Update

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by Nov. 29th

Thanksgiving in the Firehouse

I remember my first Thanksgiving on the job. I was roving & riding w/15 Engine. My memory is more of an emotional one. I was a 21 year old kid w/5 months on the job. We had a run for a small fire up around Highland Avenue. Stretched a line into a large, well kept home, but didn't wet it. 9 Engine had quickly knocked down a small bedroom fire on the second floor.

I remember standing in the living room of this house in my dirty turnout gear feeling bad that I was messing up the rug. The smell of a turkey baking in the over permeated the room. The dining room table was already set for the Thanksgiving family gathering. It was a "home for the holidays moment" except there was a line going up the stairs. If I remember right, it was a 308. Nothing unusual, but the picture was etched into my memory. There may have been other Thanksgiving in the firehouse. Only this one sticks out. I guess it's the smell of the turkey & the dining room table set in anticipation of a family gathering that made it memorable.

If you think about it, on average, every 4 years you end up in the firehouse on Thanksgiving. It's just part of the job. So much so that the holiday is only mentioned once in all the interviews I've done. DC Nasta spoke about his first Thanksgiving on the job in "First Days, First Nights". It's a happier memory than the one I just recounted.

"Nasta: My first day I reported was Thanksgiving Day, 1984. My first assignment was Engine Twenty-Six w/Captain Eddie McCarthy up in Vailsburg. I was there one day. I worked that Thanksgiving & the next day I was moved to Truck Eleven with Bobby Carter.

When I walked in on Thanksgiving Day, it kind of surprised me, they’re drinking beer which was like, “Holy cow, this is like really happening.” Had a great Thanksgiving dinner. It was a ten-hour day. I think they had one run that day. And I think it was for an electrical short. That was my first run on the Newark Fire Department. Then I went home & had Thanksgiving dinner w/my family."

Not a bad start of a career, but it got real very quickly after he reported to Central Avenue.

Happy Thanksgiving to all the firefighters who are in the firehouse today & all of those who spent Thanksgiving there over the years.

God bless you all & keep you safe!

Fyi: The "Best Job in the World: Learning the Job"*, is now available at Lulu.com in both paperback Book, & ebook. It should be available on Amazon & Barnes & Noble shortly.

Over the past 2 years, Lulu has run 30% off sales for Black Friday/Cyber Monday.

Check back & I'll let you know.

*This is our history, covering the years 1940 to 2016. 121 Newark firefighters, including every rank on the job, spoke about why they became firefighters, the tests they took, the Academy, and their hours (beginning at 84/week) & salary. Their stories show the wide range of people, reasons, & experiences that over the decades made firefighting the best job in world.

No matter what rank they had attained by the time they spoke with me, each began their career as a probationary firefighter "Learning the Job."