Boston Firehouse Chili Champions Dennis Carr, left, and Tom Quinn, right, joined emcees Lenny Clarke of FX’s Rescue Me and radio-TV personality Billy Costa in celebration of their win in the Boston Firehouse Chili Cook-Off on Jan. 25. Photo by Matt Stone

Firemen Dennis Carr and Tom Quinn from Dorchester’s Engine 24 cooked up a spicy storm to take home the best chili prize at the Boston Firehouse Chili Cook-Off. The inaugural battle for the best chili chef went down Jan. 25 at the Four Seasons to benefit The Greater Boston Food Bank, which was able to provide 231 meals from the ticket proceeds.

Fourteen local ladders, firehouses and engines took part in the competition, with emceeing by Billy Costa, host of NECN’s “TV Diner,” and actor Lenny Clarke, from the FDNY show “Rescue Me.”

Carr said he does most of the cooking at the Grove Hall firehouse where has worked for almost 10 years. He prepared the chili before the competition, adding that his sous chef Quinn served as “moral support.”
“It’s not even a real recipe,” the Dorchester native said. “I just kind of throw things together and that’s it.”
And there’s no secret ingredient to making a firehouse chili as good as Engine 24’s. Carr said he just puts in different kinds of beans and grills the ground beef before cooking.

“I felt good about our chili,” he said. “I really didn’t know what to expect as far as winning, but I knew we had a good product.”

He added that it might have helped the duo’s chances when the judges noticed they were having so much fun. The prize for having the best firehouse chili in Greater Boston? Bragging rights, he said, and a trophy made out of a toy fire helmet and a can of Hormel chili. Ole!