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- [00:01]
Progressive Insurance Announcer
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- [01:23]
Brian Luetsch
Hey, I'm brian l. And this is the official one chicago podcast. It takes a lot of talented, dedicated and hard working people to make something like Chicago Fire such a huge success. But for me, the heart and soul of that show is a guy who's been there since before day one, my dear friend Steve Chickarotis.
- [01:57]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
I'm literally pitching ideas on bar napkins. It was a great meeting, a great lunch and we came out of there and we pretty much had a show.
- [02:06]
Brian Luetsch
Chick, as we call him, was born to be a hero. A true Chicagoan. A hard nosed, old school, tough son of a biscuit. He spent more than three decades fighting fires, saving lives and training his men. He's a great leader, a great storyteller, and a great man. He turned the life he loved as a first responder into a new chapter. From a high ranking fire chief into a TV and movie consultant, a tech advisor, a writer, a producer, and believe it or not, even an actor.
- [02:40]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
You should probably consider your next words very carefully if you're still thinking of making lieutenant today.
- [02:46]
Brian Luetsch
On the podcast we swap war stories of being on a job and how those stories found their way onto the shows. We talk about how we love serving the people of Chicago and how we put that love into every episode of Chicago Fire and Chicago pd. You see, every superhero has an origin story and we got a big one coming Your way. So don't go anywhere.
- [03:20]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
Foreign.
- [03:25]
Progressive Insurance Announcer
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- [05:10]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
There you are.
- [05:11]
Brian Luetsch
He's got him. My favorite color. Tight. Look how good he looks. So I met Steve Chikarotis. We all call him Chick at my local joint, Turtles. It's a bar on the south side of Chicago in a neighborhood called Bridgeport, where I was born and raised. And it's also where a lot of scenes for the one Chicago shows are shot.
- [05:33]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
Look at it.
- [05:33]
Brian Luetsch
100 push ups a day.
- [05:35]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
Look at it.
- [05:35]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
I hate you.
- [05:36]
Brian Luetsch
I'm so glad we're not videotaping this.
- [05:39]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
All right, Chick, so here we are. Invited you to my favorite watering hole, Turtles, right here at 33rd and Wall Street. I know it sounds stupid, but the guy who owns the joints, a friend of mine, we call him Turtle because he looks like a turtle, walks like a turtle, talks like a turtle. What's more iconic about this place is that we film here in Bridgeport so much where Voight's character's from. And Canaryville, where Rusick's character's from, that we like to use the neighborhood because aesthetically, it looks right. So anytime we wrap after 12 hours and you're looking to get a cocktail, this is the place where you come make bad decisions. And when I bartend, I invite the coppers in and they give them the stupid soup and they tell me stories and they become episodes. And these are all dear good friends of mine. They know that the beer's costing them an episode. So welcome.
- [06:23]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
It's a beautiful thing. And I love this place because it's real, you know, it's in a real neighborhood. It's, you know, Bridgeport rubber, meet the road, salt of the earth neighborhood. And turtles. Doesn't disappoint.
- [06:36]
Brian Luetsch
When the crew wraps up after a crazy long day, this is one of the joints we all go to unwind. So it was easy to get Chick comfy and ask him how his wild ride in Hollywood began.
- [06:48]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
It's 35 years now. I started with the movie Backdraft as a tech advisor and really never stopped working in the industry. But I always wanted a fire show. I was always pitching, trying to get a fire show started, and I didn't know how. I was doing my thing, working on a fire department. I was doing my job there. I was writing books, magazine articles. Nothing to do with screenplays, nothing to do with the industry other than the occasional movies. I would be doing safety stuff and whatever job was available. And then my phone rang one day and I got a call from a guy, John Roman, who I hadn't seen in 22 years.
- [07:30]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
I love him.
- [07:31]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
And, yeah, John was our first line producer on Chicago Fire. But at this time, I had worked with him on Backdraft 22 years before. And get a cell phone. I'm at work, don't know the number. I says, yeah, Chick Roman, I need you. I said, like John Roman? He said, what other effing Roman? You know, I need you. But he had a couple great writers who became our creators, Derek Cass and Michael Brandt. And in town, and they were going around kind of blindly into firehouses and trying to get ideas, and guys were.
- [08:06]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
Letting them in or not really.
- [08:08]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
They let them into the building, but not into their hearts, you know? You know, because you don't know them, and. And all of us have been misquoted in newspaper articles and stuff, you know, so you got to be a little careful in our line of work. At the time, I was a deputy district chief. I was in charge of 30 firehouses, but right across from the firehouse was Maggiano's restaurant. So we meet for lunch and I'm literally pitching ideas on bar napkins. It was a great meeting, a great lunch. And we came out of there and we pretty much had a show.
- [08:41]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
Wow.
- [08:42]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
Yeah. And I walked him across the street to my firehouse and we had things that we still incorporate in the show. All the companies we have the squad table where the guys meet and the same companies that we use in the show were in that particular house. And that's what I was pitching. A wide variety. So we can show EMS calls, we can show heavy rescue, technical rescue calls and standard fire calls. So that's how it happened. That's how it worked out. And here we're going into season 14.
- [09:13]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
I don't think the three shows would be around without you, to be honest with you. We could have been Baltimore Fire. You could take what you want. You know what I mean? Like, I'm just saying, me and Steve have been friends for a long time because we bust each other's chops. I'd like to use other words, but mostly we bust each other's chops. Chicago policemen and Chicago firemen get to work together only on a few things. And one of the things that we work together on, on the movie detail, where I think is probably one of the most incredible part time jobs that ever did as Chicago police officer.
- [09:38]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
But I'm going to cut in on that. You say fire and police don't work. You know, you were real police, you were on a hard charging unit. You worked the busiest areas in a city. I did the same with the fire department. So we work hand in hand. Yeah. We bust each other's chops. There's a rivalry. Right. But there's a love. Yeah.
- [09:58]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
What I kind of miss, we don't get to work like together when we work the movie details. Me and you work 19 hours together. You know what I mean? Like. Like a lot of guys didn't want to get out of the car, but we did. I was always interested in what the hell was going on. It was like a circus. And I remember, I think it was er. Maybe er was the first time we were working and I made fun of your name tag.
- [10:17]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
I said chicorotis. And yes. Isn't that a venereal disease? I think it is Chickamunga or something.
- [10:24]
Brian Luetsch
Chickamungus.
- [10:25]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
But we, we started sharing stories and that's when I kind of fell in love with you. And I didn't know who you were. Deputy Chief. I didn't know you were A boss. You're just another guy in boots. You know what I mean? I was just a guy with a badge. And I think it was when we started working Transformers with Roy Dean and Larry Buckethead Bracken and all these legendary firemen that you knew were the real deal, that you knew were the guys that were out there fighting fires. And there's a certain amount of excitement. With me, I was with Jimmy Curry and cops that are like classic Chicago cops. I remember there's one story where the firemen were on one corner, I was on the other corner, and this lady walked up, and Jimmy Curry was smoking a cigarette. So he's puffing away, and a lady came over and says, you know, it's against the. The rules to smoke a cigarette out here in uniform. And you know what he told her? He says, ma', am, my grandmother lived till she was 95. And the lady said, smoke. And he says, no, ma'.
- [11:17]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
Am.
- [11:17]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
Minding her own damn business. So, like, we were messing with the citizens, and then the firemen would come over, and we were aggravating the firemen. I don't know if you remember, but it was like countless hours. And then out of nowhere, you gave me a call. He called me up and he says, luch, there's this thing coming up, and we'd really like to pick your brain. And it's about police. And there's a guy, Matt Olmsted, coming with Derek Haas and Michael Brandt.
- [11:42]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
Yeah, of course. I remember, because we were deep in season one of Chicago Fire, and then we had this character who was playing kind of like a nemesis. This Jason Begay guy.
- [11:55]
Progressive Insurance Announcer
Yeah.
- [11:55]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
And nobody really knew where it was going to go. But I tell you, he was coming off great. Everybody could really appreciate what he had to. To offer. And some of our geniuses decided we could spin off a show around him and start where he's in this gray area, but bring him back. Bring him where he's a respected member of the police department. So it was still at the end of the season, near the end of our season, we were going to shoot a episode that really, for all practical purposes, became your pilot. It was kind of a mixed fire.
- [12:34]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
PD show, episode 123, correct. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember.
- [12:39]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
So to do that, they said, chick, we're looking for someone like you on the PD side. So being in the job that I was in the neighborhoods that I lived in, how many coppers did I know? Probably easily in excess of a thousand. Thousand. Probably really damn good cops. You know, I know a Lot of the real police. So I had a lot to choose from, and one name popped in my head, and that was it. And that's a fact. And it's Deluch. It's Brian. And the reason, Brian, you're the real deal. You care about the citizens of the city. You worked on hard charging units. And I really believe we have stories to tell.
- [13:23]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
Oh, God.
- [13:23]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
We have stories to tell for the cops and the firefighters that can't tell them because they died in the line of duty, including your father. We have stories to tell for the firefighters that went off injured or the people that suffer every day of their life through post traumatic stress, and a cop suffering through post traumatic stress from the things they see and do every day. And we can help citizens better understand who police officers are, firefighters are. And I think it's therapeutic even for us writing these. These stories. And I think it's damn good entertainment.
- [14:03]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
They were asking me one time, like, do you have nightmares? You know, and I'm like, man, I've seen so much stuff. I've had a whole library of nightmares that I haven't even got to. When I first started with my wife, who I met on the show Erica, I would scream the night, and it kind of like freaked her out. And I find myself now, like you said, when you tell the stories, I'm letting go of something that I held onto so much because I had to be that tough guy, you know, there was 15 guys that died in the line of duty while I was working, and a lot of them were my friends. And then there's the stories of the domestics that you go on, and a little kid that's dead or the person that died in your arms, and you can't make that go away. But if you could do good with it, and I know that's hard, but, like, if you could do good with it. So everyone says, oh, you teach these guys, you know, how to go through doors and be tactical and close quarter combats and doing this and doing that. But, but, but where it is is exactly what you said earlier, like, to get into the heart of the fireman, also to get in the heart of the policeman. I wear the armor and you wear the heavy coat. And we don't let people in on that, you know, so having that vulnerability and being taught empathy, which I really kind of lost as a policeman. But it was until I was around these incredible actors who taught me because I was calloused, you know, I don't go to the bar to tell cocktails and war stories. But there are so many things that we could share to show the real side of the policeman or the real side of the fireman. We're just guys from the city of Chicago who love each other. We're first responders. We just want to work. And I never knew that we'd be able to tell these stories in a different way. You know what I mean? And I know when I came along and I watched you on Chicago Fire, you're a man who's revered, whether you want to believe it or not. You're loved, you're respected. You're the real deal. Those guys love being as tough as you. But underneath all of that, there's this beautiful heart, and there's this father, and there's this man who cares. And I think the show, as much as it is fighting fires or getting gun battles, at the end of the day, it's like, hey, we're just men and women.
- [16:11]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
It's true. And, Brian, where does that come from? It comes from we lose people close to us. Two of my best friends in life died in the line of duty on the fire department. Four guys that I played on one championship softball team with, four of them died in the line of duty. All separate fire incidents, you know, and we're putting kids in body bags every day, and then we have to come home to our family. So we ride this roller coaster of a life of emotions. But isn't that great education for, you know, civilians? But also, isn't it great entertainment when you can make your viewers laugh and cry every episode? And I think we do, yeah. So it's about entertaining the masses. And our job is to keep it as close to real as possible. And that's all.
- [17:00]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
I love how you guys got Squad one and Squad two. Can you tell me something about squad one and Squad two? What does that mean? Is it like the elite guys?
- [17:09]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
If it was the military, it would be equivalent to special operations. And what you have is special equipment, special training, and you cover a large portion of the city. That's why you stay real busy. So I spent the bulk of my career as a firefighter, as a lieutenant for a while, as a captain on Rescue Squad 2 on the west side. And cool thing about that, your primary job is going to fires like everybody else. But you're scuba diving, you're jumping out of helicopters, you're doing vertical rescue off the highest building in Chicago. You're doing hazmat. So you have the extra training and equipment to come along with it. So that's one reason I made sure. We had a rescue squad, squad, three sev rides unit on our show because of a variety of things we could show Chick.
- [17:57]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
You know what, I was always, I was always wondering, like, how did you even become a Chicago fireman? Like, I mean, how did it all start? Did you know?
- [18:04]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
No, Brian, you know, I knew nothing about the fire department. There's guys where it's a family business where, you know, dad was a firefighter, grandpa was a firefighter. My dad died as a kid. When I was a kid, we didn't have a lot of money, so I was always working. I was working from the time I was 12. So I was putting myself through college and really didn't know what I wanted to do, you know, But I had a roofing business and we're putting a roof on. Biggest job that I ever sold was a steel plating place in Bedford park, which wasn't far from where I lived. It's west of city limits, southwest suburb, and it's a small industrial town. And I had probably 11, 12 guys working for me. It was beautiful, sunny day, and in the middle of the day there's a huge explosion and it almost knocks us off our feet. Smoke, black smoke starts coming out of the stacks. Well, right away my heart starts beating. I have a hot tar kettle on the ground with a ground guy with hundred pound propane cylinders. And I'm thinking, did I do this? I run to the edge of the roof and my ground guy, this big huge guy, 300 pounder, this guy, big Charlie, I called him, he's got his hands up, he's looking up at me, shaking his head, he doesn't know what's going on. Well, while I'm standing there and my crew is gathering, the door flies open and factory workers, office workers, men and women are sprinting out of there like their ass is on fire. I find out later that at least one person died from the initial explosion. And then there was more explosions. And I tell my guys, we better go. So we ran across the street and we're watching and the people who were just blown up, they might still be running. I mean, they took off and they ran blocks because they knew the potential in this place. Well, next thing I'm hearing sirens and then I see lights. And I'm watching this noble breed of men that I had never seen before pull up, gear up, and they're disappearing into the smoke. And I'm thinking, wait a minute, these guys are running into what I just ran away from. I want that job. So that night, not knowing anything about the difference of departments between Chicago or the suburbs. I went to a Bedford park firehouse. The guys were still dirty from battling this fire all day. The thing that really attracted me is they dragged me in. They were just so damn nice. They dragged me in, they sat me down, gave me coffee, offered me dinner, and we talked. And I said, how do I get your job? And I said, you know, we don't have a test coming for a while, but Chicago does and you live in Chicago. And so I took the Chicago test. And because of the inspiration from these guys, I worked real hard for it. I was a boxer at the time. I was still boxing professionally, among other things. So I was in shape. But I started working for this test because I was inspired by these guys. And I landed in the first class. 30,000 people had taken the test.
- [21:11]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
Wow.
- [21:12]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
Yeah. How about you? How did you become a cop?
- [21:15]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
I think I was born one, you know what I mean? Like, I don't think I had anything else that I really wanted to do. Like, my mom and dad got a divorce when I was real young, like five years old. But my father, who was a policeman his whole life, lived here in Bridgeport. And I was born in this neighborhood, but then taken away. And my mother got remarried like four or five times. But in the summer I could always come here. And when I came here, it was like I lived with my hero, my dad. And he was, he was funny, he was witty as could be and good looking Italian guy, and he dressed well. And his 22 year career, 18 and a half years he worked in what was mass transit on the midnight TAC team. So it was the only TAC team in the whole city of Chicago where it was plain close coppers, you know, back in the day with the members only and the cavaricis. I mean, these guys dressed apart, so they would do decoy missions and they would dress up as like a drunk guy laying there and get their gold chain stolen and blah, blah, blah. And when I was here, his guys would all come over, like for a break at lunchtime. They'd go down in the basement. Maybe after work it'd be a card game. And I watched him like, wow, these guys are all like superheroes. I was with my father, remember he had his brand new car and there was this lady, she was getting beat up horribly. And I remember him pulling over on 31st Street. He got out of the car and. And a guy took one look at my father who pulled out like a snub nose. And my dad was going to fucking end him. And I remember the fear that was in this man's face. And my father just grabbed him and, like, protected the woman. And my whole life, like, I never like bullies, you know, And I never. I never wanted to be like, anyone's savior or anything. But I also like you. The action, the running, the gun. And you see the blue car flying by. You see the undercovers. There is a carnival over here to St. Lucy's Carnival, which kind of think. I think did it. It was a fest every year. And they bring out the carny guys that don't have their teeth and missing a leg or whatever. And they. There'd be old ladies in moo moos with the clams and selling raffle tickets. And, you know, this table be filled with gangsters. That table's a bunch of city workers. These are all good guys. And then there was the cop table with all the cops. And some shots rang out. Somebody came and shot up the festival. And out of nowhere, I seen a Volkswagen pull up and this African American guy get out, and he was dressed in blue jeans and this real cool Hawaiian shirt. And he pulls a weapon. I see a guy on the other side, this Hispanic guy come out of nowhere, real long hair, pulls out a weapon. It was undercover guys. There was a group of narcotics guys who were working in the area, probably on some mission, following some guy around. They heard a 10 1Amass shooting, and they came out of nowhere. And I'm like, okay, that's who I want to be. I tried to become a Chicago policeman, and believe it or not, I failed.
- [23:59]
Brian Luetsch
The psychological test, if you can believe it.
- [24:01]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
Oh, I believe it.
- [24:03]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
So, yeah, back in the day, in 91, I became a Cook county sheriff. I was working in the jails, which is a whole lot of fun, but I wanted to be a Chicago policeman. And I took the test, and I failed. I failed a psych. But when my dad was dying, my captain in the jail, who didn't like me at the time and was. Was mean as hell to me, basically told me, I need you to go put your uniform on right now. And I told him, sir, I'm trying to get out of my. My dad's dying. He has hospice. And he told me, go put your uniform on right now. So I had to go get a dress uniform. And he checked me out, and I wasn't supposed to have this uniform on until Friday, but it was Wednesday, and he put my bad. His badge on me. He said, now go see your father. And I went to go see my father in that uniform. And this man that I hated for doing this to me ended up. I wanted to kiss him. Like when my dad died, he got to see me in a uniform. Wasn't the police uniform, it was the sheriff's uniform. But he knew I was going into law enforcement.
- [25:03]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
That's a beautiful story.
- [25:12]
Brian Luetsch
We gotta take a quick break, but I've got more with Chicago Fire's consulting producer Steve Chikarotis next. We'll be right back.
- [25:30]
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- [26:30]
Roz Hernandez
From the darkest corners of our imagination comes a game show that's more ridden ridiculous than terrifying. Welcome to Tickled to Death. I'm your host, Roz Hernandez, and I'll be guiding guests through the creepy questions and chaotic games, all to win the ultimate title of horror movie champion. Listen to Tickled to Death wherever you get your podcasts and hit follow unless you want the show to follow you.
- [27:05]
Dr. Alok Patel
The war is over and both sides lost. Kingdoms were reduced to cinders and armies scattered like bones in the dust. Now the survivors claw to what's left of a broken world, praying the darkness chooses someone else tonight. But in the shadowdark, the darkness always wins. This is old school adventuring at its most cruel. Your torch ticks down in real time and when that flame dies, something else rises to finish the job. This is a brutal rules light nightmare with a story that emerges organically based on the decisions that the characters make. This is what it felt like to play RPGs in the 80s. And man, it is so good to be back. Join the Glass Cannon podcast as we plunge into the shadow dark every Thursday night at 8pm Eastern on YouTube.com theglasscannon with the podcast version dropping the next day. See what everybody's talking about and join us in the dark.
- [28:12]
Brian Luetsch
We're back talking with Steve Chikarotis, AKA Chick. He's a producer and a writer for Chicago Fire, and he even showed up every once in a while in front of the camera to bust someone's chops.
- [28:25]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
You're suspended, Wallace. Contact. Unbecoming of a firefighter.
- [28:29]
Brian Luetsch
Chick and I talked about how we're able to take things that happen to us on a job and turn them into stories for our shows. Stories that honor the great men and the great women that we served with.
- [28:41]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
I had a captain that was tougher than nails, a real, real life John Wayne, a guy named Bill Burns, captain of our rescue squad. And one day, shortly after I had made lieutenant in 1989, right after that, I'm at the same fire, but I'm on a truck company with my squad guys and my team is trapped on the second floor of this was sro, single room occupancy, where they have the common bathrooms down the hall. And a million people live in a building. And a fire had started in a basement and blocked both stairways. So there's no way out. You can't fight your way out. We were understaffed, so we were in trouble. I didn't even know because everyone's stepping on each other's radio communications. At my old squad company, three of the members, Captain Bill Burns and Danny Fabrizio, Lenny Urbanski, they're trapped on the third floor up above because we had been booting indoors. The locking mechanism is no longer there. And the pressure from flashover when the halls flash over and the temperature is 1300 degrees and it's zero visibility and just black and the pressure is astronomical. So Bill Burns throws his back up against this door to hold it shut so his guys can get to the window. And it was a long wait to get a ladder around to him because they were in the rear side of the building, hard to reach, and for a while no one even knew they were trapped. So while Bill is holding the door back, flames are burning through the top of the door, melting his helmet. It melted a hole that a 12 inch softball would fit through. So his head is burning. The guys are calling him to the window. And he says, not till you're on the ladder. He waits till both of them are safely on the ladder. Danny Fabrizio, who again became our union president after this. Danny's at the top of the ladder watching when Bill lets go of the door. The pressure has him flying through flames like. Look like Superman flying out the window. All right, your turn. No way. Not until you're out of range. Not moving. Let go now. All right, here I come. All right, hang on. Keep your head down. And he hooks the ladder and slides down the ladder and off to the burn unit. You know, that's the type of people that wore the uniform that we wear, that we were honored to wear. So years later, I was able to honor him with that same story. And I even tricked him into coming and watch us film. And Bill is sitting in a director's chair watching us film this scene. And now it hits him what it. What it was. And after Bill left, I walk him out to his truck, and I had a director's chair made up for him with his name on it. I put it in the back of his truck. And he drives home and his wife calls me to thank me for Bill seeing this thing. And I said, bev, you would have. Because he could be real emotional because of the life that we lived. And I said, you would have been proud of him. He was real stoic through it. He says, yeah, I wish this was a picture phone because your big buddy is crying like a baby right now. But that's one of the blessing that we get, right?
- [32:10]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
Well, they say that where you get these. Are they ripped from the headlines? Is it real life stories like where you get them? I mean, the writers, you know, they do their research and they come. But in the beginning, a lot of. A lot of them were real. And they just. This last year, one of the best episodes, I think it was about a little boy who was kidnapped from his own father because they were going through a divorce. That little boy was placed in a car, and the husband said, I'm going to go get high and I'm going to kill myself and my son. And it was the last night a very good policeman that I worked with by the name of John Pickett worked. We pulled up next to this state troopers car, this guy, Lamar Horton, who. Me and him did a couple chases down I55, the double nickel and the 290, which ended up in car wrecks, let's just say. And it didn't go well for Lamar Horton. It wasn't his fault. He did good police work. And we got a couple kilos here and there. But at the end of the day, every time he worked with me, he said I was a shit magnet. So I pull up next.
- [33:13]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
Every time I hung with you, I got in trouble.
- [33:16]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
We got in trouble, right? So I pull up on Roosevelt and Independence, and here's this beautiful state trooper. And I'm like, hey, Lamar, what's going on? He's like, nothing, Luch, just go. Just go. But he ends up telling me the story. You know, there's this kid who's been abducted. There's an Amber Alert out. The father's gonna kill him. And this is the type of car. So we go look for the car. Lo and behold, we find the car. I'm looking at the car, my partner John's like, let's go. We pull up on it. My partner jumps out, goes to the front of the hood of the car, pulls his weapon frees. Don't move. Now we know there's a child in there, so we're scared. You know what I mean? Like, we don't want anything to happen to the child. I come around the passenger side. The guy guns the car. The gas runs over my partner. He wants to kill him.
- [33:58]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
Out of the car. Now.
- [34:04]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
He's forced up on top of the hood. My partner John goes flying in the air, lands in the middle of the street. I think he's dead. He looks unresponsive. His gun goes flying. Now I got to go to the car. And it looks like the guy's hidden underneath the seat. He's trying to reach for something. I think it's a gun. I'm telling, bro, I'm going to kill you. I'm going to blow you away. We don't put our finger on a trigger unless we shoot. My finger's on the trigger, and I'm squeezing halfway, and I look over and I see the little kid in the back seat. The side window is broken from the kid's head on impact when there was a crash. So now that guy's not moving. I gotta come around. I got my gun. I open up the door, try to get the kid. He's got the baby seat on, and you need both hands. So I got a pistol in my hand and I got to put it down. And I'm praying, please, God, don't let this guy pop up. I got to kill him or he's going to kill me. And I'm scared. It's okay. I'm scared, but I'm trying to Keep it together.
- [34:51]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
Swear to God, I will shoot you.
- [34:52]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
Right in the face. Get out of the vehicle right now.
- [35:01]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
All right, Bobby. Hey, bud.
- [35:02]
Brian Luetsch
I know, I know.
- [35:05]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
And I. I finally. I put my gun down. I get him out. I blade myself. I got the kid. I come back around. I don't want him to shoot me when I'm running away with the kid. Meanwhile, someone called the 101 officer down. So the blue waves coming, you know, the city's alive. We got copper skidding. I don't hear none of it. I'm still on the guy. And there was a sergeant, ex Marine. Holy, I think his name was. He was like a legendary Vietnam guy. Pull. Luch, Luch, Everything's okay. And he. He's, like, tapping me on his shoulder. But I felt the baby, and the baby was wet. And I was like, God, this baby shot. I thought maybe my partner shot the baby, but I wouldn't look down. So anyways, I. I take the baby. And another sergeant came and handed him. I was reluctant, but I handed him over to the baby. And Holy's like, I got him. We pulled the guy out of the car. We cuff him. There was no gun underneath the seat. The guy was just trying to reach. He was trying to, like, get us away from him. The bad guy goes to jail. I go sit on the curb, you know, it was like, man, I just almost lost my partner. I thought I killed him.
- [35:59]
Brian Luetsch
I thought the baby died as the baby shot.
- [36:01]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
And I'm sitting there and I'm just trying to catch my breath.
- [36:06]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
Adam, it's over. It's saved.
- [36:08]
Brian Luetsch
He saved him.
- [36:11]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
Baby. Long story short, they kind of do that episode, and they do it right. A guy by the name of Gavin Harris does it right. One of our executive producers. And before they go to film it, I said, bruce, we gotta take a walk. And me and Ruse went for a walk, and I cried during the conversation to tell him, this is what happened. And the curb was my park bench. The curb was the thing. They'll let you sit there for as long as you want. And, like, firemen were pulling up and squads were pulling up, and they knew, leave that kid alone. He's on the curb. And I'm sure you guys have sat on the curb.
- [36:54]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
So you sit on a curb. Yeah, yeah, that's our.
- [36:57]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
That's our spot.
- [36:58]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
Yeah.
- [36:59]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
And when I watched it, like you said, you think things touch you. When I watched it, I had to, like, pause, and I thought of my father, and I thought about all the great people that helped you. Like this day And I thought about my partner. That didn't work. And there's.
- [37:12]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
I love it. But, but Brian, your, your ability to recall and tell these stories is why you're so valuable to this show. We work the life, we, we see it. Some people can suppress it and have a hard time recalling it. I've written books and articles in depth on situations like that because I think it's important to share. And there's no better avenue than our television shows for sharing these stories. And for the people listening to this podcast, when someone like Brian is talking about this incident, when you look back at the end of your career, that's just like a Tuesday. Those incidents are common. One thing that happened in his career, this is what we were doing every day throughout our career. So the stories are endless and the stories need to be shared.
- [38:05]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
What is the most bizarre real life type incident that you've seen that you brought to the show?
- [38:11]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
With my rescue squad. I was a lieutenant on squad too at the time. We, we cover a real big district. So we travel way up to the northeast side to heavy, densely populated apartment building with lots of fire and people trapped on the upper floors. And my partner was a guy, great man who retired as a battalion chief named Sean o'. Driscoll. And he and I are crawling through zero visibility. And with zero visibility, one member has to keep a wall. Otherwise you're lost. You know, you're in a cluttered apartment. You'd have no orientation on how to make it out of there. Flames are rolling over our head. No visibility, no. And Sean has the wall and I'm sweeping out towards the center of the floor and I feel a child's foot. I grab a child's foot and I yell to Sean, I got one, hold it. And I'm pulling and this kid is stuck on something. There was three kids on the ground in one direction. Their father had stacked them up like Cord would to try and save them. Two bigger kids were laying across the top in the other direction. Then he had his wife, then his mother in law and this guy laid on top of the pile, spread eagle with the flames that were burning us up in our fire gear. They were melting the skin off his body and he stretched out covering his family. So I called my team, they're coming from other parts of the floor and we're all grabbing somebody. So I grab off the top of the pile, I have dad and get them out. And I'm doing CPR forever. I was, we've seen the worst. You see the best in people in Our jobs and you see the worst. I've seen parents in a lot of cases that run to save their own life and leave their children behind. But this hero did what he did. So I'm working to save his life, doing CPR on the front lawn, probably in fact all the way to the hospital in the back of the ambulance. And we, we got him back few beats and lost them. But the mother and the children all made it. And I would hear that, you know, we don't follow up like sometimes on the show they'll go to the hospital and visit the people. I think if we did that we'd be in a psych unit because you'd get too attached and you see more bad than good. But I heard that they had a full recovery and I felt real good about it. And over the years I would always have a fantasy that someday I would be able to see these kids and this woman and tell them what it hero that their father was. And probably about four or five years later I get a call, I'm a captain at the time, and I get a call from a high ranking chief at headquarters. Do you remember this fire? I said, of course I do. Why? Well, we're being sued. So next thing I'm in court. And that's where I got my wish to see the family. And I was happy going to court because I thought I would have a chance to talk to this family. But they were suing the fire department because dad and the mother in law died. Luckily, the city lawyer got me on the stand and got me an opportunity to explain what we did. And I told him, you know, the valiant effort of my troops is why you're here. And I said, what, what we did and how quickly everything was done. And I looked them all in the eye and told them what a hero that their father was. Well, they were crying, the judge was crying. I think everybody in the courtroom was crying. When I finished my story, I walked out and I seen the mother mouth, thank you. And the fire department no longer was the bad guy, which meant a lot to me. And then we did that on the show, but we had to truncate it. It's a television show, so people think we take incidents and have to exaggerate them. Usually we have to dumb them down because it wouldn't even be believable that you could do something like that and then get sued. So we gave us much smaller version of it. I'm luck to work with some of.
- [42:21]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
The best, bravest firefighters in the world.
- [42:26]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
What your husband did Save his family.
- [42:32]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
That was the bravest thing I've ever seen.
- [42:41]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
I got a call from a chief buddy of mine in New York and he said, chick, I love your storylines. Everything's good. He said, but this last one was a little, a little hard to believe. And I said, wait a minute. And I explained it to him. It was the opposite. You know, the real life was completely over the top. But so things like that, when you can share a story, I think it, it hits the mark. If it's, if it's real, if it was emotional to you, it's going to be emotional to the viewers.
- [43:10]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
What does it mean to the real Chicago cops and to the real Chicago firefighters do you think the show means? What do you think it means to them?
- [43:18]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
Police have taken a bum rap in recent years, sometimes over the action of one rogue cop in a different city or, you know, one isolated incident that'll happen. That is no reflection on the great men and women that I've worked with my whole life. And on the fireside, viewers, taxpayers, people that are funding fire departments, they usually have very little knowledge, just like I didn't in the beginning because there wasn't fire shows. We work in a zero visibility world. Camera crews can't follow firefighters into a building. The cameras would melt and the visibility is zero. So you get to show, you get to look into the heart and mind of firefighters and you're showing them the heart and mind of police officers. And I think that has value no matter what department it is. We're not just a reflection of CPD and cfd. It's, it's wherever you are.
- [44:19]
Brian Luetsch
That's my man, Chick. Steve Chikarotis, a legend in the firefighting world and a legend in the wolf world. Once Chicago airs on Wednesday night at.
- [44:39]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
8, 7 Central on NBC and you.
- [44:42]
Brian Luetsch
Can stream it on Peacock. The One Chicago podcast is a production.
- [44:47]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
Of Wolf Entertainment and USG Audio.
- [44:50]
Brian Luetsch
The series is hosted by me, Brian Lucci. It's executive produced by Dick Wolf, Elliot.
- [44:56]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
Wolf and Steven Michael at Wolf Entertainment.
- [44:58]
Brian Luetsch
Josh Block at USG Audio and John Yell Kastner at Spoke Media.
- [45:03]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
Our showrunner is Derek John. Our producer is Maggie Dubrizi and our.
- [45:07]
Brian Luetsch
Audio producer is Jason Mark.
- [45:10]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
Video production by Bo Delmore.
- [45:12]
Brian Luetsch
Coordinating production by Tess Ryan.
- [45:15]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
Our production assistant is Montserrat Rodriguez with.
- [45:19]
Brian Luetsch
Engineering and mix by Evan Arnett and original music by John o'.
- [45:23]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
Hara.
- [45:25]
Brian Luetsch
This series is produced by Spoke Media and distributed by Realm Production. Support for UST Audio by Josh Lalong.
- [45:34]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
I'm Brian Luetsch.
- [45:35]
Brian Luetsch
Thanks for listening and we'll see you all soon.
- [45:45]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
Cut.
- [45:48]
Progressive Insurance Announcer
Dr. Ravi is back in the pit for another shift.
- [45:52]
Dr. Alok Patel
The prodigal son returns and we're going with him. I'm Dr. Alok Patel, a physician, journalist.
- [45:59]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
And a female, a fan of medical storytelling.
- [46:01]
Progressive Insurance Announcer
And I'm Hunter Harris, a screenwriter and cultural critic. And we are the hosts of the.
- [46:05]
Botox Chronic Migraine Announcer
Official companion podcast from HBO Max.
- [46:09]
Dr. Alok Patel
We'll be here every week to talk about each episode with the actors, writers, everyone who helps bring the pit to life.
- [46:15]
Progressive Insurance Announcer
Find us on HBO Max or listen wherever you get your podcasts.
- [46:23]
Sonic the Hedgehog Podcast Announcer
The world of Sonic the Hedgehog has been thrust into a not so dark, not so stormy, hard boiled detective story that probably nobody saw coming. Follow Sonic and the intrepid Chaotix Detective Agency as they take on their biggest case yet. This high flying, action packed adventure will take them across the world, fighting for every clue they can find. It's one heck of a tale. Which is good because this. This story might be the only thing that can save their lives.
- [47:00]
Brian 'Luch' Delucia
Well, if that's all, I can just dispose of you.
- [47:02]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
Wait, what?
- [47:07]
Sonic the Hedgehog Podcast Announcer
All will be revealed in Sonic the Hedgehog Presents the Chaotix Case Files. Coming soon to wherever you get your podcasts.
- [47:16]
Steve Chikarotis (Chick)
When the Chaotics are on the case.