My background has provided an in-depth perspective of New York City. I grew up in Brooklyn and over the course of a 33 year career with the New York City Fire Department I had the opportunity to work throughout the city. My work experiences ranged from high profile incidents in Mid-Manhattan to major disasters in most of the poorer sections of Brooklyn and the Bronx.
I rose through the rank of firefighter, company officer, battalion chief, and eventually deputy chief in the largest and most active fire department in the country. This extensive firefighting resume has allowed me to become nationally recognized as a leading expert in the emergency services field and provided an opportunity to lecture throughout the country to both civilian and firefighter audiences. I have also published numerous feature articles for Fire Engineering, a leading national fire service magazine.
While there were many memorable incidents in my career a few stand out and are intimately described in my book. I responded to the Happy Lands Social Club fire in the Bronx, a disaster of historical proportions where 87 people died. I worked through 24 hours of Hurricane Sandy which flooded and devastated whole sections of New York City. And most notably, I worked for months supervising rescue and recovery operations following the World Trade Center terrorist attack.
Another significant aspect of my work involved interfacing with the media. As the incident commander of an emergency operation I represented the FDNY and provided interviews for television reporters, journalists, and community groups.
I am currently lecturing throughout the country about my experience in the FDNY.