Band of N.Y. Firefighters and Paramedics Heats Up Stage

BETHLEHEM - When word spread that Jim Reagan and four fellow firefighters and a paramedic had formed a band, people thought of horns, brass buttons and the kind of music you line the streets and wave little American flags to.

"We're not exactly that kind of a band," Reagan and his jam-mates politely intone. "Mustang Sally" isn't typically considered sober enough for that type of gathering.

But that's the song the crowds seem to like the most, Reagan said.

For more than a year, Reagan and his bandmates have been rocking in a way that only emergency workers can - that is, periodically interrupted by oven fires, entrapments and signal 20s, which, for the uninitiated, are basically false alarms.

Aptly named Playin' With Fire, the group tries to muster twice weekly at the West Poplar Drive firehouse to work out their sound, which right now consists of about 40 or 50 rock and R&B tunes, including Steppenwolf and Sheryl Crow. All six members are somewhere in their 30s, 40s and 50s. Five are active members of the Bethlehem Fire Department and two are Guilderland paramedics.

Reagan said none of them have played in an organized band in 20 years.

The band's next show will be a Habitat For Humanity fundraiser Friday at Blanchard Legion Post on West Poplar Drive.

The band's lineup includes singer Kandy Buckley, a paramedic supervisor in Guilderland and social member of the Fire Department; lead guitar player Ned Costigan, a former fire chief; rhythm guitar player Steve Wright, a past president at the Fire Department; drummer Vince Thompson, the current fire captain; bass guitar player Dan Sutherland, a firefighter; and keyboard player Reagan, the assistant fire chief and a paramedic in Guilderland.

So far, fellow firefighters have not only been tolerant of their rehearsals, Reagan said, adding that the band might be helping as a recruiting tool.

"We have a big enough firehouse that we're able to separate ourselves pretty well," Reagan joked. And when some members bring their friends to listen to the rehearsals, they're exposed to the fire service, too, Reagan said.

More than one practice has been cut short by a fire alarm, Reagan said. "We're just experimenting with writing with some of our own songs," he said. "We never in the world intended for it to go as far as it did."

All together the band has played about 15 shows; it might travel to Providence, R.I., to play for firefighters there, Reagan said.

They don't take the stage wearing helmets and air packs, but the they do wear fire-themed clothing, he said.

"We have quite a following developing here," Reagan said.

But a battle of the bands is not yet one of the events firefighters compete in during drill competitions.

"It's definitely unique in the fire service, from what I know of," he said.

Jordan Carleo-Evangelist can be reached at 454-5445 or by e-mail at jcarleo-evangelist@ timesunion.com.

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