Actor and comedian Denis Leary, who played a firefighter on TV, is in Detroit today for a screening of the award-winning "BURN" documentary on the Detroit Fire Department and to donate gear to beleaguered city fire crews.
Leary served as executive producer of the film, which won the audience award at the Tribeca Film Festival and played before crowds in 170 cities.
Proceeds from Thursday’s event will go to the Leary Firefighters Foundation to help Detroit firefighters.
Mayor Mike Duggan and Fire Commissioner Edsel Jenkins were on hand Thursday morning when Leary presented the city with $260,000 of much-needed equipment, including thermal imaging cameras and carbon monoxide detectors.
The donation took place at Engine Co. 9 on E. Lafayette.
The "BURN" screening is at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, at the Fillmore Detroit, 2115 Woodward. Tickets are $18 at the door, $12.50 online.
For seven seasons until 2011, Leary played crazy and lovable New York City firefighter Tommy Gavin on "Rescue Me," a critically acclaimed drama on the FX network that he co-created.
The son of Irish immigrants, Leary grew up in Worcester, Mass. He began his foundation after a massive fire in Worcester in 1999 killed six firefighters, including Leary's cousin, Jerry Lucey, and a childhood, friend Lt. Tommy Spencer.
The creators of "BURN" are Brenna Sanchez, who grew up in Detroit, and Tom Putnam. With their mostly local crews, Sanchez and Putnam embedded for months with Detroit fire companies to shoot footage for the film.
"BURN" premiered in Detroit in September 2012 in a raucous showing at the Fillmore that was filled with Detroit firefighters, who for years have been among the busiest in the nation yet forced to work with ever-deteriorating rigs and gear.
