Continued from Denis' Home Page
He skied the Rockies
on department trips. And he was indispensable at the annual downhill
race at
Hunter
Mountain,
which pits firehouses against one another.
Teams of five people grab hold of a 50-foot fire hose and spread out across the
trail. The goal is to ski together without letting go, falling,
or otherwise messing up. No, they are not allowed to use ski
poles. Yes, there are other skiers sharing the snow. Depending
on the
firefighters' finesse, the spectacle can be either mildly funny
or completely hilarious. "The hoses in many cases would cross and
guys would go head over heels down the mountain," Lt. Neil Skow
said. But not Firefighter Germain: "Dennis was always one of the
better skiers we had."
His other specialty at Ladder 2 was starting enormous debates in the fire house
kitchen with politically incorrect statements he was sure would set people off.
As the argument heated up, he would slip away. "He loved what he did," said his
brother Brian, a firefighter in Harlem.
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