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Steward's Idea Spurs Louisiana to Help Rebuild NYFD's Fleet
Over the past few months, Ron Goldman has rubbed shoulders with the president, a couple of governors and countless grateful firefighters who consider him an honorary member of the fire service family.
While he’s been having the time of his life, Goldman would be the first to tell you that he was just the idea guy — that it was his community and the state of Louisiana that made it all possible.
“It’s almost embarrassing,” said Goldman, a CWA Local 3410 shop steward for most of his 36 years as a service technician with the phone company — now Avaya — in New Orleans. “It was such a simple, simple idea. I feel so blessed that it’s come true.”
It started in mid-September when Goldman phoned Louisiana Gov. Mike Foster’s weekly radio talk show to suggest that the state give New York City a new fire truck to help its fire department begin to replace the 35 emergency vehicles destroyed Sept. 11.
The governor loved the idea and didn’t waste any time bringing it to the state Legislature, where Rep. Hunt Downer offered to lead a fundraising drive rather than take the money from state coffers.
Soon, money was pouring into the “Bucks for Trucks” campaign and a New Orleans-area fire truck company, Ferrara Apparatus, began building the 29,000-pound, 32-foot pumper christened the “Spirit of Louisiana.”
“The people of Louisiana dug in,” Goldman said, telling of high school students who decided to donate funds instead of giving each other Christmas presents, and a $250 gift from a first-grade class designated for fuel to get the truck to New York City.
Goldman got the idea when he watched President George W. Bush speak to firefighters on top of a pile of rubble that was a crushed, burned fire truck at the World Trade Center collapse site. “I just focused on that and I said, ‘New York’s in deep trouble. Wouldn’t it be great if we could start something right here in Louisiana to rebuild New York starting with the fire department?”
For weeks, the campaign pressed on and Goldman’s name was never mentioned in news media accounts. But when the truck was finished, Goldman was invited to join the governor for what he figured would be a quiet christening ceremony. “Little did I realize,” he said. “CNN was there, ABC’s 20/20, lots of firefighters. There were about 350 people. It was an awesome day.”
When the truck headed for New York City just before Christmas, Goldman, his wife, Sandie, and daughter Krissy, a college sophomore, were invited to come. Avaya, which had donated $10,000 toward the truck, paid the family’s expenses.
The family flew to Washington, D.C. and joined the truck’s crew, Gov. Foster and other dignitaries for a White House ceremony. In fact, Goldman and his family got to ride in the truck from Georgetown, several miles away. “On the right, there are pedals marked ‘siren’ and ‘horn’ and those were mine,” Goldman said with a laugh. “I blasted us all the way to the White House.”
There, Goldman spent about 20 minutes talking with Bush, who thanked him repeatedly for his role in sparking the campaign.
After the White House event, the family flew to New York City to take part in festivities there. New Yorkers “treated us like royalty” and Goldman discovered that even the Big Apple could be a small town.
He recalled talking to a waitress at a midtown Manhattan diner who told him her mother had been on the 91st floor of the towers and was one of the last people to get out alive. When he went to the new truck’s firehouse in Brooklyn, he spotted the waitress in the crowd. It turned out she lived on the same block.
Gov. Foster, New York Gov. George Pataki, scores of firefighters and news media were on hand when the truck was presented.
The truck, state of the art and built for safety with bulletproof glass, double-reinforced bumpers and an extra thick cab, cost $660,000. Some of the cost was defrayed by gifts from suppliers, such as Goodyear, as well as hours of free labor donated by Ferrara workers on nights and weekends.
As a result of donations of time, supplies and money, Goldman said “Bucks for Trucks” will be able to provide two more vehicles for the NYFD. The first, a high-rise rescue truck is already under construction. Further, Foster has challenged other governors to raise money for fire trucks, and Goldman said he believes Wisconsin and Tennessee, among others, have launched fundraising drives.
Goldman never aspired to be a firefighter, a fact he says surprised people throughout his trip. But he has deep affection for the men and women who risk their lives to save others, and for the thousands of people who chipped in to make the campaign a success.
“This is more than I could have dreamed of in two lifetimes,” he said. “I consider myself a very fortunate individual to have had this idea and have this many people be receptive.”
While he’s been having the time of his life, Goldman would be the first to tell you that he was just the idea guy — that it was his community and the state of Louisiana that made it all possible.
“It’s almost embarrassing,” said Goldman, a CWA Local 3410 shop steward for most of his 36 years as a service technician with the phone company — now Avaya — in New Orleans. “It was such a simple, simple idea. I feel so blessed that it’s come true.”
It started in mid-September when Goldman phoned Louisiana Gov. Mike Foster’s weekly radio talk show to suggest that the state give New York City a new fire truck to help its fire department begin to replace the 35 emergency vehicles destroyed Sept. 11.
The governor loved the idea and didn’t waste any time bringing it to the state Legislature, where Rep. Hunt Downer offered to lead a fundraising drive rather than take the money from state coffers.
Soon, money was pouring into the “Bucks for Trucks” campaign and a New Orleans-area fire truck company, Ferrara Apparatus, began building the 29,000-pound, 32-foot pumper christened the “Spirit of Louisiana.”
“The people of Louisiana dug in,” Goldman said, telling of high school students who decided to donate funds instead of giving each other Christmas presents, and a $250 gift from a first-grade class designated for fuel to get the truck to New York City.
Goldman got the idea when he watched President George W. Bush speak to firefighters on top of a pile of rubble that was a crushed, burned fire truck at the World Trade Center collapse site. “I just focused on that and I said, ‘New York’s in deep trouble. Wouldn’t it be great if we could start something right here in Louisiana to rebuild New York starting with the fire department?”
For weeks, the campaign pressed on and Goldman’s name was never mentioned in news media accounts. But when the truck was finished, Goldman was invited to join the governor for what he figured would be a quiet christening ceremony. “Little did I realize,” he said. “CNN was there, ABC’s 20/20, lots of firefighters. There were about 350 people. It was an awesome day.”
When the truck headed for New York City just before Christmas, Goldman, his wife, Sandie, and daughter Krissy, a college sophomore, were invited to come. Avaya, which had donated $10,000 toward the truck, paid the family’s expenses.
The family flew to Washington, D.C. and joined the truck’s crew, Gov. Foster and other dignitaries for a White House ceremony. In fact, Goldman and his family got to ride in the truck from Georgetown, several miles away. “On the right, there are pedals marked ‘siren’ and ‘horn’ and those were mine,” Goldman said with a laugh. “I blasted us all the way to the White House.”
There, Goldman spent about 20 minutes talking with Bush, who thanked him repeatedly for his role in sparking the campaign.
After the White House event, the family flew to New York City to take part in festivities there. New Yorkers “treated us like royalty” and Goldman discovered that even the Big Apple could be a small town.
He recalled talking to a waitress at a midtown Manhattan diner who told him her mother had been on the 91st floor of the towers and was one of the last people to get out alive. When he went to the new truck’s firehouse in Brooklyn, he spotted the waitress in the crowd. It turned out she lived on the same block.
Gov. Foster, New York Gov. George Pataki, scores of firefighters and news media were on hand when the truck was presented.
The truck, state of the art and built for safety with bulletproof glass, double-reinforced bumpers and an extra thick cab, cost $660,000. Some of the cost was defrayed by gifts from suppliers, such as Goodyear, as well as hours of free labor donated by Ferrara workers on nights and weekends.
As a result of donations of time, supplies and money, Goldman said “Bucks for Trucks” will be able to provide two more vehicles for the NYFD. The first, a high-rise rescue truck is already under construction. Further, Foster has challenged other governors to raise money for fire trucks, and Goldman said he believes Wisconsin and Tennessee, among others, have launched fundraising drives.
Goldman never aspired to be a firefighter, a fact he says surprised people throughout his trip. But he has deep affection for the men and women who risk their lives to save others, and for the thousands of people who chipped in to make the campaign a success.
“This is more than I could have dreamed of in two lifetimes,” he said. “I consider myself a very fortunate individual to have had this idea and have this many people be receptive.”