Author: Kevin Kubler
In present-day New York City, Richie “Little Sully” Sullivan pieces together a buried past through the journals of his grandfather, written during The War Years. What begins as a personal look into family history quickly turns darker, as the pages reveal a city plagued by suspicious fires that were anything but accidental.
Through his grandfather Sully’s words, a pattern emerges—blazes erupting too often, investigations going nowhere, and powerful figures ensuring the truth stays hidden. As Sully digs deeper in his time, Little Sully realizes just how dangerous that knowledge was, and why so much of it was kept quiet.
The journal paints a grim picture of a city where corruption thrived in the chaos of war, and where telling the truth could cost everything
This is a story based on hundreds of interviews conducted of firefighters from the FDNY that worked during the “War Years”. Some of these interviews include Dennis Smith who authored “Report From Engine Company 82”. Also several interviews of Vincent Dunn who wrote many books on the fire service. It's written by a retired member of the FDNY that served his last 15 years in the Special Operations Command from 1998 to 2013. He was a survivor of the World Trade Center attacks in 2001 in which he worked in a firehouse where 19 members were murdered on that day. This is a drama with comedic tones that is based on true events. The culture of the sixties and seventies in New York was colorful, expressive, and free spirited. It was also dangerous, corrupt, crime ridden and marred with social unrest. The city was burning down. On any given night a company would respond to as many as 10 working fires. What were the root causes of so many fires? Was the city complacent? Was the city incentivizing arson for profit? The fiscal crunch had the city closing firehouses and laying off firefighters. It was the perfect storm. It was the WAR YEARS. Are things so different today? There is civil unrest and riots. Crime is surging. The price of gasoline, groceries and every day items are skyrocketing. This story will rewind and fast forward in time as seen through the eyes of a grandfather and grandson to see if if that history may be destined to repeat itself. The story also involves the search for answers. As a firefighter the grandson searches for the truth into how his grandfather was killed in the line of duty. He searches for all the answers that created this “perfect storm” of destruction and who may actually hold some accountability in his grandfathers death along with the hundreds of firefighters who died in the line of duty during this chaotic time. It all starts with a personal journal of his grandfather's that is given to him by his father upon graduating the academy and reporting for his first tour at the firehouse. Not only will these journal entries in this private diary help him navigate daily firehouse life it will also set him on a course for his quest for the truth.
