ETOBICOKE: Firesound hosts charity fundraiser
Band of local firefighters ready to rock
Toronto firefighter Chris Burrell is a man with a mission. 
In his line of work, he wears firefighting gear and rushes to the scene of roaring blazes and smoke-filled houses to help save lives. And off the job, he's still saving lives - those of children with muscular dystrophy - with his fellow firefighters and bandmates.
"This was an idea I had a long time ago to raise money for charity," said Burrell who specializes in percussion as a member of the rock band Firesound, which has produced Burning Love.
All the tracks on the CD are covers of chart-topping songs such as Disco Inferno and Burning Love. Adding to the challenge of Burning Love, Burrell had to secure the rights to all 15 tracks before he could record the CD.
"The firefighters have always been associated with muscular dystrophy so I thought, 'wouldn't it be neat to put together a band,'" said Burrell who works at Platoon D in Scarborough.
"But at the Scarborough fire department, there weren't enough musicians. When the city amalgamated I felt that out of 3,000 guys, there had to be a few good musicians."
Then in 2003, Burrell put out a notice and his advertisement brought him a pleasant surprise.
Firefighters with musical talent were signing up to try out for the band.
"About 40 people signed up and we had a 90 per cent success rate. Ten per cent of the bunch I knew just didn't have what it took to pull it off; they didn't have the talent. So we have 32 guys on the CD. Not all are professional musicians either but a lot of those guys are in bands that are playing around and in Toronto."
The 32 musicians of Firesound consist of eight drummers, eight guitar players, three bass players, two keyboardists, nine singers, a sax player and a trumpet player.
Burrell may sound harsh when he speaks about the 10 per cent that didn't make the cut, but he knows what it takes to be successful in music. He also plays the piano, guitar and sings.
He received a bachelor of music degree in performance from the University of Toronto, and built his own recording studio 20 years ago, Grayson Sound Studio.
After more than 100 hours of actual recording time in that studio, as well as more than double that time in mixing and hundreds of hours of administrative and planning time, the CD Burning Love was completed in 2005 and Firesound was launched.
Firesound has performed four times since its creation and has raised approximately $20,000 for Muscular Dystrophy Canada.
The band's next fundraising performances is Friday, June 20 at Hollywood on The Queensway, 1184 The Queensway, in Etobicoke.
There's a $5 cover for the show, with all proceeds going to muscular dystrophy.
"What they did was wonderful and fabulous," said Marg Otter, director of services for Muscular Dystrophy Canada in Ontario and Nunavut regarding the band's fundraising.
"We can't do without our equipment and prices are going up so it is incredible to have this kind of support. We love Firesound!"
The artwork for Burning Love was done by Esther Hung, a 15-year-old co-op student.
"Karen Reid came by and took pictures of me at my fire hall and Esther superimposed the pictures with the background," Burrell explained.
'Zee' Zacorda of the C platoon at the old North York station is one of the musicians who was selected to play in Firesound. He credited Burrell for producing the CD.
"Chris is an unsung hero and he hasn't gotten the credit he deserves," he said.
"From organizing the tracks to putting them down and getting the rights to do covers and dealing with that legal stuff was so intense for the guy. Not only is the sound quality fantastic, the amount of work he did blows my mind. "
Zacorda, who is now 40, played the trumpet from Grade 7 to Grade 12 and then picked up the guitar and now plays for the Toronto band Vintage. However, he only got serious about music after seeing his musical idol, Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, "create music the right way" - from the heart.
"The biggest thing that has ever affected my music was being in the studio with the Stones," he said.
"Keith Richards plays music from the heart. (The Rolling Stones) were recording and he would go over 10 tries for a song and then everyone would take a break and have a smoke. But Keith would nod to the engineer and sit in the middle of the studio and listen to the track, and every guitar riff you would see his head come up or his foot come out and you could see that the music comes from inside. He was completely focused on the tune."
Zacorda raves about the ability and musicianship of the firefighters on Burning Love.
"The talent of the top guys is just unbelievable," he said. "The guys that made the studio cut on the CD are studio musicians. I'm not even close to the calibre of guitars that we have and I've been playing for 16 years. Their talent is out of this world. It's a kick-ass band that really rocks and I'm extremely proud to be in it."
According to Burrell, the greatest challenge to keeping the fire burning is co-ordinating solid practice times between the schedules of working firefighters. However, they find a way to make it work while continuing to raise money for muscular dystrophy.
"It's another way to save lives, that's the whole thing about firefighters," Burrell said. "We are a community that wants to help the community more than just by what we do on the job and we help by donating free time that we have."
Recently the group received second place for best affiliate special/onetime/annual publication or project at the IAFF Media Awards contest.
You can visit the band's website at www.firesound.ca for more information on the June 20 concert.
Members of Firesound are Chris Burrell, George Seara, Pat Kerr, Pat McPhail, Brian Scriver, Dave McNamara, Johnny Carson, Dan Bourne, Jim Leonard, Dave Albright, Al Heinz, Jim Duffney, George Miranda, Norm Jones, Dennis Craig, Abe Beebeejaun, Mike Mann, Dave Inglis, Mike Flemming, Dan Mcguire, Zee Zacorda, Damien Walsh, Pete Cohen, Rob Posa, Ron Kyle, Gene Draper, Chris Walkington, Leo Downey, Scott Connor, Bret Leslie and Mike Kasson.
