Denis Leary’s ‘crazy idea’ puts civilians through FDNY training to raise funds for fire departments

Denis Leary didn’t want to do another fundraising golf tournament. Or an auction.

But the actor-comedian, who currently stars in the Fox comedy “Going Dutch” and is best known as the voice of Diego in the “Ice Age” movies, needed more donations for the Leary Firefighters Foundation. He came up with what he calls a “crazy idea” to host a “Firefighter for a Day” event and worked with the New York City Fire Department and FDNY Foundation to make it happen in honor of International Firefighter Day, celebrated every May 4.

Since 2016, the Foundation’s Denis Leary FDNY Firefighter Challenge has been the only day the FDNY Fire Academy on Randall’s Island in New York City has been open to non-firefighters who get a rare, hands-on opportunity to experience some of the training required for emergency response.

“It was exciting from the very beginning,” Leary told the Associated Press. “Now, 10 years later, it’s getting better every year. It’s just amazing.”

Participants train with real firefighters and rush into burning buildings, carrying fire hoses to extinguish flames and searching for survivors. They also lower buildings to safety.

Leary, who has a long-standing connection to firefighters through the foundation and the long-running FX drama “Rescue Me,” said participants don’t have to do anything they don’t want to. But when they see teamwork and expertise, they often take on more than they planned.

“The Good Wife” star laughs when she recalls that when Julianna Margulies came one year and dropped her off at her new team, she planned to be a coach rather than a participant.

“Maybe two hours later, I walked by the high-rise simulator and he was coming out in full shelter gear and said, ‘I just went down the side of the building!'” Leary said. he said. “And I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ I thought. ‘I know! “I overcame all my fears.”

Fire departments ‘fighting for every $100’

Thanks to Leary, many actors, as well as athletes and companies who want to support, participate in the event. David Morkal, a retired FDNY battalion chief and Leary Firefighters Foundation board member, said the event raises enough money each year for the foundation to make several additional grants to fire departments across the country to purchase new equipment or receive additional training they might not otherwise be able to afford.

“When we started this 10 years ago, we were giving maybe $200,000 a year in grants, now we’re giving $850,000,” said Morkal, adding that the foundation hopes to reach $1 million in grants this year. “There are volunteer fire departments fighting for every $100 they can get.”

Morkal says the criteria for gifts remain the same as when Leary founded the foundation in 2000, following the tragic fire in Worcester, Massachusetts, that killed six firefighters, including Leary’s cousin and a childhood friend.

“His job is to provide them (the firefighters) with all the equipment and training they need to get away and go home to their families after the fire is out,” Morkal said. “We do that kind of thing, too. We give them training and equipment.”

John Tyson, assistant fire chief at the Talladega Fire Department in Alabama, said the forcible entry trainer his department received from Leary’s foundation is used almost every day.

Equipment that allows firefighters to quickly break through locked doors allows the department to be more effective in responding to emergency calls, but it pales in comparison to high-priority items in the department’s always-tight budget, Tyson said. Tyson, who served as both a firefighter and paramedic for decades, said he believes people appreciate fire service, but they aren’t always aware that first responders often need support.

“We’re a small department in rural Alabama,” he said, adding how grateful he was that Leary’s foundation wanted to help. “It touches me that someone who has achieved success still wants to give back.”

Leary’s foundation fills ‘giant gap’ in budget deficits

Edward A. Kelly, President of the International Firefighters Association, said he wished that the Leary Firefighters Foundation would not be needed and that fire departments could provide the equipment and training they need without the help of philanthropists.

“When you think about the fundamental role of government, first and foremost is to protect its citizens, and that’s what fire departments do every day,” said Kelly, whose union represents 360,000 firefighters and first responders in the U.S. and Canada. “We have a problem where fire departments in the United States are on tight budgets and competing with a multitude of other demands on city government — schools, new bridges, parks, anything that will get a politician re-elected. It’s a flawed system.”

Kelly said Leary’s foundation exists in a “giant void” and is trying to address the deficiencies created by the system. He adds that most fire departments in the country have equipment donated by the foundation after 26 years of donations.

“We owe a great debt of gratitude to Denis and everyone who supports the Leary Foundation,” he said. “Anything that fills the gap to prevent the next tragedy is worth the investment.”

Shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks, Leary hoped that the federal government would make his foundation unnecessary.

“About six months later, for a brief moment, I wondered, ‘Is the government going to step in?’ “We thought,” he said. “It was a little glimmer of hope, but we realized: ‘No, of course not.’ But that’s okay. I love doing this.

Leary said he has been following his friend Boston Bruins hockey great Cam Neely, who is now the team’s president, and his work supporting cancer patients at Tufts Medical Center.

“He was the first person where I thought, ‘Wow, someone famous can really make a difference,'” Leary said. “So when I had to do something, I had a good example of what you can use fame for.”

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