Full Description
In a 33-year career with the New York City Fire Department, Tom Dunne fought hundreds of fires, survived near death incidents, crawled down burning hallways, met unforgettable characters, and witnessed the 9/11 terrorist attack. From working in glittering mid-Manhattan high-rises to squalid ghetto tenements, he saw how people in crisis lived and survived and how the firefighters who served them worked and bonded. Exploring both the positive and controversial aspects of being a firefighter, this no-holds barred memoir provides an honest account of an unusual occupation that outsiders seldom get to see.
Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments deleteix
Author's Note deletex
Preface
The Smoke House
Seeing the Elephant
This Guy's Light
The 15/16ths Jewel
The Scuttle
The Wrapper
The Guys (and Gals)
What's Behind Door Number 2?
Celebrity Steam Leaks
Going Down
Hey Lieu!
Buffs
What If?
A Discourse on Dirt
A Brush with Mortality
Lost in Translation
Letters in the Attic
A Jane Doe
Commanding Stress
Thinking Like an Incident Commander
On the Circuit
The Lie
Zen and the Art of Firefighting
The Write Stuff
A Midnight Clear
And Now, Live on Scene...
The Day After
We're Only Human
The Papers
Mentors and Maniacs
My Two Worlds
Let It Burn
Leaving the Tribe
Why Me?
Final Thoughts
Index
