This is What Firefighters Do Every Day (They Play With Their Mangueras!?)

Summary

LA PLATICA Podcast: Episode Summary Episode Title: This is What Firefighters Do Every Day (They Play With Their Mangueras!?) Release Date: February 3, 2025 Host: LA PLATICA PODCAST Guest: Josh Leyva, Firefighter

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1. Introduction and Guest Introduction

The episode begins with Sebas and Marco engaging in light-hearted banter before introducing their special guest, Josh Leyva, a dedicated firefighter. They highlight the significance of the episode, marking it as their 180th installment, and express their excitement to delve into Josh's experiences in firefighting.

Notable Quote:

• Marco (00:31): “This is insane. What an accomplishment. This is 180.”

2. Handling Devastating Fires

Sebas and Marco pivot the conversation to recent catastrophic fires in Southern California. They discuss the scale and impact of these fires, emphasizing the unprecedented challenges faced by firefighters. Josh shares his firsthand experience combating one of the largest fires in the region.

Notable Quotes:

• Sebas (02:57): “How are you? How's everything?”
• Josh Leyva (06:05): “This fire has been the most destructive that I've seen for sure.”

3. Mental Health and Camaraderie in Firefighting

The hosts delve into the mental toll that firefighting can take. Josh acknowledges the intense pressure and the necessity for resilience, highlighting the strong bond and brotherhood among firefighters. He shares how personal support systems, like his wife Denise, play a crucial role in maintaining his mental well-being.

Notable Quotes:

• Josh Leyva (05:57): “In order to be a firefighter, you got to have a little screw loose.”
• Josh Leyva (09:13): “She freaks out. So for us, it's fun. We're out there, we're camping.”

4. A Day in the Life of a Firefighter

Josh provides an in-depth look into his daily routine as a city firefighter. He explains the structure of his 48-hour shifts, encompassing routine maintenance of fire engines, responding to various emergencies—from medical aid to multi-vehicle accidents—and the unpredictability that comes with each call.

Notable Quotes:

• Josh Leyva (11:10): “We have chores. You're checking out your rig, you're making sure it runs.”
• Josh Leyva (15:00): “We show up. That's why you see a fire engine at every call.”

5. Firefighting Tactics: Fighting Fire with Fire

The conversation shifts to specific firefighting strategies, particularly the tactic of "fighting fire with fire." Josh explains how controlled burns are used to create barriers, preventing larger fires from advancing by eliminating available fuel sources.

Notable Quotes:

• Josh Leyva (34:06): “That is what we call fighting fire with fire.”
• Josh Leyva (35:03): “We create a barrier with fire to cut off the oxygen fuel.”

6. Personal Journey: From Tragedy to Vocation

Josh shares a poignant personal story from his childhood that inspired him to become a firefighter. Recalling a medical emergency involving his sister, he describes the profound impact it had on his desire to help others in critical situations.

Notable Quotes:

• Josh Leyva (36:54): “I wanted to make their shitty day go away.”
• Josh Leyva (39:14): “That's what guided me my entire life.”

7. Becoming a Firefighter: Steps and Advice

Sebas and Marco express their admiration for Josh's dedication, sparking a discussion about the pathway to becoming a firefighter. Josh outlines the necessary steps, including obtaining certifications, gaining life experience, and the importance of perseverance. He encourages listeners, regardless of their background, to pursue this noble profession.

Notable Quotes:

• Josh Leyva (45:20): “If you have the time, there's no excuse.”
• Josh Leyva (49:30): “Between 18 months and three years is achievable.”

8. Emergency Preparedness Tips for Listeners

Towards the end of the episode, Josh offers practical advice for emergency preparedness, emphasizing the importance of having a ready bag, securing valuables, maintaining a generator, and ensuring communication capabilities during disasters.

Notable Quotes:

• Josh Leyva (69:00): “Have at least one or two weeks' worth of clothes already packed.”
• Josh Leyva (71:11): “Join the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) to learn how to assist during catastrophes.”

9. Encouraging Community Support and Engagement

The hosts and Josh discuss ways listeners can support firefighters and their communities beyond donations. Josh highlights programs like CERT and the significance of fostering, pet food donations, and other community services that can make a tangible difference during emergencies.

Notable Quotes:

• Josh Leyva (73:12): “Have pets fostered during times like this.”
• Sebas (75:00): “We appreciate everything you do for the community.”

10. Closing Remarks and Acknowledgments

The episode concludes with heartfelt thanks to Josh for sharing his experiences and insights. Sebas and Marco acknowledge the invaluable role firefighters play in society and encourage listeners to follow Josh's initiatives to inspire future generations.

Notable Quote:

• Marco (73:32): “Thank you so much for fighting the fires and for being on La Platica. We appreciate you.”

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Key Takeaways:

• Firefighting is a demanding yet rewarding profession requiring resilience, teamwork, and unwavering dedication.
• Mental health and strong support systems are crucial for those in high-stress jobs like firefighting.
• Practical preparedness can significantly enhance personal and community safety during emergencies.
• Inspiring the next generation is essential for addressing workforce shortages and fostering diverse, passionate individuals in firefighting roles.

Actionable Advice for Listeners:

1. Prepare an emergency ready bag with essentials for at least two weeks.
2. Join local programs like CERT to gain skills in emergency response.
3. Support firefighters through donations of pet food, fostering pets, or participating in community service.
4. Follow and engage with firefighters like Josh Leyva on social media to stay informed and inspired.

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Notable Resources Mentioned:

• SeatGeek Sponsorship: Use code LA PLATICA2025 for 10% off tickets on SeatGeek.
• Firefighter Guide: Accessible via Josh Leyva’s Linktree in his Instagram bio.
• Community Emergency Response Team (CERT): Local programs available in most big cities.

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For more insights and inspiring conversations, subscribe to LA PLATICA Podcast and follow Josh Leyva on his social media platforms.

Transcript

[Josh Leyva]

What if there were a medicine that could heal almost anything? That would be great, but they didn't want you to know about it. Sorry, who's they? Some people are following me. And I brought my tortoise.

[Sebas]

From executive producers Mike Judge and Greg Daniels and co creators Joe Bennett and Steve Healy comes an animated comedy thriller.

[Josh Leyva]

About what it takes to change the world.

[Sebas]

Common side effects. New episodes, Sundays at 11:30pm on Adult Swim. Now streaming on Max. I brought a question for you.

[Marco]

Yes, sir?

[Sebas]

What is your cutoff date on the new year to stop saying Happy New Year's?

[Marco]

I think you can say Happy New Year throughout all of January. I think so. February. February. February.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Marco]

First stop saying stop.

[Sebas]

But we're still in January.

[Marco]

Yeah.

[Sebas]

It's a new year.

[Marco]

Yeah.

[Sebas]

New things are happening, and they're going to be happening all year long. Which brings me to my next point. This episode is sponsored by SeatGeek. With the new year here, I'm here to tell you about SeatGeek. 28 million downloads. SeatGeek is the number one ready ticketing app in the App Store store.

[Marco]

70,000 live events.

[Sebas]

Come on, man. That's on the daily.

[Marco]

Supposedly, Josh is going to take me to go see SZA and Kendrick Lamar. But he only saying that.

[Sebas]

I'm only saying that because SeatGeek hooked us up with a special code LA PLATICA 2025, which gets me 10% off my next ticketed purchase, which I'm going to use to take you on a hot date.

[Marco]

Just me and you, if you want that. Guys, Josh ain't lying. Se gave us La Platica 2025 for 10% off your next purchase.

[Sebas]

Do my name look like Mufasa? Nope. So I ain't lying. So what are you guys waiting for? Take out your phones, open the SeatGeek app, and add code LA PLATICA2025 to your account to make sure you get 10% off your next set of tickets. That's code LA PLATICA2025 for 10% off any tickets on SeatGeek.

[Marco]

Just click the link in the description to download the app and have the code automatically added to your account so you can just use it later.

[Sebas]

Thank you, seatgeek.

[Marco]

That's me flying away.

[Sebas]

Okay, I'm gonna use it.

[Josh Leyva]

Let me be honest.

[Marco]

Every guest is a privilege.

[Sebas]

Do we want to go there, get jolly?

[Marco]

Cause I'm on a podcast with Josh Laver.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, you have too.

[Marco]

Ladies and gentlemen, let me just tell you. Holy shmoly. The Josh Lavy.

[Sebas]

Holy smokes.

[Marco]

Holy Smokes is a good one. Now I have a question for you, Josh. Do you realize that it's episode 180?

[Sebas]

Wow.

[Marco]

180, bro.

[Sebas]

Wow.

[Marco]

180, bro.

[Sebas]

Is that correct?

[Marco]

Yes.

[Sebas]

We're 20 away from 200.

[Marco]

Yeah. From the party that you're gonna throw.

[Sebas]

It's gonna be a rager. It's gonna be lit.

[Marco]

This is insane. What an accomplishment. This is 180. And we have a special guest before I introduce him. This video is sponsored by Sea Geek, the number one ticket rating app on the App Store Store. You seek Geek for all your tickets, just like Josh and myself.

[Sebas]

That's all we use, baby.

[Marco]

Josh, this is a very important episode for us. Yeah. We talked about doing this when it happened earlier this month. We had, obviously, everybody knows, some very, very devastating fires. And the first thing that we wanted to do is bring somebody on who maybe endured. Is that the right word that I just.

[Sebas]

Where are you going with this? Like, finish the sentence and I'll tell you.

[Marco]

I'm trying to talk smart right now. Do you see how my voice changed?

[Sebas]

Ye. The smart voice.

[Marco]

Yeah. So we wanted to invite someone who's.

[Sebas]

Been in the trenches, who.

[Marco]

Who's. Who's been in it.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Marco]

And who can, you know, spread knowledge. And we found the perfect person. Follow la Platigon on YouTube. Follow the Josh Leyva. Follow San Robles, which is. I said follow the new account studios. Today is the day that we finally launched that. But now the one and only an amazing person. Follow him on Tik Tok as well, and Instagram. Our good friend, now the hottest firefighter.

[Sebas]

You'Ve ever seen in your entire life.

[Marco]

I would say so. Marco.

[Josh Leyva]

What's up, Marco?

[Marco]

How are you?

[Josh Leyva]

I'm good, man. Yeah. How are you guys doing?

[Sebas]

Good, man. Doing really good.

[Josh Leyva]

Happy to be here.

[Marco]

Thank you. Thank you. We appreciate it. We're super excited to have you here because I'm just like, myself. I have a lot of questions.

[Sebas]

Yes. Yes. It's funny because when we had asked you to be on the podcast, this is when, like, the fires were happening, and we were trying to get you in pretty quick, and you're like, I'm still kind of in the middle of something. Yeah, like, good point. I was like, get back to us.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah.

[Sebas]

We love to have you on the pod.

[Marco]

Yeah. So I know that you've been working the fires, right?

[Josh Leyva]

Yes, sir.

[Marco]

I first want to ask you, how are you mentally? Like, I know that everybody looks at. And by the way, his beautiful wife is here. Denise, Come on.

[Sebas]

Man, you see the ring?

[Marco]

You see the ring. So a beautiful couple, by the way.

[Josh Leyva]

Right?

[Sebas]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Marco]

Like, what the.

[Sebas]

It makes sense.

[Marco]

It makes sense.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Marco]

So, yeah, I really want to know, because we know we can look at you guys and say, wow, what an incredible job they're doing. Right. And it's amazing what you guys do, the hours that you guys put on, the hard work that you guys are appearing to do, and obviously you guys are doing it. Yeah, exactly. And the risk and, you know, but we don't really see the other side. How are you mentally when this is going on? Like, I know we just spoke recently right before we hit record, and you kind of said, like, yeah, it's fun. It's like, almost like I'm playing in a sandbox. You know, I'm doing what I love. But do you ever feel absurd type of way where you're kind of like, yo, I need to, like, decompress? Like, this is a lot. I mean, we historically just had one of the biggest fires in SoCal. I don't know if that was the biggest fire that you've ever witnessed in your life. I know that. I think it's top three biggest in SoCal. I want to say that I'm not too familiar. Obviously, Marco knows, but, yeah, I just want to say, how are you? How's everything?

[Josh Leyva]

Good. Like, so, mentally. So there's a saying in the fire service that in order to be a firefighter, you got to have a little screw loose.

[Sebas]

Right.

[Josh Leyva]

Just because of the stuff that we. That we see, that we go through. Yeah. But no, I'm good. I'm good. So this fire has been the most destructive that I've seen for sure. But as far as, like, acres, I've seen a lot bigger.

[Sebas]

Oh, really?

[Marco]

Really?

[Josh Leyva]

I've been to, like, eight of the top 10 biggest fires in California.

[Sebas]

Eight of the 10?

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, eight of the 10 biggest fires. So the biggest one prior to the park fire, which was last year, I was at that one, was the Creek fire in Fresno County.

[Marco]

I heard about that.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. So it was. But yeah, as far as, like, just destructive and like, the amount of, like, homes that went down, that burnt? Yeah, this is definitely one of the. One of the biggest ones.

[Marco]

Yeah. Is there something different that you kind of realized that was going on? Like, for example, on a day to day basis, putting out fires is something you do regularly, but this time you're kind of like, oh, the National Guard's here. Oh, shit. There's firefighters from all over California, out of state, out of the country. There's, there's, there's, you know, videos of like firefighters from Mexico coming from and, and, you know, supplying aid to Southern California.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah.

[Marco]

How did you feel while that was going on?

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. So. Yes.

[Marco]

Like, were you kind. I'm sorry to interrupt. Were you kind of like, oh my God, this is, this is something different.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, it's, it's for sure different, man. As far as, like day to day operations, you know, a normal wildland fire is, you know, we're out in the middle of nowhere.

[Marco]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

Protecting small towns. You know, not as much media.

[Marco]

I was about to say that.

[Sebas]

Right.

[Josh Leyva]

Hell of media. One of the things is like, dude, shout out to la. We're happy to be here. Right. Unfortunately it was under these circumstances, but I mean, LA really showed out. They showed us a lot of love. There is a. Yeah. Like you said, there was firefighters from Mexico, firefighters from Australia, I mean, all over the state. Wherever we went, wherever we went, you just had, you know, people thanking us for our service. Right. Which incredible.

[Sebas]

Man.

[Josh Leyva]

We're here, we're here to do a job.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

Right. And you know, we're getting paid for it, but yeah, we just, we felt very well taken care of.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah.

[Sebas]

You said, you said something earlier, like, in order to be a firefighter, like, you kind of have to have like a screw loose. When the fires happened, Se and I had an episode where we kind of like dive into it and kind of like made it a point to talk about it and, you know, help out any way that we could. But I made it. I said something about like, while people are running away, like firefighters are running in. And that's just so crazy to me, man. Like, you guys are literally like putting your guys's life on the line. Like, sure, like, you guys are getting paid and this is your job, but it's still like a massive risk.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah.

[Sebas]

And I could imagine, like you have like your wife here. Like, I know you are like grateful to, to be able to work and like support your community and. Right. And help out. But like, she must be scared.

[Josh Leyva]

Oh, yeah, dude. And she's every day texting me. She's got my location on.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

There, there are parts, you know, in the city or when I'm out on a deployment where my phone doesn't have any service. Right, Right. Yeah, she'll, you know, she freaks out. Yeah. Text her the next morning once we're, once we have some sort of service, you know, once I have a reception. And she's like, oh, my God.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

Where have you been? How was it, you know, it's just all nervous and scared. So for us, it's is fun. You know, we're out there, we're camping, you know.

[Marco]

Yeah, yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

We're around a fire and then, and.

[Marco]

Then you have like your camaraderie with you, you know, the guys and stuff. Yeah, because I look at that like, like, for example, like law enforcement and the fire department.

[Sebas]

The brotherhood.

[Marco]

There's like a huge brotherhood, correct?

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, a huge brotherhood.

[Marco]

I mean, even though there are female firefighters and female cops. But when I say brotherhood, it's kind.

[Sebas]

Of everybody, like unity.

[Marco]

Not just like, not just males. Right? Yeah, but there's like a huge kind of like, it's almost like a, like when you go on a boys trip. You know what I mean? Like, it's just like we're one.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. We're out there, we're comping, we're camping together. You know, it's. I tell my wife, it's.

[Sebas]

I'm having a great time.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. Yeah. It's like. Well, I try not to. Try not to hype it up that much, so she lets me go on. But yeah, no, it's a, it's. It's definitely one of those, like these fires, they're events that we're. Or you build a tighter knit.

[Sebas]

Oh, I.

[Josh Leyva]

With the crews that you're with, you know, with the strike team that you're with, you know, there's times where we get. Get attached to different rigs from different, different cities, different counties, and you end up leaving 14 days after, like, hey, what's up, dude? Like, yeah, here's my number. Hit me.

[Marco]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. How cool, how cool.

[Sebas]

What you, you. You said that your guys's day to day might look like different because of this scenario, the situation that was going on. What can you explain, like, what a typical day to day looks like for you? Like, when I think of firefighters, I just think of like, you know, like a, A hot man with a hose just like watering down, you know, but there's so much more that goes into it, Right?

[Marco]

Clearly it is.

[Sebas]

You got. So I see the hot part, but what's the word?

[Josh Leyva]

Part? Playing with our man.

[Sebas]

There it is.

[Josh Leyva]

Come on.

[Marco]

Marco. Marco.

[Sebas]

To the T, bro. More of that, Marco, more of that.

[Josh Leyva]

I'm warming up. Yeah, warming up. So. All right, so there's a. There's two sides there. There's two kinds of firefighters. Do you want to know the day to day life as a city firefighter?

[Sebas]

Yeah, let's start there.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, City firefighter. Right. So I work 48 hour shifts. I get four days off. So the schedule is clutch, right. But in those 40 days, 48 hours, you have like, like a set schedule, right? They're working hours from 8 in the morning to 4pm you kind of have like, chores. You're checking out your rig, you're making sure it runs. You're checking out your. Your equipment, make sure everything runs properly.

[Sebas]

Can you explain what rig is a rig?

[Josh Leyva]

Oh, yeah.

[Marco]

The truck.

[Josh Leyva]

No, we'll see. The fire engine.

[Marco]

Yeah, the fire engine.

[Josh Leyva]

The fire engine or the truck. So here's a. Here's one of those where, like, everyone gets confused as far as, like, what an engine is and what a rig or what a truck is. So the way I see it is a. The fire truck. It's the, it's that long truck with. You got one in the back, you know, one driving the front.

[Marco]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

That's just. It's a big toolbox on wheels, right. We support the engine. The engine has the, the mangueras, right. They have all the water that puts the fire out. Pressurize the water puts the fire out. So, yeah, we, we check them out. You know, there's like a daily. You got to do on them every day, making sure the brakes work, you know, like all that, all that good stuff. As soon as the tones drop, we drop whatever we're doing and we respond, right?

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

And the cool thing about that is. Well, at least the cool thing for me is you just. You never know what kind of call it's going to be, right? Well, you get, you get dispatched. You're like medical aid. It'd be something from like a person on the ground, right. And that's all you'll get. So then, you know, you're playing scenarios in your head on the way to the call. If you're driving to the car, you know, you're, you're, you're thinking of the route. You know, it's just a lot of stress that goes onto it, right? You go from, like, doing one thing and then now you're doing another thing. Like 60 seconds later, your heart's pumping, it's racing. But then you start going through like that little mnemonic in your head, a little algorithm in your head of what could this be and how, how could I mitigate the situation, right? Show up on scene is something totally different, right? Guy on the ground turns into the roof, is collapsed. You know, you got a car, you know, five car accident. There's one guy on the ground, but then there's, you know, seven other people out here that just got ejected from a vehicle. You're like, okay, well, this just turned into a bigger call.

[Sebas]

Wow.

[Josh Leyva]

Day to day operations. Right? So in the mornings we have our duties. Right. Our daily duties. Clean the station, we go shopping, go to grocery store. Usually I'm the cook, you know, shout out to my boys out there.

[Sebas]

You get down in the kitchen.

[Josh Leyva]

I do get down in the kitchen. Mexican food's my special.

[Sebas]

There you go.

[Marco]

Well, of course. Yeah. That's why you're the chef. Top tier.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Marco]

They love Mexico, especially all, like, all your Weddell friends, huh? That are firefighters. They're like, what you gonna make today, Marco?

[Josh Leyva]

Chile, Colorado.

[Sebas]

Hell yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

Hell yeah. Primo.

[Marco]

Ye.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

But yeah, we go shopping and then come back. We have a gym, we work out.

[Sebas]

Oh, cool.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. And then during that whole time, if we have extra projects, you know, we're working on them. And then after 4pm it's just kind of our time, so.

[Sebas]

Wow.

[Josh Leyva]

Play a little bit of pickleball.

[Sebas]

So, like, it's not just specifically fires that you guys are dealing with. Like you mentioned like somebody being like a car accident, somebody being ejected from the vehicle.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah.

[Sebas]

Like, what are you guys doing in a scenario like that? Like, are you guys picking up the. The bot? Like, what are you just assisting when it comes to that?

[Marco]

Well, most firefighters are basically like certified paramedics as well, correct?

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah.

[Marco]

Isn't that like something that you need to have under your belt in order to be a firefighter?

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, yeah. So there's. There's two. Right. So every rig, at least for my department and the majority of my county, we're all als, which is advanced life support. And we have at least one medic in every piece of apparatus. So, like, that's where there's the fire truck or the fire engine. We have at least one medic. Right. And then the rest can be EMTs. Right. So there's EMT, then there's paramedics. The ambulance guys, they're like the middlemen. They're the ones that transport from the emergency scene to the hospital.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

Right. We show up. That's why you see a fire engine. Yeah. At every call. Right. Whether they call, they're having a heart attack or, you know, someone just needs their blood pressure taken, you're always going to see a fire engine there first. And that's because what we do is we'll stabilize the patient, the ambulance gets there, transports the patient, drops them off at the hospital. So that's as simple as I could explain.

[Sebas]

Wow. Shifting gears to like the fires that were happening, what was the day to day like for that?

[Josh Leyva]

So day to day like, so there's. We have work, work ops or operational periods, which is 24 on and 24 off. So that's why I was able to text you guys on my days off. So what are you guys doing? So, you know, on a day on, you know, so the first day that we got here, we had a bed down because we got here pretty late. The next day we went straight into operational period. So it was 24 hours of just, you know, it was 24 hours of roving around, putting out hot spots. The fire was pretty much controlled after 36 hours. You know, the damage that it was gonna do was done in the first 36 hours of the fire. Right when we showed up. There's more wind events that were going to come later that week. So we're already pre staging. But in order for us to, you know, control that situation, we had to drive around and put out hot spots that weren't put out fully. So during those first 36 hours.

[Marco]

Marco, where. What's crazy about the fires that were just going on was it wasn't just one fire. There was. I live in an area where I was around four of them.

[Sebas]

I was in a ring of fire.

[Marco]

Yeah, exactly. And we kind of live it same in the same vicinity. You like that word? And were you stationed at a certain area? And where, where was that at?

[Josh Leyva]

So I was, I was assigned to the Palisades bar, so I only rode that area. So we stayed there. That was where our base camp was.

[Marco]

Which was the fire that caused the most damage, Right? I mean, yeah, I guess. But the other one was just as bad. Which was the Eaton fire? Yeah, the eating fire in Altadena. Horrible. Were you guys at the Rose bowl camping as well? Were you there or were you somewhere else?

[Josh Leyva]

No. So that was a different base camp. Right. So for each fire, they, they get their own base camp. And base camp is just a big plot of land where like all our logistics start. They go into and then they establish that, that base camp. Right. You have ton of resources. You have, you know, where we get our breakfast at our lunch, our water, like all that stuff. We report to base camp every morning before our operational period and we, we get our assignment. It's called the iep, The Incident Action Plan. Right. We get our books. Okay. So hey, you guys are assigned to this division and you guys are going to. And it has our assignments down. Our base camp was in Malibu, so we were nowhere near. Got it Roseville.

[Marco]

Got it.

[Josh Leyva]

Heard.

[Marco]

I'm assuming people at the Rose bowl were the ones that were at the eat and fires.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah.

[Marco]

At what point did you. Did Marco tell himself, holy, this is catastrophic?

[Josh Leyva]

First day, our first operational period, when we were driving through all those burnt.

[Marco]

Buildings, when you got called in and you had to get to the destination, did you think that it was going to be catastrophic or did you think that, okay, it's bad, it's bad, but I think it'll be a one to two day thing.

[Josh Leyva]

I mean, I saw some of the. Because I have a ton of friends that are firefighters that were here before me, and just the, the videos that were posting on Instagram. I was looking at it. I'm like, okay, it looks like a fire, you know, just like any other. Yeah. You see. And it wasn't until the, the day after that we got here, where we actually got put to work, where I saw like all those homes, you know, on the coast.

[Sebas]

I was just disintegrated.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. Burnt to the ground. Like, you're like, all these houses just leveled. Yeah. You'd have like one standing home.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

You know, that's so weird. Yeah.

[Marco]

Why do you think that happens? Is that just luck? Is that the type of construction that they, that they make the house, the, the, the, the. The textures that they use materials? Is that just luck?

[Josh Leyva]

Luck.

[Marco]

Luck, Right.

[Josh Leyva]

A lot of. A lot of it is luck. Yeah. Because we saw some homes that were made out of like nothing but wood.

[Sebas]

They were good.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, they were good. And then the homes next to them were just burnt to the ground.

[Marco]

Wow.

[Sebas]

So, bro, that's insane.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah.

[Sebas]

Yeah. Imagine living in one of those neighborhoods that, like, all the houses were down to crisp except for yours. Like, could you still live there? Yeah, I don't think I could, bro.

[Marco]

Wow. I mean, just hearing that. First of all, I want to thank you. Even for somebody like Josh and myself, we're not fighting the fires, but it's scary living. It was scary living here for, for sure.

[Josh Leyva]

Over a week.

[Sebas]

It was just the unknown. I mean, we were just getting fed everything, like, via, like the Internet and media and stuff like that. And like, we don't really know. We're just kind of trusting what they're showing us and saying and stuff like that. But you actually got to see it, man. Which is crazy.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. Yeah, man. Now you guys have someone on the inside. Yeah.

[Marco]

Yeah. But with the media, do you watch the news when you're done or do you feel like they're just bullshitting a lot? Do you Feel like they're talking about the truth. And I'm not saying that they're trying to lie to us, but, like, exaggerate. Are they exaggerating? Are they kind of like putting mascarama into the tacos?

[Sebas]

Or are they downplaying?

[Marco]

Or are they downplaying? Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

All right. So, I mean, the media. I don't like to watch the news. Right. They. They could do both, you know. Yeah, a little bit of both. Right. But for this one, I think it was just the pal. At least the Palisades fire was. Was in an area where there was a lot of money. So there's more.

[Sebas]

More coverage.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. More attention to it. And that's all I could really say about. There's a lot of coverage.

[Marco]

Yeah. And obviously, you can't really hide what's really going on. I mean, there's fires that are just burning to the ground and neighborhoods are. Or the city was wiped out, so you can't really hide that. Right, right. When there. When there is a fire, like the one that we just witnessed, and you get there and do you and your team or the. What you call a strike team or even like your captain and other captains from other rigs or engines, you call them.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah.

[Marco]

Is there kind of like, yo, we just kind of had to, like, wait and see what this does because with the fire and the amount of wind that was happening, there's almost like there's nothing you can do about it. Right. I remember one of the nights, it was just. It looked like hell, dude, and the wind was pushing people, so it was, like, insanely strong. You almost tell yourself even somebody who doesn't know about fires is educated on, you know, what they can do. Do you just kind of back away and, like, there's nothing we can do, really. I mean, there's no air support because of the winds, and there's like, just people on the ground, you know, doing whatever they can. You have to do. You have to kind of like, save the water as well. Right. You can't just let the water rip 24 7.

[Josh Leyva]

Most fire departments operate by a. By, like, this standard where, like, you risk a lot to save a lot. Meaning, like, you're going to risk your life. If you got to go save a life, you risk a little to save a little. Right. Where if, you know, if you could go and save the house and property, go for it. But don't go in there if you have a potential of passing away or dying, you know, so we. We kind of. There's that. There's a Fine line where we stop, you know, and with a fire like this, I mean, there was. I mean, there were homes. And, you know, putting water on a fire isn't just going to put a fire out.

[Sebas]

Right.

[Josh Leyva]

This thing's still. Still hot. You got to put an enormous amount of water to put a fire out at a house. And so that was the first problem. There wasn't a lot of water. Some of the hydrants that we were tapping into, there's no water coming out.

[Sebas]

Why is that?

[Josh Leyva]

I don't know.

[Sebas]

Interesting.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. I don't know. I mean, I've heard what the media has told me and told us, but plain and simple, I mean, it could have been anything from just one of the pump houses that was out because all these wires were burnt. You know, these electrical poles were out. Right. And then you have a pump station that's not working. It's not going to supply water. Especially when you. When you live up there in the Palisades.

[Sebas]

Yeah, right.

[Josh Leyva]

That's a lot of elevation you got to pump water to.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

So water wasn't getting up there. At a single structure fire, we deploy one truck and five engines and two battalions, one ambulance. Right. Now, imagine at 8, 000 homes, like, that's just. It's impossible. Right. And then in 32 hours to get all that, all those resources up and moving. It was. It was definitely something to think about. Now, next time, how can we prepare for something like that?

[Sebas]

Yeah, I heard about certain, like, celebrities or people with, like, that have the resources to do it. They were, like, hiring private firefighters. Have you heard of that?

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, I did hear about that. Yeah.

[Sebas]

Is that. I mean, are they doing the same thing that you guys are doing? They're just not, like, funded by, like, the government, I guess.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah.

[Marco]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

So there are. There. We call them privates. There's a bunch of companies like that.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

That hire privates. Right.

[Sebas]

It's kind of crazy.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. It's like they're just contracted firefighters.

[Sebas]

Yeah. I saw. I think, like, it was Kim Kardashian who had, like, a. Like, obviously to protect her house and stuff, and she was kind of getting, like, ridiculous. Killed by it. But I'm like, man, if you have the resources to do it. I mean.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah.

[Sebas]

Yeah. Because that did that take away from you guys in a sense. Like, if. I mean, I guess it's just an extra firefighter that could go help out with, like, the bigger case. Right. Instead, they're, like, kind of focusing on one property.

[Josh Leyva]

That's. That's how I would see It.

[Sebas]

Yeah, that makes sense. Now that I'm speaking it out. Yeah, that makes sense.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. That way, I mean, resources were already stretched.

[Marco]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

You got three fires going on at once. Yeah.

[Sebas]

That's insane.

[Josh Leyva]

It's already tough enough if you have, you know, just one fire going.

[Marco]

Yeah, yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

But then you have The Eaton fire, McKinley fire.

[Marco]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

And then you have the Palisades fire, and then the other one that started in west. The West Hollywood hills, I think while we were there.

[Marco]

All in one night.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. I was like, oh, for sure we're gonna go to this. You know, we're gonna get. Redeploy us. But they ended up, based on the capabilities of our engines, they'll like cut you loose from one incident and send you to another one.

[Marco]

Oh, got it.

[Josh Leyva]

So, yeah, like, quick attack or during.

[Marco]

All this was happening, like, were you ever scared?

[Sebas]

Honestly?

[Josh Leyva]

No, no, no. My wife was scared.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

Hey, chill. Like, you're making me nervous.

[Marco]

Yeah, yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

Like, it's all right.

[Marco]

Because I mean, historically, it's the biggest fire ever in my life.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah.

[Marco]

You know, so, like, I can't imagine how. Or were you just completely fearless? What a man you are.

[Josh Leyva]

Well.

[Marco]

Not once were you like, I ain't going in there. You know, I'm not saying you go into all the houses.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah.

[Marco]

But like, you know, you like second guessing.

[Josh Leyva]

Like, dude, I don't even have time to think. I'm in the zone. Like, you don't even have time to think. Right. So kind of you rely on your training. I'm not saying I don't get scared, because right now I'm scared of the after effects. Right. All that smoke. Oh, right. Yeah.

[Sebas]

So that's a good.

[Josh Leyva]

That's a little. I'm like, yeah, yeah, I got to keep up with that, you know, but like, in the moment, I'm just doing.

[Sebas]

What I was trained to do.

[Josh Leyva]

Trained to do? Yeah, like, ever since I was a little kid, it's what I wanted to do. Really. I'm actually doing it now. So to me, it's like. Like I said, dude, I'm playing in the sandbox or going out there and like, it feels good because it's like you're earning that paycheck, you know?

[Marco]

Dang, Denise, when you go on a date with them, are you just like, God damn, I'm such a man. Jesus Christ. Keep talking, baby.

[Sebas]

You make him wear his outfit. Outfit. When you guys go out.

[Marco]

Damn, baby. Since you were born, you wanted to do this.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah.

[Sebas]

I gotta fire you. Okay, bro? I was gonna ask, did you See that Joe Rogan clip where, like, he was, like, interviewing, like, a firefighter, and he was talking about how, like, basically California is set up in a way where, like, it's inevitable that something like this is gonna happen, like, at any moment, like, a win is gonna strike and it's gonna cause all this crazy fire.

[Marco]

Yeah.

[Sebas]

Like, what were your thoughts on that? Did you see that clip?

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, I saw that.

[Sebas]

Yeah. What are your thoughts on it? And do you still feel like that's the case? I mean, has. Has this fire kind of, like, help prevent future fires in any way? Because it got rid of a lot of, like, the. The bush that was causing a lot of fire.

[Marco]

Marco, before you answer that, let's go on a quick break.

[Sebas]

I love that you always do that to me.

[Marco]

I love that question.

[Sebas]

Let me ask a question.

[Marco]

I wanted to ask that question. Let me ask if that clip went viral.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah.

[Marco]

And it was kind of like, it was almost. Basically, the guy was saying that it's inevitable that one day it's gonna happen. Right. And there's nothing we can do about it. Correct. That's what he said. Right.

[Sebas]

Like the way the California terrain is set up and stuff in the mountains and the winds and stuff like that.

[Marco]

Yeah.

[Sebas]

Bound to happen.

[Marco]

Cool. So let's go on a short break, and then we'll continue with that question.

[Sebas]

Let's do it.

[Marco]

Cool.

[Sebas]

We'll be right back.

[Marco]

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[Sebas]

Yeah, so we were talking about the Joe Rogan clip where he was, like, interviewing the firefighter, and basically the firefighter was like, the way California set up, if the right wind hits with the right temperature, it can really cause some, like, serious destruction. And then shortly after, that's exactly what happened. So I was just kind of curious, like, on your. What your thoughts about it? And then because we had this crazy fire, I know it lit up a lot of the. The bushes that were. That were the potential to create these massive fires. Like, where do we stand now that this has happened?

[Josh Leyva]

It was inevitable. It's going to happen based on topography, you know, the droughts, you know, the amount of dry bush we have, you know, dry forests.

[Marco]

And what's topography?

[Josh Leyva]

Topography.

[Marco]

I don't know what that, that means. I, I mean, I've heard it obviously, especially this month, if we can pull up that. Yeah. The definition. But what, what does that really mean?

[Sebas]

I guess like the layout of.

[Josh Leyva]

Bro. You know more than me, dude. I just, I, I heard it online and I was like, I'm use that word.

[Sebas]

You're like, write that down. Okay.

[Josh Leyva]

The.

[Marco]

The arrangement of the natural and artificial physical features of an area.

[Sebas]

Got the terrain.

[Josh Leyva]

Topography.

[Sebas]

Topography is just a more technical term.

[Josh Leyva]

More like pinkies.

[Marco]

Yeah, got it, got it, got it, got it.

[Josh Leyva]

Topography, the way that the winds push, you know, against, against the mountains or down a ravine. Or up a ravine. Yeah. And we got to remember that fire is natural. Right. And that's the reason that these fires are getting a lot bigger is because we prevent them for such a long time. Right. And we do that because, you know, there's people with a lot of money living in the hills and this kind of topography where fire just naturally happens. Right. Fires are supposed to happen because new life is supposed to be created off. Off of ashes stuff. Right. It's just the way that nature kind of resets itself.

[Sebas]

So in some cases, the fire is good and helpful.

[Josh Leyva]

Fire is good and helpful except for when it destroys property, you know, and, and cost people a lot of money and lives, obviously. All I can say for that is that we, we're just gonna. We're living with a new reality. It's not really a new reality, but it's just the way of life in California.

[Marco]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

These, these aren't. I'm not saying they're gonna, they're not gonna get any better, but I think that we could be better prepared. And this, this fire.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

Sheds a. A big light on this new issue, on this new reality, which isn't really new, but it's new now because there's a lot. There was a lot of media covering this, right?

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

So, yeah, it's.

[Sebas]

It became hyper aware.

[Marco]

Yeah. So obviously, you know, social media, they tend to kind of have their own conspiracy theories about why this fire happened. I'm sure you've seen a lot of videos. Do you feel like there's some sense of truth to, like, the videos that speak upon, oh, this was kind of caused on purpose because they want to build smart LA 2.0 or something like that. I'm sure you saw videos like that. Somebody like yourself who fights the fires. What do you think about when you see videos like that.

[Josh Leyva]

I.

[Marco]

Because obviously you're a regular guy like Josh and myself.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah.

[Marco]

Just way more manlier facts.

[Josh Leyva]

Oh, yeah, right. Man, I wish I could. I wish I could grow a beard.

[Sebas]

Brought the stash.

[Josh Leyva]

I can't. I can't. No, no, I mean, I've tried.

[Marco]

Have you tried. Have you heard that one?

[Josh Leyva]

How about that one?

[Marco]

Supposedly to grow your beard, you like squish. You have to. You have to like trap one first like a fly, and then you squeeze the. The like Denise is on because she knows it's true. And you gotta squeeze like the butt and get the poop and then you like rub it around here.

[Josh Leyva]

I heard baby like from the diaper. Like, I heard that.

[Sebas]

I don't know why I believe this. I'm like, this work it probably.

[Marco]

Well, I mean, whoever said it had to try works. They're like, oh, have a beard now.

[Sebas]

Yeah, yeah.

[Marco]

I mean, I don't know about like baby poop, but try maybe fly poop first.

[Josh Leyva]

Fly poop? Yeah, you know, I mean, you, you, you think about it, right? Babies like they're brand new. Like all these nutrients coming. Yeah.

[Marco]

It makes sense. Like, like vampires. They like baby. Baby's blood. That's like their dessert.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah.

[Sebas]

Damn.

[Josh Leyva]

There you go.

[Marco]

There you go. Yeah, yeah. So I forgot what I was even. Oh yeah. What do you feel like when you see videos like that? Is it like kind of like, is it like, haha, that's funny. Do you actually kind of maybe, or are you kind of like, man, do you almost feel offended?

[Josh Leyva]

The kind of person I am, I just laugh about it. Unless I get like really deep into it. I'm like, oh, wait. Then I thought, this makes sense. Start playing tricks with myself.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

Oh wait, it does make sense. No, I just, I laugh about it. Like, who? Cuz who knows, right?

[Sebas]

No, really.

[Josh Leyva]

Someone. Yeah. Someone a lot smarter if it is happening. Someone a lot smarter than planning it.

[Marco]

There's videos online and maybe you can kind of stump this question. But a lot of people, when something like that happens, they be post. A lot of people post online of actual firefighters lighting up huge areas of landscape and burning it on fire. And then they use those videos to say, oh, the firefighters are the ones actually like burning it down. Why is it that firefighters burn areas like that down? They have like a huge torture. They're just sometimes they even do it by. By plane. They light places on fire. Why do they do that?

[Josh Leyva]

That is. That's what we call fighting fire with fire. So makes sense. Yeah. So There's a fire blowing. It's ripping through. Right. And you know the direction it's going. It's the head of the fire. Right. We call it the head of the fire. So if we burn off, if we, if we do a controlled burn in front of the fire, the theory behind that is to stop the bigger fire from moving from. Keep in that direction from it from. Yeah. Stop that momentum of the bigger fire.

[Sebas]

Wow. And it does. And it actually does work.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, it does. So those are, those are all tactics that, that really.

[Sebas]

So you create a barrier with fire.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, so we make sure. Yeah, we create a barrier with fire. So we're burning off all that fuel. Right. That fire. Tetrahedron. Right. Oxygen fuel, and a combustion source. So we take away the fuel, and if it has nothing else left to burn one of that, One of those elements in that, in that triangle.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

Essentially, we cut it off and then the fire stops.

[Sebas]

Wow.

[Josh Leyva]

Right. So, so yeah, we, we do fight fire with fire and backfiring ops, firing ops, whatever you want to call it, it's a, it's a good way. I mean, but we obviously, we prepare for it. Right. Depending. And then it's a, it's a tactic. We prepare for it. We. It's a controlled burn. Right. So we, we cut line around that fire. Right. Making sure that it doesn't slop over and then just create a bigger fire. So it's not just, it's not just something where we're like, oh, let's just.

[Sebas]

Put fire right here.

[Josh Leyva]

Smoke eaters. Yeah. No, it's tactical. Yeah. It's all tactics.

[Sebas]

And who's making the calls to do something like this? Like the chief.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah.

[Sebas]

Yeah. That's a lot.

[Josh Leyva]

No, the fire marshal of California. Right. The head honchos, man. I don't even know who these guys are. I don't even know if they're real.

[Sebas]

Wow.

[Josh Leyva]

They're probably real. Yeah. No, these, these guys make a lot of, A lot more money than me, that's for sure. I'm making these crazy orders. Yeah. But it's usually boots on the ground, you know, chiefs that are, that are experienced, you know, have years and years of experience. You know, it's the wildland guys. I, I, I do it seasonally. The wildland stuff. I love it. But there are guys that dedicate their lives to wildland fire.

[Sebas]

Wow.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. So shout out to all those guys. Shout out to the fire service, you know, Cal fire. Those are the guys are, you know, out there, you know, dedicate their lives to.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

To find Wildland fires in California.

[Sebas]

Dude, what's your story? Like, how did you get into firefighter? You said that you wanted to do this since you was a kid, right? Like, you kind of mentioned that. So.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah.

[Sebas]

So who is Marco? The fire. More than just a firefighter.

[Josh Leyva]

Oh, yeah. Well, my name is Marco.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Marco]

And by the way, follow Marco on Instagram as well. He posts nothing but firefighter content, which is fire content. You talk about fire content.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. So, yeah, I mean, when I was a kid, so I was. I was five years old, and I'll never forget this day. Me and my little sister, we were playing with. With my Hot Wheels, right? And she had her Barbies there. So we're kind of like, you know, playing. But I remember she was sick. She had a little terry towel on. On her head. You know, when.

[Sebas]

Cool you down.

[Josh Leyva]

Wet towel, wet towel. Just try to cool your core temperature and all that. So I remember telling my sister, I was like, hey, I'll be right back. I'm gonna go get the Hot Wheels because we needed more toys. I don't know why. Like, I'm playing with my.

[Sebas]

You always need more toys.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. You always need more toys. And, you know, just. Big brother, you know, my sister, keeping her entertained while she feels like crap. So I was like, all right, I'll be back. Count. Three, two, one. I'm running through the hallway. Run through the kitchen. It's dark. Dark, you know, scared of the. I am scared of the dark, by the way.

[Sebas]

Same.

[Josh Leyva]

Run through it. Grab the bag of toys, run back, dump all the toys on the bed. I'm ready. And then I look at her, and my sister's like. Like, freaking. She's seizing.

[Marco]

Damn.

[Josh Leyva]

At the time, I didn't know what it was. She's like, fucking. Her eyes were on the back of her head. So I'm like, mom, Mom, Mom. She's like. And then, yeah. Next thing you know, like, there's these people in my. In my house. You know, they put her on a stretcher, they roll her out. Like, I remember having one concertina, bro. You know, the classic things that you get from, like, the swap meet. Sock check, full. Yeah. Sheesh. I was a dumbass fool. So, yeah, like, they wheeled her out. I remember seeing the strobes, and they're putting her in an ambulance, and I'm just, like, worried, you know, she's my little sister, and, you know, you guys know how. How we are. We grow. We grow up protecting our little sisters.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

And our little siblings. And so. Yeah. So out of nowhere, this like, freaking tall ass dude just comes out and taps me in the head and says, she's just, it's going to be okay. And then ever since then, like, that's the first ever, like, experience with the park service I ever had. I was like, I knew then and there that I wanted to do that for someone someday, whether it's a kid or an older person or anybody, whoever it was, I wanted to make their shitty day go away. And.

[Marco]

Wow.

[Josh Leyva]

And that's kind of like, you know, that. That is something that just guided me my entire life. And. Yeah. You know, got to high school, or I was in middle school, got to high school. And then I just started looking up, how do I become a firefighter? How do I do this really?

[Sebas]

How do I drive that red truck?

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah.

[Marco]

You know, what's funny is you say that and so. And you know, a firefighter inspired you and made you feel a certain type of way. I don't think. Marco, you realize, you know, recently with all the tragedy that that has happened, that you especially being Mexican, correct?

[Josh Leyva]

Yes, sir.

[Marco]

Being a Mexican firefighter and thousands of other Latino and non Latino firefighters that have been helping Southern California and around the world who, if you're a firefighter, not only have we felt this huge amount of sadness because of what went on, but I think a lot of people have, and maybe not everybody and people have already realized this, but for myself, the amount of respect that we just got from you guys and what you guys had to do to put something out like that. And like I said, for example, myself, and I'm not even joking, I spoke with my wife and I said, I am so inspired by these guys, you know, and I get inspired by a lot of people and a lot of people's profession inspire me. But this year, I didn't know I was going to be so inspired by firefighters and what you guys do, and I just felt like it was such. It was one of the most badass things I've ever seen. And like, obviously in the most saddest and worst way possible. But, you know, I know you felt it. Where you go to the gas station, when you go to a restaurant when you want to. Like those firefighters that went to in and out and everybody started clapping, ovation, you know, that was. That was an absolutely amazing feeling that I'm assuming that you felt. So that same feeling that you got from that firefighter, I'm getting from you right now, you know, and thousands and thousands of others just like me, I swear to you, I. I spoke with my wife And I said, Karen, I'm. I am dead ass right now. I want to become a firefighter. Maybe not right now, right now because I'm kind of busy.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, I know, but I swear I.

[Marco]

Said, I, I told us. Is there an age limit? Is there?

[Sebas]

What do I have?

[Marco]

What's the first step? Right? Like, what's the first step? Do I have to know somebody? I know I need to get some certificates, you know, like, or like, you know, go through some classes, obviously training. I'm dead ass inspired to be a firefighter.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah.

[Marco]

You know, so for somebody like me and probably many others who, you know, probably have a great job right now, but they want to have that lifestyle of helping out people, their community, cities, countries, having that camaraderie, that brotherhood that you guys carry. And this can be with police officers as well. Right. I feel like they all kind of share the same camaraderie, but I really got inspired by firefighters. What are the necessary steps to be a firefighter? And what. And I know that, and that's why I'm telling people to follow Marco on Instagram, because you do guide people on becoming a firefighter.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. Yeah, man. Well, thanks, bro. Thanks, Sebas, for, for the nice words. But yeah, I feel like the guys at in and out right now. No, I appreciate it though.

[Marco]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

For real. This has just like shed a huge light on, on us as a, as a profession. Oh, 100 before this, you know, like with the whole budget cuts and, and like just everything going on around us and for affecting firefighters and just salaries and all that stuff. It's. I think it's shedding light in a good way under unfortunate circumstances, you know, but we were there, we're doing our job. And it's the people that are, you know, that are pushing this. Yeah. There are, there are classes that you need to take. Yeah. And that's, that's what, and that's what my content is about, man. When I first started my Tick Tock, I would just post things about fire. Right. Like kind of like the fires that I've seen with some corridos in the background. Right.

[Marco]

Because I like, I've seen that video. I've seen it.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. And then making movies. Yeah, making movies. Just kind of shedding a light on like what I do and, and making it look badass because I think it is bad.

[Marco]

It is super.

[Josh Leyva]

And then a lot of a big thing about firefighters is that they don't like to. They don't like, they don't like to. How you say, like, make it seem like, we are badasses and things in a good way, because they don't. Like.

[Sebas]

Yeah, it's a humble approach.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, it's a humble approach. But. But, you know, we. There are hiring issues where, you know, there's. There's this generation that's constantly on their phone and, like, why not use social media as a tool to inspire kids and just open up doors? Right?

[Marco]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

Especially, you know, and. And, you know, for kids from underserved communities. Right. Like, for me, I come from a pretty rough little neighborhood, and if it wasn't for that moment, you know, when we called 911 for my little sister and that dude just tapping me on the head, I don't know if I would have been a firefighter. Right. I would have probably been a jardinero. Not that there's something wrong with that, but that's what my example was. Yes. My dad was a jardinero.

[Marco]

That was kind of like where your route was going.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, yeah.

[Marco]

Mine was like, construction.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, Construction blue. Right. Because that's what we see.

[Marco]

Which is nothing wrong about that.

[Josh Leyva]

Nothing at all. Right. But, you know, I'm like, oh, I'm getting dms of, like, you know, guys, you know, older than me, younger than me, my age. Like, hey, what's. What's the first step? Like, what do you need to do to become a firefighter? Or what did you do to become a firefighter? That's when something clicked. I'm like, hey, I could kind of use this as a way to, you know, my platforms. To reach. Yeah. To guide people. Because there's a lot of unanswered questions out there. Right?

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

A lot of the questions I get, like, how do I start? What. What do I do to get the ball rolling? So then I'm like, okay, I think I could write something. Right. So then I took out my phone, opened up my notes app, and I just started typing literally everything that I did, not including the military. But, you know, I did. I did. I did four years in the Navy, which. That helped me out.

[Marco]

Thank you for that.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. It's like, thanks for the support. So I did that, but I kind of leave that out. And then there's youngsters. They're like, hey.

[Sebas]

Because you don't necessarily need to do that.

[Josh Leyva]

No, you don't need to do it. But it is a way, you know, if you're on the younger side of things, you know, you just graduated in high school. School. And you're like, I need some life experience. Right.

[Marco]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

Because that's what we look For. We look for life experience. Right. So there are.

[Marco]

Yeah. Especially, like, if you go up to, like, say, you get interviewed by the captain. Right. I don't know if that's how it works, but. You ever been in the military? What's a better answer? I would say, right?

[Sebas]

Yeah, yeah.

[Marco]

Like, oh, Marcus Black. I was in the Navy. What about you, Sebastian? I had a podcast, right. I go, I'll take this guy. You know?

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. I mean, everyone has a story, right? Yeah, but, yeah, so. So I saw it. I saw it as an opportunity, and then it just kind of started growing, you know, My, my. I mean, I don't have a lot of followers or anything. I have like 50, maybe 50k right now on Tick.

[Sebas]

Wait till this episode drops, bro.

[Marco]

50K? Yeah, bro. You understand how much 50k people are, bro? You know how much people fan in crypto arena? I think it's like 36, 000. So imagine almost two. You have almost two crypto centers looking at you.

[Sebas]

That's a lot, man.

[Josh Leyva]

That is a lot.

[Marco]

Yeah, I. I think. I think sometimes we, like, fall into this, like, perspective of, like, having to be viral and hit like a million. A million views or 2 million. Oh, my God, I went viral, bro. If your video. I'm sure you have videos that have probably hit numbers like that, but even if it's 20,000, 50,000. Yeah, that's a lot of eyes.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Marco]

You know how many eyes that are?

[Sebas]

Double it.

[Marco]

Double the eyes. 50, 000 views. A hundred thousand eyes on you. Unless some food's missing an eye.

[Sebas]

Right? Yeah, we gotta account for that.

[Marco]

Yeah. So. Yeah, it's a lot, bro.

[Josh Leyva]

It is. No. Yeah. And. And, dude, I'm super. I. I'm appreciative.

[Marco]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

I'm appreciative of all my followers because they're the ones that motivate me to keep pushing out this content. So. Yeah. And then eventually that turned into me getting more serious about it and actually explaining the process, and I wrote a whole other PDF and now it's, like, online. Like, guys could. And it's all free, too.

[Sebas]

No, that's cool.

[Marco]

No way, Mark.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, it's free, man.

[Marco]

Wow.

[Josh Leyva]

A lot of people want to monetize this.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

And it's like, well, you know, sometimes kiddos don't have the money to. To be paying something like that. Right.

[Marco]

Where do people.

[Sebas]

Kind of a weird thing to monetize, in my opinion, man.

[Marco]

For sure.

[Sebas]

It doesn't make sense.

[Josh Leyva]

It's just information.

[Marco]

Where do people go and find this Information, Marco.

[Josh Leyva]

They.

[Marco]

Well, so is it a website or is it something you send them?

[Josh Leyva]

So I used to copy and paste it. They would message me, but that guy.

[Marco]

Like, yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

Like, I'm typing, like, my time. So. No, yeah, now it lives in. It lives in a document, and it's on the link, so.

[Marco]

On your bio.

[Josh Leyva]

In my bio.

[Marco]

Instagram. Amazing. That's amazing, bro.

[Sebas]

We'll also link that in the description as well.

[Marco]

Yeah, of course. Of course.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, it's a. So I put it all together in the link tree, and that's just kind of where all my links are.

[Marco]

Wow.

[Josh Leyva]

Put the link tree on my. On my Instagram.

[Marco]

Wow.

[Josh Leyva]

You click it, it says the firefighter guide. I think it's the first one or it's the second one.

[Sebas]

Super cool.

[Josh Leyva]

And then step by step.

[Sebas]

Oh, wow.

[Josh Leyva]

Like, hey, you woke up one day and like, hey, I want to be a firefighter. Kind of. Kind of like what you're thinking about.

[Sebas]

Don't listen.

[Josh Leyva]

And then I'm being.

[Marco]

I'm being dead ass, bro.

[Sebas]

Okay. Anyways, Marco.

[Marco]

Marco, if I really take this serious, like, maybe not right now, but I'm 35 right now.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah.

[Marco]

Is it too late if I go, like, 38, 39, and I try? No.

[Josh Leyva]

Right?

[Marco]

It's never too late. Correct.

[Josh Leyva]

As long as you're able to do the job, man.

[Marco]

If I. If I. If. If I do the job and. And I do every necessary step from that moment that I try. How long do you think, if I'm lucky to get accepted into one of the departments, how long do you think that process is?

[Josh Leyva]

I. So that's. That's a hard question, but it's probably a common question.

[Sebas]

You get asked a lot, too.

[Josh Leyva]

I do get that. I get asked that question a lot. And it all depends, like, are you.

[Marco]

A hard charger or what's that mean? Hard charger?

[Josh Leyva]

Like, you're gonna freaking Monday through Sunday, just grind four in the morning. Like, are you a hard charge?

[Sebas]

You're like.

[Marco]

Like, Josh, you don't know me, bro.

[Sebas]

You have your hands underneath your legs. I know. You don't.

[Marco]

You don't know me.

[Sebas]

You don't know me, bro.

[Marco]

You don't know me.

[Sebas]

I'll put out crazy fires, dude. Bring me a fire, dude.

[Marco]

A hard charger. Got it. So, like, basically saying, like, are you about it? I'm with. I'm with it every day if you need it.

[Sebas]

All in.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Pretty much. And then, you know, every. Everyone's situation is. Is different because I've had guys that I Have full time jobs already. They're like, hey, I'm looking into making the transition from this office job. And, you know, I want to be a firefighter. I'm like, all right, so, like, and I can only take classes part time. And there's options for that too. You know, you're finished with your part time job, I mean, with your, your career, you know, your full time job, and then you take classes in the evening. Right? Yeah. If where there's a will, there's a way.

[Sebas]

Absolutely.

[Josh Leyva]

Right. So I estimate, you know, between 18 months and three years. If you're like, if you don't have the time that. Yeah, if you have the time. 18 months and three years. Yeah, between 18 months and three years. Right. But then, you know, if you have a family, a full time job, and, you know, you still have to provide, then you're taking classes on the weekends, you know, and, and, you know, you're testing on the weekends and things like that. Whenever you can, you have to ask for time off or you have to take care of the kids. I'm going to say between three years to five years, you know. Wow.

[Sebas]

So bare minimum, if everything goes in your three, everything works out perfectly. You can do it in 18 months.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, but you.

[Sebas]

That's like a rare case scenario.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. I mean, it's not rare.

[Sebas]

Okay. It's.

[Josh Leyva]

It's achievable. Okay, I said rare cases. 12 months, right?

[Sebas]

Oh, somebody can do it in 12. Somebody can do it in a year.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, the. Yeah. Lock the. Yeah. Unless you want to be a paramedic. That takes another 18. You're at 18 months to that. I'm. I'm an EMT. I'm not just an EMT. I'm the EMT.

[Sebas]

Come on, people. So the EMT.

[Josh Leyva]

The EMT. But no. Yeah. If you want to go to medic school, which I'm gonna recommend that you are. Yeah, I'm gonna recommend that because paramedics are like pretty much guaranteed the job.

[Sebas]

Oh, wow.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. Unless you have something in your background that doesn't match. Firefighter. Supposed to be.

[Sebas]

What did you do in the Navy?

[Josh Leyva]

Have you guys seen Top Gun?

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

All right. The first one. Yes. Right. So he's.

[Marco]

I'm Tom Cruise.

[Josh Leyva]

So you remember that jet taking off, right?

[Sebas]

Yeah, in the beginning.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, in the beginning.

[Sebas]

Huh.

[Josh Leyva]

But then there was these guys that were like running with hoses.

[Sebas]

Yes.

[Josh Leyva]

They have purple jacket.

[Sebas]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

I was abf.

[Sebas]

Well, are they the ones that stop the jets from.

[Josh Leyva]

No, no, they're the ones that fuel Them.

[Sebas]

Oh, gotcha.

[Josh Leyva]

All right.

[Sebas]

So that's still pretty sick, though.

[Josh Leyva]

It is, man. You're working on the flight deck. I mean, you got propellers going around. Jet.

[Sebas]

So you were on a ship?

[Josh Leyva]

I was on a ship, bro.

[Sebas]

That's crazy.

[Josh Leyva]

I was on the lhda. USS Shout Out.

[Marco]

So were you married?

[Sebas]

Would you. Would you get married?

[Josh Leyva]

No, I wasn't married. I had. I hadn't met. Indonesia.

[Marco]

Wow.

[Josh Leyva]

I was young. These are. These are my primaries. This little baby Marco back station in San Diego.

[Marco]

Yeah.

[Sebas]

Oh, that's cool.

[Marco]

Yeah. What's the. What's that station called again? Miramar.

[Josh Leyva]

No, this was Naval Base San Diego. Nbsd.

[Marco]

Is there a Miramar, or am I tripping?

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, there is.

[Marco]

There is. Okay.

[Josh Leyva]

Okay.

[Sebas]

Do you feel like Navy? Do you feel like it's in your character and nature to be, like, calm and composed? Because, like, I feel like from the moment you walked in, like, that was kind of like your nature. You're just very, like, put together. You don't really like. You're just kind of. Was that something you were born with or you think that was instilled in you through the Navy?

[Josh Leyva]

I think that. Yeah, I think that was instilled throughout. Throughout my life experience. You know, just. Just handling situations and being under stressful situations. Yeah, obviously, you know, firefighting, Navy, like, all this stuff, I just kind of. I've learned how to control my actions and my reactions.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. I think. I think a lot of it is that, you know, that's cool. Yeah.

[Sebas]

There's a good thing to have as a firefighter, I would say.

[Josh Leyva]

Right. I. So, yeah. Like, that whole keep your head on the swivel type of thing was just like. It's that. That stuff that you learn as a kid that maybe you don't learn out.

[Marco]

Here, you learn it out of dang so sense.

[Sebas]

I learned that in football that with my coach would always on a swivel.

[Marco]

Before you get clocked.

[Josh Leyva]

Like being. Just being through.

[Marco]

Being through. Ch. Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

Dang.

[Marco]

So since the Navy just locked in, always had a mangetta on you?

[Josh Leyva]

Hell yeah, bro.

[Marco]

Till this day, huh?

[Josh Leyva]

Never leave the house. House without it.

[Marco]

Oh, man. Quick question, because I. I'm an entre. Metido. You guys have such a nice energy together. You, Denise and you, Marco. Where'd you guys meet?

[Josh Leyva]

Hell, what was the meet cute online? No, no, this was in person. How so? All right. You guys ready for this? Yes.

[Marco]

Yeah. We love a firefighter.

[Sebas]

Good. A romance.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, I was.

[Sebas]

I love that burns.

[Josh Leyva]

I was so. I was working on the ambulance. I was working on the ambulance at the time. I was doing ift, like, inner facility transport. And me and my partner, it was lunchtime, so we're debating what we're gonna eat. So we had to roll Shambo, he wanted pyology, which is where she worked at at the time. And I wanted. And I wanted Mountain Mike's because it was like, all you can need for 1690. Not, you know, I'm hungry.

[Marco]

Of course. A man like you with one and all, you can eat Spot.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, man. Mountain Mike's, man. Just. Good, good pizza. So, Rochambeau. I lost.

[Marco]

If you don't know what Rohambeau is.

[Sebas]

I knew he was gonna do something stupid like this.

[Marco]

No, I look out for everybody.

[Sebas]

Everybody knows a ro.

[Marco]

No, that's not true.

[Sebas]

You don't know.

[Josh Leyva]

All right?

[Marco]

I told you. Exactly. I'm very aware of sometimes slang.

[Josh Leyva]

Sometimes.

[Marco]

Sometimes you can feel like you know it. All right, that's fine. But people sometimes back at home and sometimes here in the west coast is not a slang like that. They might live somewhere.

[Sebas]

Can you just get to the point?

[Marco]

Okay, Rochambeau. Rock, paper, scissors. That's it.

[Josh Leyva]

Rock, paper, scissors. Yes, sir. So.

[Marco]

So you lost? Yeah, no, fortunately.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. Very lucky.

[Marco]

The only best loss of your life.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Sebas]

It wasn't really a now.

[Marco]

Yeah, it wasn't really an L. It.

[Sebas]

Was a different kind of L. So.

[Marco]

You walk into pyology, and then what.

[Sebas]

Were you in your. Oh, you want a firefighter or you were.

[Josh Leyva]

But I was in uniform, though.

[Sebas]

That's so hot.

[Josh Leyva]

That's my. In my. In my evening damn EMT uniform walked in there. The first thing I saw was her, but she was in the oven, so I only saw the back cooking up. Sorry.

[Marco]

I saw a pie for sure.

[Josh Leyva]

So I. I saw her. She was flipping pies or the oven. Yeah, she was working the oven. And then after I saw her, I saw a sign that said, sorry for the inconvenience. We're out of red onions. I was calling purple onions because they look purple.

[Sebas]

Yeah, they do.

[Josh Leyva]

Why do they call them red?

[Sebas]

Dumb names.

[Marco]

So stupid.

[Josh Leyva]

Purple onions. So I said, sorry for the inconvenience. We're out of purple onions. I mean, red onions. So right away, my. I started firing. Like I was triggering. I'm like, what do I do? What do I do? What do I do? I walk up, I'm like, can I get a pizza with just red onions? Let me get a pizza with just red onion.

[Marco]

You really said that?

[Josh Leyva]

I did.

[Sebas]

I really said that to Her?

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, to her. She turns around, she's like. And she just rolls around fries.

[Sebas]

Like.

[Josh Leyva]

I was like, no, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. Yeah, but let me get some ham, some pineapple, by the way, pineapple on pizza must. Hell, yeah.

[Marco]

Thank you for saying yes.

[Sebas]

Yes, bro.

[Marco]

Like, if you don't like pineapple on pizza. Because I don't like my pineapple warm. Is anybody here against pineapple? Okay. Thank God. Like, kinds of people, bro. What do you say when people say that? Like, don't be picky.

[Sebas]

I think it's such a weird thing to be picky about. It's like, what?

[Marco]

He's just warm.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Marco]

It's delicious, savory and sweet.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah.

[Marco]

Okay. So anyway, sorry.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. Pineapple, ham, cheese. Yeah.

[Marco]

Pepperonis, A little Hawaiian vibe.

[Josh Leyva]

A little everything. Right. It's like all you can put on that piece.

[Marco]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

And so, yeah, I get to the end of the line, she's like, okay, it's gonna be so and so.

[Marco]

So not only is she making the pizza, she's also the cashier, and she.

[Sebas]

Yeah, cashier and work in the oven.

[Josh Leyva]

She told everyone back, God, move to the side. I got this guy. I got this guy. This is my humor. My dumb humor. So, yeah, she gave me my receipt. I think I was number 36. 33. All right, 33. And as EMTs, we got to write PCRs and take notes and stuff. So I took out one of my pens. I'm like, all right. Wrote my number down.

[Marco]

No way.

[Josh Leyva]

She called my number number 33. And I slid this before sliding your DM, you know, so I slid my number underneath the pizza, and then she grabbed it, and then. We're here now.

[Marco]

No, she texted you.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah.

[Sebas]

How soon?

[Josh Leyva]

Like, three days later.

[Sebas]

Oh, she did a three day. Really smart. Keep him on his toes.

[Josh Leyva]

It was on Instagram.

[Marco]

You're that.

[Josh Leyva]

No, no, it was a Facebook. Oh. Yeah, she. I think we should say that online. It was HIPAA or whatever it is. No, she. She looked me up online and.

[Sebas]

Because the credit card was on. His name was on his credit card.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah.

[Sebas]

You're sneaky.

[Marco]

Yeah. That is good. Yeah, Marco, you're slick like that.

[Josh Leyva]

I used to be.

[Marco]

Used to be.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Marco]

Wow.

[Josh Leyva]

Wow.

[Marco]

You know, you seem like a very, well, collective. Mature. I wouldn't know. You're so at the beat, though.

[Josh Leyva]

I was younger.

[Sebas]

How long ago was this?

[Josh Leyva]

I was 25. I had just turned 25.

[Sebas]

Oh, wow.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. Wow.

[Marco]

So you guys almost have been together for 10 years.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, some. We've known each other almost for 10 years, we'll say like that.

[Marco]

Got it.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah.

[Marco]

No, I'm just saying you guys have a beautiful energy.

[Josh Leyva]

Absolutely. Thank you.

[Marco]

What's the most, like, not really crazy, but like almost ridiculous thing you ever got called up on? Like working.

[Josh Leyva]

While working.

[Marco]

Yeah. Who, like, they always kind of make fun of, like when firefighters get called up to get like a cat down the tree, something around that realm.

[Josh Leyva]

Okay. Like a funny ass call. Oh, that's a good question. This time, like, we, we get a call to two ladies trapped in a car. We're like, okay, vehicle accident. That's why I said, just two ladies stuck in a car. We got, we have like a little dispatch system on our phones and, and that's all the information that we got. So we pulled up into a Safeway, which is a Vaughn's out here. Up there.

[Marco]

Yeah, Safeway.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. So Safeway. And there was these two ladies that were in their car, they're a little older and they were crying. They were just like, we can't get out. You know, and they're speaking a different language, so I couldn't really communicate with them. And I mean, they're in the car and they're locked inside the car. And then it's like, it's an older car, so, you know, you don't need a remote or anything.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

So I don't know what was going on, but I was like making hand signals and like, hey.

[Marco]

I was like, no, like, lift it up.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, lift it up or open the door. Open your new. Have you guys seen that meme? Open your door. So, yeah. And then, I mean, like, they're crying. Like it was, it was a warm day too. So it was either that weren't in.

[Sebas]

An accident, by the way. They were just. Their car was parked in Safeway.

[Josh Leyva]

Parked at Safeway. They were gonna go grocery shopping. They parked, pulled in, turned off their car, and they, they couldn't get out. I guess their door doesn't automatically unlock when you pull the, the handle. So I was like, pull that. And then they finally did it. And then they were able to open the door. And so to me, like, that was one of those calls where, like, I think I've seen it all.

[Sebas]

What did they say that you said they were from. They barely spoke English.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, they barely spoke English. Interesting. They didn't really say much other than like just their tears.

[Marco]

Yeah.

[Sebas]

Oh, there.

[Marco]

And that's it.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah.

[Sebas]

So interesting.

[Marco]

Yeah.

[Sebas]

So I, I, that's random.

[Marco]

That was pretty obviously you do content on Instagram. Tik tok do those. When you do that and. And when you're, like, fighting fires, are. You're like, your brother's back at the. At the. The station, do they ever give you. Because you do both. Do they know. Is it a problem that you do both? Like, does your captain ever say, like, we see you doing this, you know, you. You're causing kind of attention to the department? Or does nobody know? Do they care? Is that something that you can do? Is it kind of like a fine line?

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah.

[Marco]

Or can you do whatever you want?

[Josh Leyva]

It's so new, right? This is such a new. Such a new topic. Yeah. They all know.

[Sebas]

They all know.

[Josh Leyva]

They all know now. Yeah. They found me. And I'm sure they're gonna know more.

[Sebas]

Now, like, dude, you're famous.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. Yeah, they all know. But they know the kind of message that I'm putting out for the. For the most part, they're all very supportive. Right. And there are. There are guidelines that I have to follow. Right. It was just one of those things where, like, hey, I'm gonna go out there and I'm gonna try. I'm gonna take my chance. You know, I just gotta keep, like, obviously my department's name out of it and things like that, and any of my, like, opinions, any of my beliefs. Political views are mine and not my departments. Right. But then again, it's like, I'm just. All I'm doing is just opening doors for. For the youth.

[Sebas]

Absolutely.

[Josh Leyva]

Which is just at a bigger scale. And then once they start, a lot of the guys that are against it, I would say that maybe don't really know the potential of social media and the platforms and. And the difference it could actually make. As far as outreach. We have outreach programs. Right. But then at this level, like, who's not on their phone anymore? Right. It's just the new generation. Yeah. If you're not staying with the curb or ahead of the curb and you're gonna get left behind, you absolutely will. And that's just one of those things. And at first, man, it was. It was tough. You know, a lot of people just make fun of you.

[Marco]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

Like, you know, just talk a lot of smack. Right. But then. Then I started realizing, like, once you start having haters, you're doing something right.

[Sebas]

Come on, Marco.

[Josh Leyva]

Let them know, you know, before we stop having those haters. No, but then. And then you get all these testimonials, you get all these kiddos, you know, just hitting you up, all this youth, like.

[Marco]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

You know, like, telling you, like, thank you for being A role model. Thank you for sharing this information.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

Then that just blocks off any of that. Right. It just. It's just. All right, cool. Like, bigger purpose. Way more motivated now to create more content and open up more doors.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

To. I don't know, to. To make society a little bit better, even if it's just one person that I reach, you know, or 50,000. Or 50,000. Yeah. And just kind of like, be a role model, but, you know, someone wanting to. To now explore the firefighting world.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Marco]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

So, yeah, to me, that. Just. To me, that. That makes more sense, right?

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

Like, knowing. Knowing you're making a different. The difference with each video that you put out.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Marco]

Yeah. So I love that.

[Sebas]

Yeah, that's so cool, man. I love the idea that you can create content now, and it's just for, like, a greater purpose. Like I said, we started making social media, like, super early on, and it was just about, like, just entertainment. Right. Like sketch comedy or like, his. His wife is in, like, the beauty space, like this makeup. But the. The potential now is so cool. Like, you can be. You can be a guide for people. You can be like a. An inspiration. Like, that's the content that you put out, and it's so purposeful.

[Josh Leyva]

Yes, sir. Yeah.

[Sebas]

So cool, man.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. Especially, you know, in our. In our fields. Like, I also. I saw something, you know, like. Yeah, there's not a lot of firefighters, and now you're seeing more firefighters, you know, you know, starting their. Their channels and. Oh, yeah, like, go for it.

[Marco]

That's cool.

[Josh Leyva]

Do it at the same time. It's like, in our little area. So Niche. So, like.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

Like, you know, Latinos. Right. As simple as putting a corridor in the background. Right.

[Sebas]

Relates.

[Josh Leyva]

It relates.

[Sebas]

It hits it. Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

It's like seeing someone that looks like them.

[Marco]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

Doing something that they want to do.

[Marco]

Yeah.

[Sebas]

Or maybe they didn't even consider or thought it was attainable. You created that. The. The belief that it's possible.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, yeah.

[Marco]

Because growing up, you know, you. You see firefighting commercials, you have this conception of the firefighting world, you know, and when we see people like you, a young Mexican who is fighting fires with, you know, corridos in the background. Yeah. You long. With your long mangueira. You change the narrative. Narrative of what a firefighter should actually be. Right, Right. Which what it was is not a bad thing. It never got. It wasn't like a bad thing that it was going this way. It's just you made us look at it in a way where it's like, oh, I should be there. I. I feel like I'm a part of that. I want to be part of that world. Because Marco, he's making it seem like, yo, I listen to corridos. I like Mexican culture. I like shooting the. Speaking Spanish. Yeah. Like, doing things like that.

[Sebas]

I want to be part of that.

[Marco]

And maybe those kids that used want to be firefighters, maybe they were scared because they never saw that kind of, like, culture in it. So now they see it and they're like, that's for me.

[Josh Leyva]

Yep.

[Marco]

You're making it look. It already is cool. You just made it look cooler for Latinos.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. Yeah, man. And that's. That's the goal, honestly, Breaking stereotypes. Yeah. Breaking stereotypes. And like, you're saying it. It was nothing bad at all right now, but now we're just, you know, opening more doors to. To. To youngsters that are hungry, you know, to want to do something.

[Marco]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

Be a productive member of society. Right. It's just another option now for them. Right. Because, I mean, we're hard working people.

[Marco]

Of course.

[Josh Leyva]

Right.

[Marco]

One of the hardest.

[Josh Leyva]

This is hard. It's hard work.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

And what do we do best?

[Marco]

We work hard.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. We have heart. Yeah. You know, like, this isn't just a job that's going to get given to you. This is a job. You got to go out there and earn this career.

[Sebas]

Continue to earn.

[Josh Leyva]

And Continue to earn. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

[Marco]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

Putting in the work and. Yeah. That's just. That's really my overall mission.

[Marco]

My last question for you, Marcos, because I know you have a flight to catch. What's something back at home that you can tell people right now that are watching, like, kind of like about fires, on how to prevent them, what to do, have something ready, something that may be, like me, a regular person back at home, might not have something prepared for my own house, and maybe if I need to evacuate. What's something that you. Unos consejos. That you can give them.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. So, you know, if there is a fire that, you know it's gonna happen. It's not. It's just a matter of when.

[Marco]

Especially here in Southern. All of California.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. Really? All of California. Right. So my biggest piece of advice is have a ready bag, you know, have a at least one or two weeks worth of clothes already packed. Have all your valuables in an area where you could quickly gather them together, you know, have a duffel bag, have a malleta, if you can, you know, so it's not just fires that we face, you know, I mean, earthquakes. Earthquakes. Right. Have a generator ready. Right?

[Marco]

Generator.

[Josh Leyva]

And if you can. Man, I'm. I was. I've been recently preaching, have Starlink, you know, so. So you're able to communicate with your family.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

You know, when. Something like that. Because the first thing that goes out is going to be power. Right. Then your Internet, your WI fi is not gonna work. Cellular service is going to cut off. Right. And then your family's all worried, like, where are you? So, you know, if you can, you know, have some. Have a starling, you know, have access to that for communication so you can know what's going on around you. I like that. You know, for me. And I. And I tell my wife and we. The most arrows, you know, that dry stuff, we're like, we could live off of that. I mean, we grew up on that.

[Marco]

All you need is water and.

[Josh Leyva]

Water. Yeah. And something to make it happen. Yeah.

[Marco]

Sorry, one last question, because it just came to my mind, people back at home like ourselves, you know, we feel sometimes hopeless and we want to help.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah.

[Marco]

You know, obviously we can donate. We can donate necessity things for firefighters, especially when you guys were camping out here, donations that go towards you guys, towards the people affected. If you were in a position where you. Maybe you aren't fire. When you aren't fighting the fires, but say you were like somebody, a civilian who wants to do something, make a change, do something good for the community, what would something like that be? That we probably only say to ourselves, okay, let's donate here. Let's actually donate money here. We can do community service. What would something be that actually would really help? Like, really help. And I know all of those things. Really help. Yeah, but something that you would, you know, kind of let us know and something that we should do that we might not know.

[Josh Leyva]

Okay. So there's this program called cert, which most big cities. Most cities have. Right. It's a. It's called the. It's cert and it's called the Community Emergency Response Team. And they meet like once or twice a month and just kind of go over like scenarios and they teach you how you can actually, like, help during catastrophic events like that.

[Marco]

Really?

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, it's. It's a. Most. Most big cities have it. Most cities actually have that. Yeah. So I have certain. Where they're. They'll actually get like a page and be like, hey, this is going on. And they'll give them assignments like, like search, you know, like nothing crazy where you're not trained on, but they teach you how to, like how to use a fire Extinguisher. They lift things. They give you a hard hat and a vest.

[Marco]

Wow.

[Josh Leyva]

We give you, like a flashlight and things like that. Where you, where. If you, if that's something along the lines like where you're going towards, then you guys could check that out. Look. C E R T cert. And you'll be able to help that way. Other than that, I mean, what you guys are doing is amazing. When you, when you guys have that event, you know, to, to donation donations. That donation drive, that was huge. It was like Grammy. We were getting a lot of donations.

[Sebas]

That's amazing.

[Josh Leyva]

Which was great. Yeah. And then, you know, the, the people that were affected too, you know, donations will always help.

[Marco]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

Monetary donations. If you guys could. Pets. Those are the hard ones, you know, like when you show up, you know, you see, we saved a dog, actually. We were able to.

[Marco]

Wow.

[Josh Leyva]

Reunite a dog with his own.

[Sebas]

Oh, that's cool.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah.

[Marco]

What a feeling.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah. We have two dogs.

[Marco]

Yeah, I know.

[Josh Leyva]

If you can, like, host pets during times like this where you can foster them.

[Marco]

Yeah, yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

So, you know, I think you could do that. You know, foster them. Pet food donations, things like that.

[Marco]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

You know, which, which are huge on my list.

[Marco]

I was expecting an amazing answer. And that was amazing times, too.

[Josh Leyva]

Oh, thank you.

[Marco]

Great answer. Yeah. I didn't know about that search stuff. That's really cool. We can actually probably leave, like, that link and something like that. Anybody can do description down below.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, that's pretty cool.

[Marco]

That is cool. Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

And they'll meet, like, once or twice a month. Just kind of, just kind of train you and, you know, go over situations.

[Marco]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

Possible things that could happen, which in California. Earthquakes.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Marco]

Damn.

[Josh Leyva]

And tsunami. Yeah.

[Sebas]

Bro. It's crazy.

[Marco]

Well, Marco, I say this with the bottom of our hearts.

[Sebas]

Absolutely.

[Marco]

Thank you so much for fighting the fires recently with you and all of the people that, that all the firefighters that you work with. We appreciate that. Literally. I, I, I can't say anything more. Like, it's just, it's such a blessing to have you guys, especially meeting people that are dedicated like you and not just doing it for a job. You actually are in love with what you do. And that as somebody for us who are civilians who, who, you know, look at you guys. But we don't really get to know you guys. It's such a breath of fresh air to know that there's people like you out there. And I know that there's. There's thousands and millions of others that are just like you. Thank you so much for Putting on for the Mexican culture. Absolutely, sir. For the shout out to all the Mexican firefighters out there, too. Chingandole bomberos. The Bomberos with their mangueras. And thank you so much for being on La Platica. I hope everybody enjoyed this episode. And we're just fortunate to have you because I know, especially this month, you've been insanely busy.

[Sebas]

A little busy. So busy. Yeah, bro, please plug everything. Like, I know you have, like, your own merch brand as well, right? Like, your own mind. Please, like, let us know what. Like, what you got going on, man.

[Josh Leyva]

Yeah, no, for sure. Yeah, I will do. And thank you guys for having me, man. Super excited. Thank you for allowing me to share my message too, you know, about, you know, just opening doors for. For the youth and things like that. And really, really honored to be here.

[Sebas]

Yeah.

[Josh Leyva]

And, yeah, I'm excited.

[Marco]

Thank you, Marco. For real. We appreciate that.

[Sebas]

Absolutely, bro.

[Josh Leyva]

I'm here. Came. Came in as a stranger leaving as a.

[Marco]

Absolutely. Always. That's our goal. That's our goal. I hope you liked enjoying being with us in this episode. For everybody back at home, subscribe to the channel. Go follow Marco. I promise you, you will not be disappointed. I don't know if he wants you to follow his wife, but you guys got to see them. They're really cute together. Yeah. Follow the Josh Slaver Sasson Studios, guys. Brand new. We got some more exciting stuff on the way as well. I mean, things are just kind of trickling down, so thank you for your support. Josh, Lea, anything else?

[Sebas]

You said it all, baby.

[Marco]

I said it all.

[Sebas]

Said it all, man.

[Marco]

Marco, once again, thank you so much. And when you see your brothers at the station, tell them we said thank you as well. Thank you.

[Sebas]

Love you.

[Josh Leyva]

Ciao.

[Sebas]

Beautiful. Great episode, bro. Thank you so much.

[Marco]

Damn, baby. Since you were born, you wanted to do this.