 2 (51:50):
Operationally, the new Haven Fire Department is very good at
structure fires. I don't know who wrote our sogs years
upon years upon years ago, but they are incredible. So
we were fine in that respect. There was no need,
you know, over the years, it was always disheartening to see.
You know, we had some years where firemen were getting
into trouble and it painted in a negative light on

(52:11):
the department. But the reality of it is that the
fire apartment was really well run. The fire Apartment itself,
the service that it provides the New Haven residence and
its visitors is flawless. I mean, it is an incredible operation.
Where I felt was that we were a little bit
limited on our special operations aspect. In other words, everything

(52:32):
came out of Whitney Avenue. Okay. Now if Engine eight
goes to hand in which they routinely used to do
for mutual aid, now the rescue is by itself. Okay,
You're not setting up a major trench hasmat rope operation
with just the heavy rescue. Same thing the rescues on

(52:57):
an elevator extrication comes in in the east. Who's gone, right.
So what we did at that point is I looked
at what we had for inventory. We had some extra
tools hanging around, all that stuff, and we started to
take a few things off of Engine eight and put
them out to the truck companies elevators and extrications in particular.

(53:18):
So Truck one and Truck two currently do do elevator
extrications as a backup to the rescue, and Truck three
and four do vehicle extrication as a backup to the rescue.
Now Engine eight sole purpose, they're no longer permitted to
go out of town for mutual aid. We send another company. Now,
you know, eight's purpose now is to be sort of

(53:39):
a you know, quasi squad backup to the rescue. You know, ropes, trench,
all that sort of stuff. So that's where I felt
we were short, and so we started moving that forward
a lot more. Training the second boat with a fire pump,
so now we have two boats with fire and pumps
versus just the one. And then we are currently in

(54:00):
the process and you'll probably see this by years end
where all four truck companies are doing extrication and elevators,
so we have the tools. Now it's just a training situation.
But that that's where I thought we were short. We
were concentrated in one area and it left us vulnerable
to you know, exposure in the sense of, you know,

(54:21):
the rescue being tied up in the west battalion somewhere
with an extrication in the east, or vice versa. And
we renmied that, remedied that rather quickly when I took over.

Speaker 1 (54:30):
Is there a chance in the future that we'll see
kind of akin to what the F and Y has
in many special operations command here in New Haven where
you have the heavy rescue, maybe a return of the squads.

Speaker 2 (54:40):
I don't think so. I think if anything, you'll see, well,
you will see a build up of eights, right, you'll
see Engine eight build up. I don't think you'll ever
see the squads. I think you'll see a fifth truck
company before we see a squad. If you look at
what truck Ford does and Truck four is a busy,
busy truck company, the massive land that they cover since

(55:04):
the decommissioning of Truck five years ago, I mean it's huge.
It's all Dick's Well, it's all Westville. It's pretty much
all of Engine nine except for one box alarm that
Truck two covers. So they have a massive population that
they're servicing. So I would I would hope one day
we would get Truck five back, but I think you're

(55:25):
more you will be seeing a build up of Eights
to sort of a squad.

Speaker 1 (55:30):
It makes sense because they function as a squad as
it is currently, you know. And again that's a very
good thing because you also have the hasmat there, which
I think either two guys from Eights or two guys
from the Rescue will jump to the hasbat if it's
needed in the city. So it's a very very good
house to be in if you love the special operations component.
And Truck five that it used to run out of woodwork,
I know Woodward used to have a truck company.

Speaker 2 (55:49):
Now it used to run out of a Fountain Street.

Speaker 1 (55:51):
Okay, Engine fifteen all right, which is currently a single house.

Speaker 2 (55:54):
All right.

Speaker 1 (55:55):
Of course, a lot of resources to go around now
as it is, but if there can be further at
because the needs the city are changing too with building construction.
There's a groundswell of population growth throughout the day with
people coming into the city to work. I guess it
makes sense. And that's something that I'm sure you guys
are keeping track of meeting yourself. Car thirty eight and
Car thirty one. Yeah, as you were gonna say, Chief nine.

Speaker 2 (56:16):
Yeah, no, we're keeping track of it. We're you know,
we're trying to adapt as best we can. You can
see the cities going through a boom of growth, a
lot of hybrid buildings being put up. You know, the
city's out of real estate, so they're they're building up
and they're building down. So you know, we have to
start addressing communications issue. You know, we have the addition
of Zello. I don't know if you're familiar with Zello.

Speaker 1 (56:37):
Yep, we have it in West Haven.

Speaker 2 (56:38):
So you know, Zelo is great as long as it's
not a fire. If they're at an AFA two floors,
three floors on their ground, you can utilize Zelo to
overcome it a communications issue. But yeah, we're running long
on real estate. We're monitoring it and you know you
will I believe in the future you will see the
need for growth of the moving Fire Department.

Speaker 1 (56:58):
Oh, inevitably, I mean, just look at the instruction going
on by Central, even just the roads and the way
those are changing. Driving around as I do. I go
to Class A Gateway every Wednesday night for Fire one
and Fire too, I observe it, and the first thing
I think of is Central, you know, right in the
middle of it all. And even going on those city runs.
During my stitt in the academy, I remember adm Riggin,
Chief Ryan talking about it a lot. What's changing the
type of building construction that we're seeing. It's going to

(57:20):
cause not necessarily a lot of friction. You know, it's
good for business if you're a firefighter, but it's going
to cause a more of a thinking game, as if
officers in New Haven aren't thinking enough in terms of
what's going up, what to keep track of. Growth is good,
but nevertheless, it is a lot to keep track of.

Speaker 2 (57:35):
It is a lot of pre planning. You know, the
companies are out there pre planning all the time. They
keep building and building, and we adjust accordingly. You know,
we we have one hundred and fifty foot high rise packs,
but one of these buildings, a couple of these buildings
coming in now you know we're gonna need more so
we have to adapt.

Speaker 1 (57:53):
That's always been the mission of the department for sure.
Speaking of adapting, that brings us into last October. This
fire just turned a year old recently, where there was
a lot of adapting that day. So it's funny. I
woke up that day, I check on seeing media. I
had a physical that day, and I happen to see, oh,
fire over on Ferry Street. And then I go as
I report to work. I was working in west Haven
at the time. I see we only have just one

(58:15):
apparatus in quarters, which is our ambulance. I go to
the watch, I look at the board. Mutual laid to
outside city. This fire got so big, went to a
fourth alarm, mutual laid from north Haven, West Haven and
East Haven. You didn't take command until it was a
signal twenty three, which for those of you who're not
familiar with the New Haven lingo, it means a third alarm.
This was the largest fire that New Haven has had
since the mid nineties. Just tell me about because it

(58:37):
started early, about six forty five in the morning or so,
getting down there, hearing it over the radio first getting
down there, and just what went on that day, because
now it's not only your own personnel, city wide personnel.
Now you got personnel from adjoining cities in the mutual
late to worry about too.

Speaker 2 (58:52):
Yeah, like you said, it came in just before seven o'clock.
The initial battalion chief got there. I don't want to
it didn't sound like much. It certainly didn't sound like
what it turned into. You know, he starts his attack
and he you know, he's got good roof operations going.
And the next thing, you know, you start to open
up and open up and open up. I mean this

(59:13):
thing was everywhere. There was fire everywhere. The building itself
old a lot of oiled up you know, machinery equipment,
a lot of just clutter, and it became a real
I mean it was an inferno. You know, we were
in the back. The back was absolutely roaring. The lights

(59:37):
for truck want are starting to melt. But yeah, it was.
It was a large scale incident. I took it over
at the third alarm. I needed chiefs wherever I can
get chiefs, you know, every side of the building. I
needed the chief. I needed eyes, so I took over.
We ended up striking the fourth alarm, and uh yeah,
I mean it was a very very destructive fire. We

(59:59):
ended up saving the far end building, which I don't
want to say is a solar company. I don't remember,
something along those lines, and it really remained untouched. I
mean it was you know, it was good. The protection
they provided that end building was rock solid, you know,
and it was good roof operations in the beginning. Obviously

(01:00:20):
we couldn't maintain roof operations. But it was a really
really complex, long drawn out fire. I mean we're there
for two days. You know, by the time it was
extinguished or under control. You know, we got public works
coming in with bulldozers and back hose pulling everything apart,
and you know, like I said, we were chasing hotspots

(01:00:41):
there for about two days.

Speaker 1 (01:00:43):
Yeah, it was a very very prolonged and difficult operation.
Water supply was in issue too, because a couple of
notes in that fire that I have in front of me,
two story brick warehouse, industrial building, a lot of different
things including moat automobiles in there, which makes it even
more complicated. So you got the worry about that. And
then on top of that, I think there was issues
with a few of the hydrants too.

Speaker 2 (01:01:01):
Uh No, So there was a union president at that
time who had a flare for the drama. There was
one out of service hydrant there, but a new Haven.
There's hydrants everywhere. We had hydrants, And yeah, he tried
the grand stand on a lot of service. Well, no,

(01:01:21):
we had you know, we had plenty of water. We
uh we actually, you know, at one point we actually
considered dropping five inch from west Haven, but we stuck
with what we had.

Speaker 1 (01:01:32):
I remember that day. The guy that was driving one
shot out or engine twenty one here and west Haven
was fellow by the name of Brian Elly, had a
good friend of mine. He's like, he texted me, He's like,
you could have been hanging out with me on Blatchley
Avenue because my role with them was as their media guy.
And I'm like, don't rub it in. You know, I
only missed this. I only missed all the fun, you know.
And we could say that because nobody was hurt, thankfully. Yeah,
just just to give the audience an indication for those

(01:01:52):
not familiar with this fire, this is the magnitude of
the job. And this went on, as the chief said,
for a couple of days. It was not an easy
job at all. You know, a lot to be learned
from from that job for sure. Of course, we're talking
with Chief Dan Cofflin here in the Mike Dinavem podcast,
the chief of operations for the New Haven Fire Department.
At what point do I will ask you as a

(01:02:12):
few more notes on that job. Did the decision? Was
that decision made prior to you getting there to go
from interior operations to exterior?

Speaker 2 (01:02:20):
Yeah, at the beginning of the second alarm. I don't
recall who the deputy chief was because it was shift change.

Speaker 1 (01:02:26):
I think it might have been Hilbert that day. Judging
by the photos.

Speaker 2 (01:02:28):
Yeah, yeah, I think you're right, and he decided to
go exterior. There was a tremendous amount of fire in
that center section there. All in all, I think you
were looking at five businesses that were in that building.
I had been familiar with that building from when I
was a kid, the building across from it, Seyboard Oil.
My father actually worked there at one point, so I

(01:02:49):
knew this building, you know, and the fire Service, these
guys will tell you, you know, we knew this day
was common. You know, there's certain buildings you just know
it's coming. So yeah, he made that decision to go exterior,
you know, And it was the right decision. The roof
wasn't gonna last on that building. There was too many
things inside that building again, the appliances, the automobiles, all

(01:03:13):
kinds of stuff, you know, dangling wires, and you know,
Joe Hilbert is a top notch command officer, and he
saw the writing on the wall. He got them out
of there, and he was one hundred percent right in
doing so.

Speaker 1 (01:03:26):
Is there an SOP or sog on when it goes
through signal twenty three? Are you automatically taking command on
that or do you have the discretion to leave it
up to car thirty two.

Speaker 2 (01:03:33):
I have the discretion, you know, I believe I don't
believe in micromanagement at all, and I don't you know,
I believe in career development. And that's one thing like
if we went back to what you were saying before,
where the maybe fire department was sort of week on
is prepping people for the next rank? Okay, I try

(01:03:54):
not to take command unless I have to. I believe that,
especially particularly the deputy chief, are all very competent to
handle the fire of that scale. I took command that day,
not as a reflection on the deputy chief, but just
on the scale of the fire. I needed chief level
eyes all over that building because a lot was going
on at that point, so they you know, I have

(01:04:16):
the discretion to take it. You'll never see me take
a signal alarm fire. I think that's utterly insulting to
a bag on our deputy chief. But that day I
just needed chief officers and key areas to look at
what we had to do.

Speaker 1 (01:04:31):
One thing I did want to ask you about to
on an administrative level, is you mentioned this as the
graduation and Chief Alston talked about at the graduation for
class sixty five back in July. It's you assistant Chief Samuel, who,
as I mentioned earlier, was in your recruit class. And
you know, to see you two go through the ranks,
imagine that's cool for you guys to look back on
where you were and where you are now. And of
course Chief Alston, so day to day, even when instance
of this nature aren't going on, it's a lot to manage.

(01:04:53):
But he really singled you two out in a positive way,
and I'll never forget what he said. He's like, these
two keep me on track. So tell me about the
working relationship between you three and just when boxes aren't
going on or other major emergencies. A typical day for
you guys.

Speaker 2 (01:05:05):
Yeah, we have a great relationship. We have a lot
of fun, a lot of laughs. I never thought I
never thought being that high up would be you know,
still have that fire department vibe of you know, teasing
each other and having a good time. But we have
a great time together. You know. Chief Samuel and I,
like you said, we got on together. You know, We've
always had a good, good relationship. She is a very

(01:05:28):
solid administrative chief, very firm, very decisive. I have a
tremendous amount of respect for her. You know. Chief also
brings a lot of years of experience Jersey City to
He celebrated his nine year anniversary at New Haven, I
believe Friday, So he's been with us for nine years.
But we have a great working relationship, you know, and

(01:05:48):
it's you know, it's almost like a tribunal. You know,
we just bounce ideas off of each other, and you know,
we come we come to a decision together, and it's
it really is a team effort. It's not you know,
somebody banging their fists and saying this is the way
I want it, this is the way I'm doing it.
You know, we're pretty good about hashing everything out. We're

(01:06:08):
pretty good at seeing things. You know, chiefs Aalston's funny
thing to me all the time, because I was pretty
high up in the union for years, It's okay, put
on your union hat. Then I have to you know,
I have to give what the union's position would be.
And you know, and I think it's valuable that we
all bring something like that. You know, Chief Samuel, you

(01:06:30):
know she was in the fire Martials office a long
time and she let me tell you something code anything
to do with that in the city. You know, she's
spot on with that.

Speaker 1 (01:06:40):
Another aspect to this too, is you also and they
were president at this fire last October, is you also
have the staff down at the Academy, and of course
there's Car thirty six, the director of training. You have
Car thirty five as well ems supervisor and the drill
masters Cars eighty one through eighty five. You're down at
the Academy a lot. I remember seeing you frequently down
there during my tenure in the in Class sixty five.
Tell me about your relationship with them, and even when

(01:07:01):
classes aren't going on it they have to teach how
important they are to day to day operations in the department.

Speaker 2 (01:07:06):
They're incredibly important. I challenge you to find an operations
chief that can live without his training division. All right,
I'll set forth policy, I'll set forth tactics, I'll set
forth whatever. I can't apply it without them. How does
it get out to the men and women of the
Navy Fire Department. You know, they are incredibly valuable. They're

(01:07:27):
incredibly good at what they do, and you know, I
value their opinions, I value their knowledge. I have complete
faith in them. I have a great relationship with them.
I'm down there a lot. You know, it's funny because
you don't realize, you guys, as recruits, don't realize when
you see us there, particularly battalion chiefs and deputy chiefs.

(01:07:47):
You know, you're focused on what you're doing, but you're
actually being recruited and you don't even realize it. You know,
those battalion chiefs, the deputy chiefs. If you see a
company come down there and the captains over there watching you, guys,
you're being recruited in You probably don't realize it because
you're getting yelled at or throwing a ladder or something
like that. But they are down there scouting, but I'm
down there too to see what you guys. You know

(01:08:09):
what the guys have going on, because I'm the one
who has to all sign you. But I do lean
heavily on that Training division staff when it comes to assignments.
You know, the fire department's a big jigsaw puzzle. You
gotta find where everybody fits, and they're incredibly valuable. Like
I said, you cannot operate, you cannot be an effective
operations chief about an effective trading division. It just will

(01:08:31):
not work.

Speaker 1 (01:08:32):
And again i'd be remissive I didn't shout those guys
out because again, as from seeing you down there, a
lot a lot of the administrative things that are decided,
even you see the work that they're doing when classes
are an in session, helping the guys out in the
field at boxes, depending on the severity of the box,
serving as safety officers, they contribute a lot. So it's
one of the more unique roles you can have them
in the new apart And.

Speaker 2 (01:08:50):
I'd be lying if I did tell you they have
good food down there. It brought me down there all
the time. You know, they had some amazing lunches down there,
best fried chicken in the world, Lieutenant Jones, I'll tell
you right right now.

Speaker 1 (01:09:00):
So I'm room there, yes, yeah, in that back room
that we would frequently clean at the end of the
long day of training, rather than in the EMS portion
of certainly in the fire portion. To another aspect I
wanted to ask you about because a lot of people
here follow you on social media as well, and not
that it's at the forefront of what you do, because
you have a lot that you're doing, but you really
get the word out there about the new Even Fire Department.

(01:09:21):
Of course, you can follow Chief Coffin on his Instagram.
I put it in the link and any box or
any major emergencies in Sturatch, so many of them. You
put it out there, which is always great to see
what the guys and the girls are doing on a
day in and day out basis. So of course I
know one of your sons helps you with that too.
How important is that alone, just getting the word out
in the first place from recruitment standpoint, or just great
work the guys did to post that as consistently as

(01:09:43):
you do.

Speaker 2 (01:09:44):
You know, it's it is a little bit of work,
but it's fun. You know. One thing I love the
new Eaven Fire Department. You know, I truly love the
being fire apartments. In order to love the new Hating
fire apartment, though, you have to love new Hating firefighters.
And I, you know, I really you know it sounds
or you know, you hear people say this all the time.
I couldn't be prouder of them. So and I'm not

(01:10:05):
the most high tech guy in the world, but I
I you know, I did develop the Instagram page. I
you know, I signed up the Instagram page. They just
needed to be highlighted. They deserve to be highlighted. I
know people know what firefighters doing, New Haven firefighters in particular,
I just don't think they realize how often we're doing it,

(01:10:25):
and I don't think they understand how severe it can
be sometimes, So I try to go. I go to
more fires than I probably would if I if my
son wasn't into being a firefighter, you know, I probably
wouldn't show up every single alarm fire. But my son decided,
you know, a couple of years back, that he wanted
to be a New Aven firefighter, and he's utterly obsessed

(01:10:46):
with it. So I go to a lot he wants
to see it. But it was really important to me
to highlight new Haven firefighters like you know, when I
tell you, like I said before, you know, Newing Fire
Department's really good at fires. That has transcended generations. This
generation that's on now you know the ten. You know,
the majority of the department has eleven years and younger.

(01:11:09):
But they're impressive. You know, they jumped into their roles
and I just felt like that needed to be highlighted.

Speaker 1 (01:11:14):
For them, even just some of my instructors alone now
gladly shout them out here because in particular one of
them was my squad leader for a while or in
charge of my squad rather. I remember just asking, I
think this is like week two, just you know, shooting
the breeze with Captain Shifle, I'm like, oh, how long
you been on? I'm thinking he's gonna say like fifteen
sixteen years? He said ten.

Speaker 2 (01:11:30):
I'm like, whoa ten?

Speaker 1 (01:11:32):
And look at where he is. Same thing with Captain Tyre.
Those guys are very young, you know, and look at
where they are. So to your point, just the years
may not be as much, but they are impressive in
what they do and also how they carry themselves.

Speaker 2 (01:11:43):
So if you go back to that story, I told
you about the down power lines and the dog and
all that stuff. Ady and Riggett was one of my
rookies on there that really yep, really, I had him
a lot of the academy.

Speaker 1 (01:11:55):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (01:11:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:11:55):
And of course look at where him and his brother
are now too. His brother is a lieutenant on this job.
Was also one of the adjuncts down there during sixty five.
You know, so again a lot of great instructors that
just go down there as adjuncts alone to teach and
share their knowledge from what they've learned with the next generation.
So before we get to the rapid fire, what I
will ask you to is, you've accomplished a lot in
these twenty three years in the job. If you can

(01:12:17):
define as you look back, and there's still more to do,
you're far from finish. But as you could define, or
if you could define rather these last twenty three years
and what they've taught you in a sentence or two,
how would you, God.

Speaker 2 (01:12:29):
I don't know. I mean, it was just the greatest
experience of my life, It really is. I mean, I
wouldn't change the thing about it. It just the ability
to do this job. You forget, it's a job to
be honest with you. I just don't know how I would,
you know, summarize it. It is a dream come true,

(01:12:49):
it really is.

Speaker 1 (01:12:50):
I think that's well said, and I think that leads
us perfectly into the rapid fire. Five hit and run
questions for me, five hit run answers from you. You
could say past if you want, but they're relatively easy questions.
Verse one. It is even though you're not in the
firehouse day to day anymore. What's one firehouse tradition you
feel must be kept alive?

Speaker 2 (01:13:07):
Oh my god, God, I don't know. I mean the
food traditions you haven you know, steak on pizza on Fridays,
steak on Saturdays, salts on Sundays. Those are staples. I
don't think they should ever go away. Those are big
bonding moments, and a lot of times they're followed up
by a cigar.

Speaker 1 (01:13:24):
So there you go. Second question, the rapid fire. What's
one of the funniest calls? You go to a lot
of heartbreaking calls, Yes, but you see a lot of
funny stuff too. Whi's one really funny call that sticks out?

Speaker 2 (01:13:33):
Oh my god? Uh, you know, years ago there was
a couple of guys out there and they were on
PCP and they go streaking down Corntapiac and they jump
into the Quantibiac River and immediately jump out of the
Countipiac River. I pull up as a lieutenant on Engine
ten seven teams was out and I have two naked guys,

(01:13:56):
drenched wet, running two cops running behind them. The cop
s end up tazing the guys. They were so high
they didn't even feel it. But it was just like
it was like an episode of the Simpsons. I don't
know if you ever saw the Simpsons. Yeah, the naked
death guy around, you know, and it's just two naked
guys at Grand and Grand and quinnetbeag Avenue, just running

(01:14:17):
down the road. I just never forget that. It just
struck me as so funny. It was just classic, like
late night in fair Haven.

Speaker 1 (01:14:23):
Yeah, of course, as soon as you said quitepag Avenue,
I'm like, of course, right by my house. Of course,
right by my humble bout. Third questions of rabid Fire,
funniest colleagues you work with? This is where you could
say more than one for sure.

Speaker 2 (01:14:34):
Oh my god, I've worked some funny, funny human beings
in my life. Chief Hilbert you know, don't let him
fool you. He sits there with like a straight demeanor.
He's probably one of the funniest human beings I've ever
worked with in my life. I can't even tell the
stories on this podcast over the years, Director Sezskowski down
at the school, Lieutenant Sekowski absolutely hysterical. I mean, there's

(01:14:57):
some generally funny, funny human beings. Years ago, there was
a guy named Chris Eburg. He was on the fire apartment.
He since retired. Again hysterical. He used to sleep naked
and then when you wake up, Arry'd b walking by
you naked and he'd always have some smart comment about
you know whatever. But he he was probably one of
the funniest human beings I ever worked with.

Speaker 1 (01:15:18):
And the fourth question of rabid Fire second to last one,
and the rare times you weren't eating in the firehouse.
A lot of great meals to be had there, and
you guys were getting takeout favorite spot to go to.

Speaker 2 (01:15:29):
I mean, you could ever go wrong with the pizza
places in New Haven. You know if fair Haven there's
not a lot not a lot of like restaurant restaurants.
But I gotta tell you at the corner of Grand
and Maltpy is a Dominican restaurant. I forget the name
of it. I think it's one Gusto, Yeah, it's yeah,
that's why that was my go to. I loved going there.

Speaker 1 (01:15:51):
I love Gusto, So I'm with you there. I go
there frequently myself, So a good answer there. And of course,
fifth and finally, if this is where you could speak
to the recruit roots or even just a younger version
of yourself, for anybody that's trying to get on the
fire service, or if you can go back in time
and talk to a young Dan Coughlin, what would you
tell them about the NEWAP and Fire Department.

Speaker 2 (01:16:09):
Take classes, promo, always take the opportunity to learn. You know,
it sounds cliche, but it is. It's for your own good.
I mean, there's so many things out there, and the
fire services is just constantly evolving. It really is you.
You know, I took pretty much every rescue discipline at
one point or another years ago, and you know, at
this point in my career, they're probably pretty much irrelevant

(01:16:32):
because everything's changed so much. So I would talk to
the young generation and say, just keep training, keep keeping
the classes, stay in the books. Assistant Chief Ralph Black
was a great assistant chief, and he used to say
it to us all the time. Stay in the books,
stay in the books. And I did, and it served
me well. You know, I climb the ranks. I climb
the ranks quickly. But that's all attributed to training and knowledge.

(01:16:57):
You have to keep your knowledge based up.

Speaker 1 (01:16:59):
That's anywhere in the fire service, and certainly in New Haven.
I'll never forget the conversation I had with Lieutenant Sulo
on the way back when everything happened with me where
I said, and I mean this, even if my journey
turned out a little bit differently, I would never dissuade
anybody from applying to New Haven Fire Department. There's a
lot you can do, there's a lot you can learn.
Don't get me wrong. There's a lot of great departments
you can apply to across the state. But in terms

(01:17:20):
of call volume, in terms of being busy, in terms
of picking up all those skills you just mentioned, New
Haven's a great place to learn those skills. So for
any of you thinking about applying, I don't know when
applications will be out next, but give it a shot.
He certainly won't regret doing so, and who knows, maybe
you just may be called. So we'll see what happens
for the next classes that are coming down the pike.
And I know sixty five is really enjoying it. I

(01:17:41):
talk with quite a few of my former class bates
regularly and the job is everything they hope they would
be in then some so there's.

Speaker 2 (01:17:47):
A lot to class. It really is a good class.

Speaker 1 (01:17:50):
Absolutely, Well, Chief stick around. We'll talk off the air
before I say goodbye to the audience. If you have
any shoutouts you'd like to give the floors yours. If
you have any shoutouts, now listen.

Speaker 2 (01:18:01):
I would just like to thank each and every new
Aven firefighter. Like I said before, I couldn't do it
without them, and I wouldn't you know, I wouldn't want them.
I wouldn't want to be anywhere else doing what I'm doing.
I just don't think people comprehend. I mean, we all
do because we're involved in this, but I don't think
they understand what these firefighters are doing. And I don't

(01:18:21):
think they understand the volume. You know, thirty six thousand
calls a year in the even you know, these people
are impacting a lot of lives, and I'm proud of
each and everyone.

Speaker 1 (01:18:30):
Well said, and certainly we are as well. Chief. Like
I said, stick around, we'll talk off air. Thanks again
for a great conversation. Thanks to all of you who
tuned in tonight. Coming up next to the Mike new
Aven Podcast. He was in the NYPD's Emergency Service Unit
for a little bit and then he took his crime
fighting from the ground to the air when he joined
the Aviation Unit. Talking about retired NYPD Lieutenant Glenn Daily,
Who'll be here for another volume of the emat inside

(01:18:51):
the NYPD's Emergency Service Unit this Friday at six pm
and next Monday. This instant turned thirty back in June,
happened in Brooklyn, massive train derailment in Williamsburg, and I'll
be speaking with some of the guys who were there.
Representing the NYPD Emergency Service Unit will be former e
s U Cops Joe Garra, Nick Colangelo, and representing the
FDN Y will be former e m S Deputy Chief
Steve Kurr. As we revisit that particular response for a

(01:19:14):
special edition of this program. In the meantime, on behalf
of producer Victor, all of you in the audience, all
New Haven firefighters everywhere, an assistant Chief of Operations, Dan
Coughlin and Mike Coloh. And this has been volume seven
of the Best of the Bravest Nationwide. We will see
you next time. Take everyone, stay safe, have a great night.

Speaker 4 (01:19:37):
The world is yours, The world is yours, The world
is yours, The world is sure.

Speaker 5 (01:19:53):
Pete watching gone detail.

Speaker 4 (01:19:54):
I'm charged them right in there, my booker bombs all
the worlds past them, all the whole of Michael drop
and mechanical movement, understandable smoke that murderers move with the
thief's things.

Speaker 5 (01:20:04):
They play me at night. They won't act right.

Speaker 4 (01:20:06):
The feet and ben Popper's got me stuck like a
crack pipe. The mine activation react like I'm facing time
like that be made, sin depends on it breaks in white.

Speaker 5 (01:20:14):
The sweat off my don't spit, the.

Speaker 4 (01:20:16):
Flem on the streets, sway tims on my feets makes
my site of complete weather cruising in the sixth cab
Mama teo, g if I can't call it. The feats
make me falling asleep. I keep falling, were never falling
six feet deep. I'm out for presidents to represent me,
say why I'm not for presidents to represent me? Say
why I'm not for dead presidents to represent me.

Speaker 5 (01:20:37):
The world is yours, The world is yours. The world
is yours. The world is yours. The world is yours,
The world is yours. Man, I will blessed shit life.

Speaker 4 (01:21:00):
Till my peoples to while queens, God bless your life.
I tripped we box of crazy zamy guns and all
my baby pitchures.

Speaker 5 (01:21:07):
Before the housing police release scriptures.

Speaker 4 (01:21:08):
That's maybe, Nicholas, You're number male honey getting stabbed, roller foul,
the person child honey, sticking wild goolding child dwelling in
the rotten apple. You get tackled a court by the
devil's last It's those days for broke days were selling pays.
We're on the old folks pray to hate shops soaking.
They sends and trays a holy water, ons against na,
the slaughter figure, the word bestist dripping my life to

(01:21:30):
name my daughter, my strepp, my son is start will
be my resurrection, going a correction all of them that
I did. You'll lead the right direction high. You live
in large and broken charge cards of mediocup.

Speaker 5 (01:21:40):
You flip the coca plants fits phases script poker Coker.

Speaker 4 (01:21:48):
World, The world is yours, The world is yours, smart yo,
the world is yours, The world is your. I'm the

(01:22:29):
young city man and hold myself down single handed for murder,
raps to kicking my thoughts alone, getting remanded, boring alone, dialone,
no food to keep.

Speaker 5 (01:22:36):
My crown and thrown.

Speaker 4 (01:22:37):
I'm beat my saud alone cap inside of thousand miles
from home. I need a newt for this black cloud
to follow, because wild it's over me.

Speaker 5 (01:22:44):
It's too dark to see tomorrow.

Speaker 4 (01:22:45):
Trying to maintain a flip filled the clip to the tip,
putun my feet's nawty and come make my heart beats
skipp and.

Speaker 2 (01:22:51):
I'm amped up.

Speaker 4 (01:22:51):
They like the champpark beeping my brains and man because
headed for Indiana, stabbing women like the Phantom, the trust man,
but big Bally style chip, the chip to smell, let's
not go fraut wound dashed through the flock who was
burning dollars to light my store, walk the blocks with
a block check the dames, plus the games people play,
plus the problems up the.

Speaker 5 (01:23:09):
World today on today, On today, it's bows.

Speaker 4 (01:23:17):
The girl is yours, The world is yours, boy, the
girl is yours, the world is yours.

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Episode 377: The Best of the Bravest - Nationwide: Chief Dan Coughlin (New Haven)(Volume 7)

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Episode 377: The Best of the Bravest - Nationwide: Chief Dan Coughlin (New Haven)(Volume 7)