!Please Remain Calm!

We tell you whats actually happening in LA the past 2 months and the difference between protests and the actual riots we've lived through in LA in our lives. We talk about the media & administration blowing this out of proportion to the point where we had the Marines & National Guard sitting around the jail in Downtown for 6 weeks while everyone in LA was having brunch & living their lives. We talk about the raids, how they started to distract us from White House scandals, Epstein list, Fox news ratings, Dr Phil, fat Ice guys, fake news, social media, agitators, & the rhetoric surrounding LA. This episode tells you whats really been happening.   6:40 What really happened those first nights of protest 8:38 The difference with a real riot 15:05 The list that for sure exists 16:55 Ice 23:20 Why Immigration is a dumb issue 32:15 Protest coverage on the news 33:40 Our friend (US citizen) gets snatched by Ice 44:00 The truth about MS 13 52:40 Pointless boycotts & causes 57:45 Medicaid "checks"  

LAFD Firefighter Paramedic Tom Rodriguez tells us the story of a routine big rig fire that was anything but routine. This truck had a CNG natural gas tank that caused a huge explosion with Tom standing right there. This explosion injured the entire responding crew fighting the fire, with only one firefighter able to radio for help. We hear what happens when a routine fire becomes a mass casualty incident where the firefighters become victims. What it's like waking up in the ER and figuring out what happened to you. How it feels to recover from an explosion, the aftermath of head injuries, how to fight auto fires, & why it's a different vibe being a firefighter working in the Harbor area of LA. 

We have returned, again, and now Danny can finally discuss his lawsuit with the LAFD and city of LA. He can discuss it because its over and he WON a big victory for his fellow LAFD frontline members. He explains how his lawsuit came to be, the deeply ingrained traditions of the LAFD and how that culture can sometimes be to the detriment of the staff. We talk about how hard it actually is to attemot something that goes against a long standing tradition. All of the pushback and backlash you recieve from your fellow firefighters for the perception that YOU are ruining the culture of the department you love. How far does the department go to stop you?  What does the union think about it? How does it feel to be ostracized for standing up for something you believe in, that would benefit all of your fellow firefighters. What's it like when no one saw your vision, then you achieve your goal, and everyone starts to see what you meant. This is an episode about determination, and doing the right thing even when its hard.

We're back with another serious injury episode. Sabrina Cognata is a writer and producer who has survived multiple traumatic events, including: falling off of the roof as a kid, being held hostage by a neighbor after a hail of gunfire as a kid, & nearly dying in a car wreck that broke her neck. She tells us how a traumatic brain injury changed her personality & beating death shaped her decisions after the accident. We learn how trauma can start to feel normal to you. Whats it like finding out you were as close to being paralyzed as possible? Being nearly scalped going thru the windshield, having to recover for months at home, & then being determined to live life as hard as you can. Sabrina is super honest & funny & there are more shootings, trips to jail, drugs, car crashes & legal advice in this episode.

We're joined by LA street journalist "Storm", the person behind the LA County Unleashed social media accounts providing live video of some of the craziest incidents on the LA streets any given night. We talk about the explosion of 911 incident content on social media, the role of Stringers and street jouranlists who show up to incidents, sometimes before the police arrive, film the incidents and sell the footage to the news stations. We talk about the dangers of showing up as a civilian to crime scenes, sometimes becoming part of the crime scene yourself. How firefighters decide whether or not to enter a dangerous scene without police. How one incident can lead to another, & what makes a person want to drive to dangerous active incidents just to inform their community. Then Storm and Danny recount a wild active shooter incident in Marina Del Rey that they were both on scene for & Storm was shot at multiple times, barely escaping the bullets and saving her dog, all while she was live on social media. 

Meet Bubba Willis. Bubba is a retired LAFD Firefighter who has been fighting fires with the busiest companies since he was a 14 year old explorer in South Central LA. He rose thru the department, working with a slew of LA Firefighting legends, & landing on the first LAFD Urban Search and Rescue task force. Bubba becomes a USAR expert and instructor, which he does to this day. We hear about the LAFD in the 80's, what it was like to be fighting fires in high school, having to get a GED to take the LAFD exam because you were still in 12th grade, getting hired for 2 positions in the LAFD at the same time, learning from old timers, being cool to rookies, deploying to 9/11 & arriving to find out that the entire FDNY USAR team you trained with died  in the World Trade Center collapse, deploying to mutliple hurricanes like Katrina & Ike, taking care of the search dogs, reverse Jenga for collapsed buildings, & how to teach urban search and rescue techniques without it being boring. Bubba is super cool & he also shares some memories of working with our dad back in the day & even calls him by his old nickname he hated. This is the episode youve been searching for. 

We talk to LAFD Firefighter Nathan Espinosa who survived a roof collapse on a major commercial structure fire as a first house rookie. We show video of the incident and you see why his crew assumed he didnt survive. Nathan tells us how he made it, the thoughts that went thru his mind after he fell thru the roof, & what kept him from giving up hope. He talks about how his training saved his life, & the aftermath of surviving a near fatal event, the PTSD, and how he overcame it. We also reminisce on what its like to grow up with your dad on the LAFD and then joining the department yourself. We talk about the drill tower, fireground operations, and what your first big fire is like as a rookie. Plus we cover the unique situation of crawling out of a burned building that everyone assumed you died in.  

We talk to LAFD firefighter, and host of the GRAB LIVES podcast, John Vargas. John goes deep into the holistic approach he takes to a firefighting career, health, and mental health. We talk about the stigma that existed surrounding mental health in the fire department and whats being done to change it. How changes in demographics led to changes in the department and changes in attitudes. John shares how his own injury and recovery path led him to try a different approach and seek the knowledge needed to heal himself. How unresolved stress can manifest itself into different physical ailments. We talk about the effectiveness of different therapies, up to and including Kambo and psychedelics. The ineffectiveness of other options like pushing emotions down, & drinking, & what it takes to admit that you need a change. John is a fascinating guy and really breaks down the physiology of stress and how different theraputic agents work in your body. We also learn what Grab lives means and how it applies to the fireground, and this approach to health. Listen to this & get regualted with us. 

We have LA County Firefighter/Paramedic Mike Anderson with us this week. Mike is the only Firefighter to appear on 2 different firefighter reality tv series, as a member of 2 different fire departments. Nearly 2 decades ago as a member of the Compton FD Mike appeared on BET's "First In". Then, after 15 years with Compton, Mike joins the LA County Fire Department & winds up being featured on NBC's "LA Fire & Rescue" produced by none other than Dick Wolf (dun dun). Mike tells was what its like to leave a small department from an "infamous"city to the biggest Fire Department in the west. What was it like to do 2 different drill towers, to get recognized in other states as the guy from that show, & what its like working a first in district in Ben's current neighborhood. Mike is really funny and shows us how taking a risk can pay off. 

We break down all of the Fire Department tv shows & movies of our lifetime. Scripted network tv shows from "9-1-1" to "Rescue Me" to "Emergency". We tell you why things hit or miss & how dumb technical mistakes can ruin these shows for firefighters & paramedics. We tell you why the great ones are so great, & what would make a perfect show for us. Then we do the same thing with movies, we tell you which ones were the best & worst & why Backdraft is still the goat. We also talk about emergency driving & some disturbing trends Danny is seeing in the streets