Oral history tries to preserve everyday experiences. When I talk with Newark firefighters, I’m after the gritty little details of life in the firehouse.

An example of the difference between what I'm after & what you might read in a magazine article (like the one written by Hank & posted by Gregory Sereico, see below) would go something like this. The article gives you the number of firefighters responding, their overall efforts, & the results of those efforts (like Hank’s article). Since I was at that fire, I’ll give an example of the details I try to save.

As some of you may have read yesterday, it was a third tour fire & I was working for George Pianka who wanted to attend a dinner at Eight Engine for Bobby Dunbar’s last night in the firehouse.

When we arrived on the scene DC Griggs ordered us to follow him to the back of the building. At the time there was no fire showing, only some smoke. I don’t remember why the chief wanted us (an engine company) to follow him when he was looking to force entry, but I do remember him saying “I have fire in this building.”

The building was for sale & well-sealed. We could find no point to force entry & so returned to the front of the building to stretch lines. By the end of the night we faced 7 stories of fully involved warehouse. The master streams we were throwing at the building didn’t appear to even be reaching it. But the fireboat w/Captain Jack Glass had responded up the river & was throwing large amounts of water from the river into the rear. We were order up 2 ½ frustrating hours later.

This wasn’t one of those fires where you could honestly say you put it out. It more or less ran out of fuel. Others who were there recall cars across McCarter Highway melting. It was hot, bright, smokey, & left an impression for shear volume of fire w/all who were there.

So, I say or ask things to try to bring out some of the little details of firefighting & life in the firehouse. With that in mind, I’m going to throw a pebble in the pond. First I’ll paint a picture:

A captain steps into the firehouse kitchen & sees his crew growling at each other around the table. What thought crosses his mind?

“We need a fire.”

Any thoughts, memories, or comments?

Feel free to add your 2 cents. That's how we'll preserve the experiences of those years.