Rocky Raimondi Bio

Rocky Raimondi is 40 years old with a wife, Deana, and three boys ages 5, 2, and 1. He’s a New York City Firefighter on Engine 15 in Manhattan on the Lower East side. His number one passion is being a firefighter, but he’s also an avid fisherman, surfer and mountain biker. Rocky says that fishing is one of the biggest parts of his life. In fact, one of his earliest memories of growing up on the Jersey shore is being three years old, having a fishing pole in his hands, sitting on a dock with his dad. Not only was Rocky’s dad, Joe Raimondi, his mentor in fishing, he was a strong role model who set a good example for his family. His father always put his faith and his family before himself. Rocky has fond memories of his dad waking him up in the morning and taking him out fishing on the lake. For Rocky, fishing isn’t just about getting away; it’s about love and closeness with family, bonds and moments that will never be forgot.

It’s Rocky’s biggest dream to catch a Marlin because “they’re big, exotic, hard to catch, and they struggle and fight. It’s just majestic and beautiful the way they jump. Plus, it’d just be cool to catch one!” When asked who he’d most like to share a fishing trip with, Rocky immediately named his father who lives in Toms River, NJ. It’s been 7-8 years since they did a one-on-one father/son fishing trip and his father is in his 70s (but still loves to be on a boat). Rocky said that “it would be great to do one more thing with my dad before the Lord takes him.”

Rocky compares the camaraderie in the fire department to that of the military. They are a brotherhood, a family, not just co-workers. They depend on each other’s lives and would die for each other. He loves the 13 guys he works with and says on the of the biggest parts of being together at the firehouse is making the meals together, and of course, plenty of ball-breaking.

When Rocky gets home from work, he flips the switch from fireman to WWE wrestler with his boys. It’s family time, and that means helping his ‘beautiful trooper’ of a wife get the kids off to school, playing, wrestling, and taking them fishing every weekend when it’s warm.

To Rocky, 9/11 happened as if it were yesterday. He remembers every horrible moment that transpired. That early morning, he had left the firehouse at the end of his shift to go surfing. While he was in traffic, the first plane hit. His firehouse, Engine 15, responded right away. But because of the chaos, it would take Rocky two hours to get back into Manhattan. Engine 15 was in Tower 1 when Tower 2 fell. The evacuated in the nick of time as the building was collapsing behind them.

Rocky wouldn’t know about the rest of his team’s survival until 5pm that night. When he finally reached Ground Zero, Rocky’s mission was to help in any way he could. In the subsequent months, Rocky would be an integral part to the clean-up effort. As the days progressed after 9/11, Rocky noticed his close friend and fellow firefighter, Jeff Stark, was on the “Missing Persons” list. He remembers calling and leaving a voicmail asking Jeff to call him back ASAP. Rocky would never hear from Jeff. He was in Engine 230 that went into the first tower that collapsed. Rocky took on a mission to find and recover Jeff’s body for Jeff’s mother, but that was mission that wouldn’t be fulfilled. Jeff’s body was never found.

Rocky is a genuine guy with an Italian-New Yorker’s accent, big smile, and an excitement in his personality especially what talking about his three ‘f’ passions: firefighting, family and fishing.