BALTIMORE -- The chance to be nozzleman for Joaquin Phoenix or John Travolta drew close to 2,000 firefighters to the Ladder 49 casting call on Sunday.
From up and down the East Coast, they brought their friends and family to take a long shot at the possibility of getting their 15 minutes (or more likely 15 seconds) of fame up close or maybe way in back, in the biggest firefighter themed film since Backdraft in 1991.
Ladder 49 tells the story of a veteran firefighter, played by Phoenix, who looks back over his life as a firefighter and as a man when he struggles to survive, trapped by a deadly fire. Since the movie is based on a fireman
