Firefighters: Their Lives in Their Own Words

by Dennis Smith

An unforgettable journey through the daily lives of the brave men and women who have made saving lives their profession.
Dennis Smith, author of Report from Engine Co. 82 , traveled across the country talking to dozens of America’s firefighters to put together this powerful collection of their own descriptions of their most dramatic and intense experiences on the job. Their stories, compiled here, are timeless testimonies to the human capacity for heroism and nobility.
Focusing on the most courageous firefighters, from those who have been decorated for heroism to those who have been seriously injured, Firefighters presents the extraordinarily rich and rugged voices of men and women who fight urban building fires, who battle sweeping forest fires, who perform emergency rescues, and who face extreme danger and risk as part of their everyday lives. Sometimes brave, sometimes funny, sometimes bittersweet or filled with anger, these voices combine to make Firefighters both a riveting adventure drama and a moving chronicle of American heroism at its finest.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Biography, Fire Services

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

During his 18 years as a New York City firefighter, Dennis Smith developed a profound respect for the professionalism of the firefighters, police officers, EMTs, and nurses with whom he worked in the more than 40 alarms his engine company responded to every day. He witnessed their willingness to give of themselves in the course of their duty. His experiences in the fire service have been immortalized in his books, most notably "Report from Engine Co. 82," which became an immediate New York Times bestseller, sold 3 million copies, and was translated into 13 languages.

In 2001, Dennis responded to the attack on the World Trade Center, arriving there just as the second building fell. He stayed for 57 consecutive days, first in rescue work and then in recovery. The following year, he wrote “Report from Ground Zero,” which also rose to the top of the bestseller lists.

Dennis has spent half of his life in the emergency service and the other half writing books. His experience and reputation make him powerfully and uniquely able to represent the interests and needs of emergency professionals and departments. His career as firefighter, best-selling author, magazine publisher, business leader, and director of important youth service and emergency-service not-for-profit organizations provides him with a sound point of view about what is needed to make the world better and more connected.

Dennis Smith most recently founded an international social media website: www.wavepeg.com.

Reviews

[Taryn Brenner · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring

I found this really tedious and boring. Most of the stories seemed almost incomplete. They were too short and some of them really didn’t make sense. I usually enjoy reading books in this format and I enjoy firefighting books but this book wasn’t it. It was so tedious and boring that at one point I had to take a break and read a different book before going back to this one because I was so bored with it. I liked his other books but I really disliked this one. If I hadn’t have purchased it, like if I had gotten it through Kindle Unlimited, I wouldn’t have read it, I would’ve just returned it once I started getting bored with it and I honestly wouldn’t have missed out on anything. I got bored less than a third of the way through so from that point on I could’ve stopped and not missed out on anything.

[Bamboozlepig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an oral anecdotal history Smith has written to show what life as a firefighter is like. He's gathered stories from various firefighters and covers all walks of firefighting, from training to fighting fires to life in the firehouse.

It's a good read. My two nitpicks are that he never identifies which firefighter is telling the story, outside of his own stories. I would've liked to have put a face and name to the stories, especially since my edition has pictures of the firefighters he interviewed. My other nitpick is that some of the stories drag on a bit. I skimmed some of the sections like the one about life in the firehouse and family life, just because those didn't quite catch my interest as the stories about actual firefighting did.

[Dan Stern · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Smith takes the great anecdotes that every firefighter accumulates and puts them into print just the way they were told, in the fine oral tradition that lives today in every fire hall in the world. Some stories are funny, some sad, some make you wonder why any one anywhere would ever think to take the test.
Whether you're an old brown-shoed leather-lung, or some fresh-faced youngster eyeing this career field for the first time with a furrowed brow, or just someone looking for a book of hair-raising tales from the people who lived it, this book has something in it to give you pause.
Thank you Dennis Smith, from the bottom of my heart. It was you that made all the difference in my life.

[Chris Sheridan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories we're a little long and rambling and I would have liked to know who wrote what but I did like this book. I liked seeing that whether old or new firemen are firemen and people from all walks of life do the job for the love of the job.

[Brianne Silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very dated book, but interesting nonetheless. I do wish it had more descriptive stories about the fire that were fought. Rather, it's about the whole process of becoming a firefighter, to retiring.

[Barbara Friend · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories are great, but the way the book is laid out is a little weird. The stories are unedited; some go on way too long and are hard to follow.

[Lynn Rasor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye-opening inside view of firefighting in 1988. My son is a firefighter, so it gave me a better view of what his life is like. He loves his life there!!!

[hamptonenglish10 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bailey Cisek
Ms. Brooks & Mrs. Sims
Academic English 10
7 January 2013

Firefighters: Their Lives in Their Own Words is a nonfiction book in which the author, Dennis Smith, took stories from Firefighters all over the country. In this book, Smith asks the firefighters he chose to tell stories about certain subjects, which he uses to name each chapter. The six chapters include "I Always Wanted to Be a Fireman", where firefighters tell the story of how they first got involved with the fire safety and the reasons as to why they wanted to be involved with the fire department, "Training and First Fire", where firefighters tell the difficulties involved with the training process and tests they had to go through to become a firefighter and their first fire and all the thoughts and feelings that were rushing through their mind, "Firehouse Life", where they tell stories about living in the firehouse with all of their "brothers" (and sisters) and all of the advantages and difficulties that come along, "Firefighting and Rescues", where the firefighters talk about their most memorable firefighting and rescuing experiences that came along throughout the job, along with all of the deaths and injuries that come along, "Family Life", where firefighters discuss all of the advantages and disadvantages at home that come along with being a firefighter, like having to work holidays, but on the other hand you get more time off throughout the year, and "What It Means to Be a Firefighter", which is where the firefighters talk about the commitment it takes to being a firefighter and even after the worst injuries wanting to get back to work as soon as possible.

Smith's book, Firefighters: Their Lives in Their Own Words, falls into the nonfiction category of a memoir. I know this because Smith takes bits and pieces of people's lives in this book and combines it as one. Along with the most important stories of firefighters' lives, this book contains loads of facts. For example, while reading this book I learned that fires, particularly forest fires, travel more quickly uphill than downhill. I learned that this is because heat rises and therefore, it would travel faster uphill. Another interesting piece I came across while reading this book is that when there is a tremendous amount of deaths in a fire, firefighters from all over the country come together as one and even if you did not know them, you can still relate and feel the pain that his/her friends are because being a firefighters brings you a sort of connection that others cannot relate to because of all the experiences you go through together in everyday life. A piece that I found interesting in this book is that, to be a firefighter you have to have a good sense of humor. As displayed in Smith's book, there are a lot of practical jokes and pranks pulled in the firehouse and if you do not have a good sense of humor you could take them the wrong way. One last interesting fact that I found in this book is that, even when there is hardly any fire there will most likely be a ton of thick smoke that if inhaled will cause a very serious injury.

Personally, I absolutely loved this book and I would recommend it to anyone. To enjoy this book, I believe that you do not have to have any type of interest in firefighting or fire safety, but if you then it will make the book that much better. In this book, Smith includes stories that everyone will have a different opinion about. I feel that no one can understand all of the experiences these firefighters have been through unless they, themselves are a firefighter. It all goes back to the last chapter in this book, "What It Means to Be a Firefighter." If you have an interest in wanting to be a firefighter, you will find that during the process of reading this book, it will either make you want to accomplish your goal even more or it will scare you away from even considering that career path. Lastly, another reason I would recommend this book is because whatever your opinions are on firefighters, you will gain respect for them and all of the work that they do and the extent that they go to to save as many people as possible. All in all, Firefighters: Their Lives in Their Own Words is a fantastic book and will definitely change your views on firefighters and what they do for us everyday.

[Noah · Rating 5 out of 5]

“When people first banded together in small societies, they realized that if fire were not dealt with, it would consume anything in its path” (Smith ix). This simple phrase summarizes the need for brave firefighters across the world. This is not a book in the sense that chapter two is a continuation of chapter one, or even that page two is a continuation of page one, but it’s a book in the sense that it tells a story. However, Smith does not tell a single story, he tells stories of hundreds of firefighters and the effect that being a firefighter has had on their personal lives. Bringing together hundreds of very different stories is difficult, and bringing hundreds of stories together in a way that flows and makes it feel like one big story seems impossible, but isn’t, as Smith has shown in Firefighters: Their lives in their own words. Every story even feels like it was written by the same author. Each author’s word choice and detail feels like they’re all one person because it’s the bravery and distinct personality that roots itself deep down into the heart of a firefighter that comes out when talking about the job. It takes a certain type of person to run into a burning building and save lives as a career. Most people would be endlessly praised and put in newspapers for doing it once and these men and women are doing it constantly with no intention of fame. The author seems to repeatedly imply that a fireman should not be scared to assist others when it involves putting his or her own life in danger; it should be instinctual to go towards the pleas for help and assist anyone in any situation. One firefighter described a situation at fire school that involved a ladder falling during an exercise. After the drill, the fire lieutenant said “You know what, there was one guy who ran away. And he should have kept on going right out that gate because firemen don’t run away” (Smith 61).

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dennis Smith’s novel, Firefighters: Their Life in Their Own Words, is a very interesting novel. It can easily be interpreted from the title that the book is going to be about firefighters and how they feel about their career choices. Smith goes all across the country to gather in depth stories from those who are on the front lines of a never ending battle with fire.


This is not the first firefighting book that I have read and I guarantee that it will not be the last. Compared to other books I have read, this was the first one to include stories from multiple people to show multiple perspectives. When I first began reading I found it a little confusing because there were so many little stories contained in the chapter but towards the end I actually found it enjoyable. Personally though I think it would have been better if Smith had individual chapters with the stories of each individual firefighters. Though the way he set up his chapters was unique, in the way that they went from what introduced them into the fire service and all the way up until the final days.

If I would have to recommend this to a friend of mine, I would tell them to give it a try especially if it’s their first time reading a book about the fire service. The reason I feel that this book is great for people who are not that familiar with the fire service is that it gives a variety of perspectives and covers the whole spectrum of the fire service as well. Personally I think that everyone should read a book about firefighters or even an emergency services profession because not everyone understands what they go through on a daily basis.

[Aidan Mace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dennis Smith delivers another hart throbbing book about firefighting.this book is unique because it is a collection of stories and quotes from firemen around the country. even some as local as Hartford . I can relate to many of the home life and fire house stories because my father is a professorial firefighter in east Hartford and i am a Glastonbury fire cadet hopefully to become a full time firefighter down the road. many of the stories in this book made me laugh and shiver.some stories made me shiver because it makes me wonder what my father doesn't tell me about his job one example from the book would be when a young man recalls one of his fathers rescues where he was crushed by brick and burned by an arching wire but some how lived.this book is incredibly accurate although repetitive at times a very god read for any prospective firefighter or current firefighters.

[Jay Alexander Bostwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

The anthropologist in me loved that this 1) was a collection of firefighter narratives rather than just capturing a single person's experience and perspective, and 2) that it told these stories in the informants' own words. These qualities are what, I think, gives this particular book an edge over attempts to capture the lives and culture of firefighters.

I would have liked the different passages to be more clearly cited; that is, I would have liked them to be better identified with the informants they had come from, the places where they served, and maybe even other details. But other than that, it was an informative window into a distinctive and admirable community.

[Hunter Wolfgang · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is surely an amazing book that provides the stories of past time fire fighters who share their journeys from personal experiences. Being a involved in the fire department myself, allows me to better understand the personal conflicts, hardships, and excitments of being a firefighter.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great stories...pretty wrenching...especially when you can relate to what they go through.

[Mandy Huot · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was well written, with many firefighters submitting their own stories to certian topics. I enjoyed this book very much!

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

A real book about real firefighter from all over America! I have read this several time. The stories that are told in this book never get old.

[Robyn Tominaga · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was extremely disappointed in this book. Many of the stories rambled and didn't make much sense. I've heard better stories hanging out with friends who work for the fire department.

[Stephan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read. A mixture of different Firefighters telling their story from prior academy, to actual on the job.

[Melanie Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really gives you a good insight to the lives and dangers firefighters face on a daily basis. Very interesting!

[SouthWestZippy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book.