Seven Two: a firefighter's story

by Barry Roberts Greer

"Seven Two" is about firefighting like "Moby Dick" is about whaling. If you want to read a title that is strictly a hose opera, I'd suggest "Pipe Nozzle" or "Engine 10." This narrative connects the Pequot Massacre and the Chelsea and other conflagrations with destructive corruption through use a single metaphor---fire. "The call came in around 6:15 pm, early evening, but already dark in the third week in January, and cold. A pedestrian passing Mahan's Fine Furniture on Bank Street stopped by headquarters to report that he thought he smelled smoke, although he said he couldn't see anything through the large display window facing the 'It looks like the lights are all out inside.' Engines 1 and 7, Truck 2, and the ambulance responded as the usual first alarm assignment with eight people and one duty officer, the shift captain. Sean O'Conner was driving Truck 2, and, on orders from the Captain, tossed an ax through the display window. And the word 'toss' is correct. On orders from the Captain, who suspected the worst, they positioned all apparatus in the middle of Bank Street away from the three story brick facade building, and then everyone stayed at their apparatus ready to react to whatever happened after O'Conner threw the ax from ten feet at the glass just like a Pequot warrior swinging a club at the skull of an Englishman. . . ."

221 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 12, 2012

Reviews

[Jordan Larsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading this novel on Kindle I have to say that I was impressed and somewhat disappointed toward the end. “Seven Two” is an edgy firefighting novel that takes place in the historic state of Connecticut and dramatizes what life was like during the late 1960’s and mid-1970’s. The story’s plot highlights the blue collar world of Volunteer firefighter John Gary and focuses on his ambitious exploits within the fire service as both a volunteer in the city of New London and as a career firefighter in Groton, Connecticut.
Author Barry Roberts Greer, himself a former volunteer firefighter, applies his harrowing experiences and that of former colleagues to his characters who are the center-piece of this project. Greer elaborates on the trials and tribulations of the volunteer firefighter given the professional and personal issues that he faces both in the civil service world and in civilian life. The story also gives readers an in-depth perspective on the rich history of Connecticut as well as the strategies and tactics utilized by firefighters when they confront menacing infernos.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t any description into the wide range of terminology used in the novel, particularly on the radio when John and his crew were responding to calls. I basically had to guess what the code “Two Seven” represented. It would have been more helpful for Mr. Greer to incorporate a glossary to help those who have no knowledge of the types of hoses and the radio codes that are often used on the fire ground. Aside from that this was an interesting novel. If you’re a volunteer firefighter or know someone who’s interested in becoming one, this book is for you!

[Barry Greer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The challenges of firefighting, his first career, taught Barry Roberts Greer to never back away from problems no matter the risk, lessons applied in his second career as an award-winning teacher and writer, and he didn't, even though it meant loss of his job at Oregon State University for First Amendment use.

A versatile writer, Greer now writes the fire service blog, pipenozzle.com, the basis for "Seven Two" and "Pipe Nozzle: Firefighting Prose You Can Read." Greer also published fiction, essays, and articles on mountaineering and wilderness in Climbing, The Climbing Art, Summit, and Orion, as well as the first history of American solo climbing printed in two issues of the venerable Appalachia. You'll them all in North Sister Protocol and Other Prose, a title that includes work praised by Scott Sanders at Indiana University, William Howarth at Princeton, and others.