343. MAYDAY on Bowdoin Street - Dan Rinaldi
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- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- Growing up in his Providence, RI neighborhood, Dan Rinaldi chased the fire trucks through the streets and realized this was the path he was going to go down. Filling in an application at 17 years old, he was soon hired and realized this job was truly for him. Fast forward 36 years later, Dan is now one of the most senior men on the job, assigned to Special Hazards Co. 1. As the Senior Man in the "rescue", Dan's career spans decades and the fire duty during his tenure is hard to count. Throughout such a colorful career, there will always be some close calls, but on the morning of January 6, 2018, Dan found himself trapped under a collapsed third floor and roof, pinning him to the kitchen floor below. "I'm on fire" and his leg was crushed by the falling debris, he remained trapped for 32-1/2 minutes until other Providence companies could remove him from the building. His story is powerful and his lust for the job is undeniable. Suffering from injuries he sustained at the fire, he found his way back to active duty a few months later. His story reinforces what we all know; even when everything is going right, this job can still kill you. His passion for the job remains steadfast and his experiences are shared at the training academy and conferences across the country. He continues to educate those coming up the ranks and enjoys his place in the Providence Fire Department. Time will tell when Dan Rinaldi decides to retire, but right now, he continues to ride and is enjoying every moment of it.
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*Note - volume issue during the first two minutes*
Thank you National Fire Radio for giving us this GREAT INTERVIEW
Dan and I have been good friends for quite awhile now.
I was one of those Providence buffs that Dan mentions chasing the fires from the mid 1970s up until just the last few years.
As a career firefighter in Connecticut, I learned so much from watching those Providence Firefighters do what they do best.
My favorite buff hang out was at the Burger King or Dunks on Broad St., near Elmwood Ave.
I consider it an Honor to be a friend of Dan who I'm planning to see in August (2024) and chit chat about our favorite topic, "ladies - NO, it's fire department".
Oh hey Dan, I have passed on this video to many of my buff buddies too.
Be Safe there Brother.
What's fuckin up the closeness of the job more than anything else is 24 hour tours. Back in the day when we all went out for beers or dinner or held promotion or retirement rackets, most departments that were heavy on brotherhood worked some form of day tours and night tours alternating. So it was easier for guys to get off a day tour and go out together. If you were having a party you'd schedule it so you would have 2 tours ín town and another one on the way in (I won't take up space trying to explain this) and then only one tour had to go out of their way to come in. But guys were moving farther away and it was easier and cheaper to commute for 24's so that became the priority over company or department get-togethers. Now it's a huge effort to get guys together. BUT if you have COMMITMENT and DESIRE, it can be done. Maybe not as often, but it CAN be done. I know because myself and 2 other guys organize regular get-togethers. Guys who come on the job now only know 24's. They don't know what the job was like and they don't know what they're missing and in danger of losing. Senior guys MUST step up and preserve the brotherhood or its gone! Its easy to blame young kids and to be honest some of them DON'T get it and never will. But if they never knew what it was and could be, that's not their fault. 24's are the death of the fire service. It is unthinkable that in a four tour department, there is one tour that you NEVER see. We were ALWAYS interacting with ALL the tours several times a week! Company unity is fucked up, continuity is fucked up, training is fucked up and brotherhood is fucked up. Put in the EFFORT and save the job!!
Their department ALS ambulances are called rescues. So since that term was in practice it was sensible to call it "Special Hazards".
The whole state calls ambulances rescues and most departments don’t have a special hazards and there is even even spill over into Massachusetts with ambulances being called rescues. Not sure where it all came from.
18.batt and the 7th.
Raymond Camacho
My father worked in ladder 38.eng.88 fdny