Since your historical novel, When the Bronx Burned is based on your own personal experiences working as a firefighter in the 1960s and 70s, why did you choose to create a novel rather than a non-fiction work?

To be honest, there are so many books with a police detective theme, but very rarely do you find one for firehouse enthusiasts and stories about emergency medical and first responders in fiction. So, I took my personal on-the-job stories and those of my fellow heroes to create When the Bronx Burned. In it, you learn about the brotherhood that develops between firefighters, as well as the relationships between the communities and the firehouses during the 60s as well as a love story and an investigative tale. In our story, a lone fire marshal and the firefighters have to do their own investigation on the arson for profit problem that is killing people. It’s a tragic, but very true tale.

Were any of the slum landlords charged or jailed for their roles in the burning of the Bronx or did they get away with murder?

I am aware of one situation where a landlord hired a super to torch an apartment who in turn hired three local kids to do the arson and once the kids were in the apartment soaking it with gasoline, he lit up the apartment killing at least one of the kids. In this case (which I don’t have the details) the landlord was convicted of something, but I don’t know what his sentence was.

How long did it take for you to write this novel? And why publish it now?

It took me three years with many rewrites and edits to complete my novel. I want the story of this shameful era of NY history told and I want the brave firefighters who fought so many fires remembered.

What years did you work in the South Bronx and what was your experience like?

I worked there from late 1967 to mid 1976 and again from early 1983 to 1987 when I retired. It was during the period 1967 through 1976 that I witnessed first hand the overwhelming devastation by fire inflicted upon the people of the South Bronx, when there was thousands upon thousands of building fires, when hundreds of thousands of people were driven from their homes. I wouldn’t even guess at how many fires I fought during this period, but it was enormous (some tours I fought 6 maybe seven building fires). Over the years I personally lost three close friends (line of duty deaths), a good few others died young as a result of firefighting injuries.

Did arson for profit scenarios happen in other areas of NYC or was it central to the South Bronx only?

From the late 1960s through the 1970s, landlords in slum areas all over New York City found that they could make more money if they burned their apartment buildings for insurance money while in the process eliminating their tenants. This terrible situation happened in the South Bronx, Bedford Styversant, Brownsville, Buswick and East New York in Brooklyn and Jamaica Queens, and in Manhattan, both Harlem and the Lower Eastside.
In fact, during my 6 month detail in Brownsville in the early part of my career, while assigned to Engine 18 in lower Manhattan, I fought many fires, working with and learning from some great firefighters. This experience taught me how to become an aggressive firefighter and helped prepare me for my tour of duty in the Bronx.

I’m sure you’ve seen all types of fires in your many years on the job, can you explain how you can determine what fires are Arson as opposed to other types?

A sure sign of an arson fire is a heavy fire on arrival. When you pull up to a building in a populated area in the day time and find flames pushing from many windows, there was obviously an inflammable liquid used. If the fire is in a vacant apartment building or a vacant apartment, another clear sign of arson. An alarming fact is that twenty percent of all fires across the US are arson, for different reasons: arson for profit, jealously, intimidation, revenge, to cover up a murder or other crime. What’s frightening is fifty five percent of all arson fires are caused by kids under 18 years of age. Children and teens have to be made aware of the casualties that occur when they start fires.

Are the characters in your book a composite of all your co-workers over the years, or do they represent distinct aspects of your company brothers?

The company brothers are representative of all the aggressive firefighters who served in these ghettos during this time period.

Which character represents you?

As far as firefighting is concerned, I am a mix of Jackie Mulligan and Luke White. But, all the characters are composites of the great men I worked with during my career. When you are a firefighter, you are putting your life and trust in another person’s hands. Every day, I survived because the men I worked with where fearless and committed in their duties – and we worked as a fluid team.

What was it like to work in a community with the highest numbers of fires? How did you deal with such a physically and mentally demanding job?

Sometimes very hostile, especially in the earlier days. Some in the community resented us to a point of doing us harm because we represented the establishment. There was still resentments held over from the civil rights disturbances and we were an easy target. To answer the second part of the question; we had each other and we enjoyed each other’s company and once we were in our fire houses we were safe. We took great pride in being some of the busiest ever firefighters. However, we were young and a bit foolish which explains that pride and why many of us loved fighting fires; after all what else would a firefighter want to do – it’s our job and we have a responsibility to our community.

The book highlights political oppositions and ethical responsibilities of our elected officials. What lessons are you trying to teach readers?

Officials are not above being corrupt and criminal in the working man’s eyes. But does the ends justify the means? I want readers to come away remembering that it’s the actions of your elected officials that speak louder than any word they can give you. During the arson for profit years, we heard lots of promises, but for close to 12 years, nothing was done to crack down on the slumlords who killed my brothers and wiped out numerous communities of people.

You’ve mentioned that you’d love to give this book to teenagers to read? Do you think it will curb these young adults from starting fires?

Certainly not all kids, but for many potential young arsonists, it would demonstrate the awful devastation and suffering caused by fires – the burning of ones home. They would learn too, that innocent people would also be affected by their deadly deeds.

What do you want people to come away from reading your book?

To insist that their municipality always maintain a properly manned arson investigation unit, which is rarely the case in cities like New York, to nip possible arson waves in the bud, and to treat arsonists as violent offenders. Every fire in a building puts firefighters lives in jeopardy. Arsonist should at least be charged with attempted manslaughter. Also, an awareness of the nature of the firefighter and the risks he/she is prepared to take to keep the public safe, and to rest assured that someday if their home should burn that the local firefighters will do all they can to save them and their property. And also, to be aware that the words “thank you” spoken to a firefighter goes a long way.