In Episode 394 of Mic’d In New Haven — The Best of The Bravest: Nationwide, Volume 8 — retired Jersey City Deputy Fire Chief Butch Cobb reflects on the creation and rapid rise of Jersey City Fire Department’s Rescue 1.
Given access to vacant buildings scheduled for demolition, junked vehicles from the car pound, and unlimited opportunity to experiment, Cobb and his crew trained relentlessly — every day, recreating real fireground and rescue problems until solutions became second nature. If something failed on a job, they rebuilt it in training and solved it there.
That preparation paid off. Soon, surrounding towns were calling Jersey City directly for help with complex rescues — tractor-trailer entrapments, structural collapses, and technical operations others weren’t equipped to handle.
Looking back, Cobb calls his time with Rescue 1 one of the most rewarding chapters of his career — watching an idea become a unit that earned respect far beyond city limits.
VIEW INTERVIEW HERE:
Mike Colón Media 
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