Burn Page #3

Oh, what the f***!

The Mayor

says, "Enough is enough!"

And he fires the City's Fire

Commissioner, and his right-hand man.

Tonight a Fox 2

exclusive, answering the call

for help for the men and women

of the Detroit Fire Department.

Tonight a look

at who's now in charge

of some much needed changes.

Having worked for 30 years

in the Los Angeles Fire Department,

Donald Austin knows all too well the

problems facing Detroit's embattled

fire department and EMS system.

Show me an organization

that says they can't improve,

and I will join you in watching

that organization become obsolete.

The leadership has

been challenged for a whole bunch

of reasons but I plan on

bringing a whole new perspective.

May I share the

table with you ladies?

I'm Don Austin, Don

Austin, Don Austin.

Fire commissioner, we

need to know who he is, right?

Well, here I am... and I'm the fire

commissioner that's come again, yeah.

I saw you on TV when

you first came on board, yeah.

Oh, okay, I'm

committed and invested.

So what do you guys want and

need from the fire department?

We don't need any those...

Our new commissioner's

from California,

so we have an LA commissioner,

Hollywood, I don't know,

Hollywood commissioner, we

just don't know what to expect.

Honor guard, forward, March!

In the 30-plus years, how

many mayors, how many commissioners,

how many chiefs of the

department have there been?

They're going to be gone

two or three years from now.

They're one election cycle away

from you not seeing them again.

I'd like to welcome everyone

to our Detroit Fireman's Memorial

Day service, Ladies and gentlemen,

our newly appointed Executive

Fire Commissioner, Donald Austin.

I'm happy to be here in Detroit,

and want to continue the fine

tradition of the men and women

of the Los Angeles Fire Department,

correction, I knew I was going

to do that, I apologize,

The Detroit Fire Department.

I remember when I told

my dad I wanted to be a fireman,

and he said, "Not in this city."

Ten years later, look where I'm at.

When I was a kid, my father

was a fireman, and I always wanted

to be a fireman, he was

proud of me when I signed up.

Family on the job,

it's just rich tradition.

A lot of people just fall into line

like that, uncles, brothers, fathers,

sons, can't explain

why, it just happens.

Most of the guys around here,

their dad's ran here at some point.

I've seen stuff my dad wrote in.

Matter of fact, 1979, I think

my dad just made Sergeant here.

I was 17 when my father died

from cancer,

possibly complications from a fire.

When he was sick, the fire

department stepped up.

The camaraderie came into play.

I don't think there

was a day that went

by that there wasn't a fire

truck in front of my house.

At 17, that had an impact on me.

Yeah, I guess they

say, "Firemen die young."

I plan on not being one of those.

I love you.

It seems like

the guys that stay to 60,

they stay till 60, and boom!

It's like, wow!

That guy just retired!

Good job.

Yeah!

Jake!

That's the Jakester, you want

me to get farther away from you.

Mm hm.

That's my wife, Gloria.

That's my girlfriend.

Yeah. Wife, girlfriend, lover, all

of the above for the last 35 years.

Yeah, so I've almost gotten

to know her a little bit

and she's always dressed

me all these years.

You know, I guess I looked okay

most of the time, but people look

at me now and they say, "Wow!"

Was Gloria not home when you left?"

. I met my wife before

I was ever out of high school.

I got out the Marine Corp, she said,

"You got one date, that's it, buddy."

We've been dating ever since.

She's put up with me

for over 30 years,

so it's time to just do

what she wants to do.

Originally, we had planned

to move to Tennessee,

but it's totally different

now, because of her situation.

Yeah, hey, sweetie Love you.

Scoot!

See ya.

She went in for a simple

appendectomy,

contracted Guillain-Barre, and

they said if it doesn't kill you,

you'll make a full recovery.

I'm waiting for the full recovery.

This is the empty engine

bay at Engine 50's quarters.

They've taken our rig and placed

it at Engine 58's quarters,

because both of their rigs, the squad

and the engine are

broken down at the shop.

Yeah, we're at Engine 58's

quarters, which is at Lake Point

and Whittier, which is about

two miles from 50's quarters.

Detailed here today.

Riding 50's rig.

The next step, what we've heard,

the rumor is that the TAC is going

to come to Engine 50's quarters.

The TAC is a small

truck with a tank on it,

it's just for transportation

purposes only for manpower.

It'd be nice if we

had some kind of a back-up plan

when things break, you know,

I suspect there are a lot

of other rigs that

are about to break.

Been lucky so far.

I mean, you got a... you don't

want to imagine what could happen,

it's like playing with fire.

Got that?

Yeah.

All right.

The whole f***ing

house is rolling!

Yeah, yeah, it's done.

Come on!

Yeah, over here.

That's every

f***ing thing I got!

Move over.

Man, this motherf***er's

rolling!

Look at that black-ass smoke!

That's every

f***ing thing I got!!

I know... I know.

It's gonna be okay.

Any retiree will tell

you that when they come back

to the firehouse, even if it's just

for a visit, it's just not the same,

when you're removed from it, life

goes on, the firehouse goes on.

Thank you, honey.

That's Doogie

right there in that one.

And this is probably my

favorite one right here

with all the ax and all the smoke.

He almost looks like a ghost.

I think it's kind of cool, but it's

scary at the same time how kind

of after the fact that

something happens.

I always thought he was

kind of like invincible.

When I see these pictures.

I was 19 when we Brendan met.

I cut Brendan's hair.

I was an absolute

busy body before this happened.

When I cut loose, I

like to cut loose.

We traveled a lot together.

Cabo San Lucas, in Mexico.

Bahamas.

Saint Lucia.

I've been

snowboarding for 23 years.

You know, we'd go up north, get

a nice cabin for three/four days

at a time, it was a big deal for us.

Nice job, baby.

To not have that anymore, it

really uh... it really sucks.

The neurosurgeon's opinion

is that most recovery,

most of what you're going to

get back will take a good six

That, for me, right now is like

that's where my blinders are,

that six to eighteen months.

Keep going,

keep going, keep going.

Pull yourself up.

Hold on.

I got it.

Yeah!

I wasn't going to help you

C'mon, pull, pull, pull, much better.

Emotionally, physically,

I mean, every day is a battle,

when you wake up, there's that split

second between opening your eyes,

and remembering that

you're paralyzed.

- It's just kind of like...

- , "Alright",

alright, let's get things going."

Take deep breaths.

It's a rough

way to start the day.

Took us a while

to break Doogie in.

He was just the way we like him,

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