Leary fights for forgotten firemen
Funnyman Denis Leary is getting serious about the plight of New Orleans’ firefighters, who are too proud to ask for charity following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
The comedian/actor, who plays troubled New York fireman Tommy Gavin in hit US TV drama Rescue Me, claims New Orleans' heroes have all but been forgotten in the aftermath of last summer's storms and he has set up a fund to help them get back on their feet.
Leary says: "Nobody knows this, but the fire department there lost 22 out of their 36 houses and all the equipment that was in there. They didn't even have the rescue boats to go and rescue people with, so I'm actually using money from my foundation to buy them rescue boats.
"All these people that are going down to New Orleans and talking about the tragedy down there are forgetting the firefighters, and they (firefighters) won't talk about it themselves because they have too much pride, but it's a big issue.
"The fire department is decimated down there and, unlike the police, they didn't walk away from the job.
"Some of these guys are parked with their rigs in Wal Mart parking lots because they don't have firehouses. They asked the federal government to help them out twice with the rescue boats and they were turned down twice.
"Go to www.learyfirefighers.org and, within that website, you can find the Jeremiah Lucy Fund, which is named after my cousin, who gave his life in the line of duty, and at that site you can donate money directly to the New Orleans fire department.
"We need approximately $75,000 (€58,100) more and we'll be able to secure every truck in New Orleans with a rescue boat. We're trying to get that done in the next month and a half."
