FDNY Lt. JOE TORRILLO Ret. B37 L123 E10 BFS “Billy Blazes”

Today I had the ultimate pleasure to chop it up with FDNY Retired Lt.JOE TORRILLO. Lt. Torillo got on the job in 1981. And was assigned to E10 out of probie school.  But before that, he was born and raised in Park Slope Brooklyn, the same neighborhood I grew up in. And attended the same high school, Bishop Ford.  At 16 he worked for the City Park Service. Eventually doing short stints in Corrections and Transit Authority before becoming a firefighter in 1981.  He transferred to L123 in 1996 and was soon promoted to Lieutenant. He covered in the 15th Division, 37 Battalion and worked in companies such as 310/174 257/170 323 & 253 engines. After a major injury to his hand he was assigned to the FDNY office of Fire Safety Education and soon became the director of the program. He would go on to co design the FIRE ZONE, a state of the art fire learning center located near Rockefeller center in NYC. Fisher Price toy company modeled a Rescue Hero Action Figure in Lt. Torrillo’s likeness,  named BILLY BLAZES. On the day he was scheduled to present this toy to the public, The World Trade Center was struck by a terrorist attack.  He responded to The WTC and was subsequently caught in the first collapse. After he was dug out and placed on a rescue boat the 2nd tower collapsed and dove into the engine room to avoid the debris. He was taken to a hospital in NJ with severe injuries to his head, neck and shoulder. Lt. Torrillo eventually retired from the FDNY and has become a key note speaker, detailing his story and many others. He also volunteers at the WTC museum giving tours. Thank you Joe for sharing your story with me at The Kitchen Table. 
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Chapters:
00:00 intro
02:00 fire story
04:30 fire safety ed unit
14:00 fire zone
20:30 tea award 
21:37 fisher price rescue hero’s
25:00 billy blazes
28:30 9/11
1:03:00 Parkinson’s 
1:07:50 heart issues
1:14:00 family of medical professionals 
1:15:00 engine 220 son
1:20:00 scenario 
1:23:30 tough fires
1:26:40 engine or truck
1:28:30 Manhattan Brooklyn difference 
1:34:20 key note speaking
1:46:00 picture time
1:49:00 Guantanamo 
1:54:40 outro

Links: 
Website 
https://joetorrillo.com/about.htm
Joe’s Facebook 
https://www.facebook.com/share/1Mtr3ycZHL/?mibextid=wwXIfr
WTC Memorial 
https://share.google/pTRhGLNJtFWMEHiqv

The Fire Zone
https://www.fdnysmart.org/firezone/
Tunnel to Towers Foundation 
https://t2t.org/
Gary Sinise Foundation https://garysinisefoundation.org/

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