FIREFIGHTERS: Their Lives in Their Own Words

by Dennis Smith ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 8, 1988

One-and-a-half million Americans, most volunteers, work as fire fighters. Here, hosted by high. profile firefighter/author Smith (Report from Engine Co. 82, 1971; Steely Blue, 1984; etc.), several dozen speak out anonymously--and to stirring effect--on their risky craft. Smith's brief preface and introduction verge on hagiography: ""I felt that I was a small reporter being honored by people who are as close as we can get to royalty in America. . .to put one's life on the line to protect the life of another human being is the work of God."" But what follows confirms the justness of his admiration. Courage is the password here, the dominant principle glowing through scores of first-person vignettes that Smith organizes into six major categories: reasons for becoming firefighters; training and first fires; firehouse life; tales of firefighting and rescues; fire fighters' family life; and ""What It Means to Be a Firefighter."" Smith prologues each section with a flurry of comments setting tone and subject (e.g., on ""Firehouse Life"": ""I hated doing the housework in the firehouse, cleaning the toilet bowls and washing the windows. . .); the anonymous reports follow. By far the largest section is devoted to the actual toil and terror of firefighting and rescues--a blood-, sweat-, and tear-filled array ranging from the account by the firefighter who fell down an elevator shaft (""It's just falling into the darkness, and then when I hit, it was like, 'Christ, oh God'"") to stories of crawling through pitch-black, furnace-hot hallways or combating raging forest fires to a long report by the man who rescued Baby Jessica from that Texan well. Only a few women are heard from, reflecting their minority status; those who speak tell of sexism in the firehouse and dedication to their jobs. Laced with some sentiment and machismo, but the primary taste is of quiet heroism as this rare insiders' report offers a compelling, sometimes profoundly moving litany to those who fight the flames.

Pub Date: Aug. 8, 1988

ISBN: 0767913078

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1988

Categories: NONFICTION