And while the guys at the firehouse were thrilled when Joey grew into Chaminade's star shortstop -- and just ecstatic when college coaches started contacting him -- they never quite knew what to make of his classroom success.
Kevin Woyjeck practically grew up inside firehouses in Southern California, weaving through the trucks and hoses and riding along when his father, a fire captain, raced out to answer an alarm.
"I grew up at the firehouse.
He was promoted to lieutenant in 2000, and he now leads a four-person crew at a red-brick single-engine firehouse not far from where he grew up.
Lieutenant O'Hagan, 43, lived in Riverdale, where he grew up, and was an enthusiastic firehouse chef who knew all the best recipes because they were his own.
The cause was still under investigation yesterday as makeshift memorials -- flowers, candles, balloons, stuffed animals and American flags -- grew at the fire scene and at firehouses in the grieving communities.
Today, "People's Firehouse" lives on as the name of a local nonprofit group that grew out of the vigil and that, from offices nearby, provides housing and other services to the community.
He grew up in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn, in a house right behind the local firehouse, and he was raised in both places.
That dreadful distinction, along with the building's impending centenary, are what prompted Steve Fisher, 62, a retired architect who grew up in and lives in the area, to campaign for landmark designation of the Maspeth firehouse, at 68th Street and Borden Avenue.
When disaster struck, Oceanside, where I grew up, had few resources to rely on: We have an all-volunteer fire department made up of amazing men and women who went without sleep for weeks after Sandy, constantly putting their lives on the line as calls came in non-stop (despite half of the firehouses and trucks flooding, rendering them useless).
