Mike Stoker
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Mike Stoker is a retired firefighter, engineer and captain with the Los Angeles County Fire Department. He was an actor on the NBC / Universal TV series Emergency!. He used his real name for the series (which ran from 1972-1977) and drove the fire engine. He operated the pump unit just as he did in real life at his real station, LACoFD Fire Station 69 in Topanga Canyon.
Stoker was cast in the role because he had a Screen Actors Guild card, and also because the producers wanted an actual, qualified firefighter to drive the fire apparatus. This was seen as a safer alternative than having an actor operate equipment worth over $100,000.
As an engineer, it was Stoker's responsibility to drive the apparatus to the scene of the call, and then operate the pumps so that the firefighters on the nozzle would have sufficient water to suppress the fire. This meant that he had several years' experience as a firefighter and had passed a written test to become an engineer. As an engineer he would stay with the apparatus and operate the pumps at a fire scene.
Mike Stoker retired from the LACoFD with the rank of Captain in 1996 from Station 106 in Rolling Hills (which, incidentally, was the original choice for "Station 51" in his television series Emergency!).
