Report From Engine Co. 82 (1999) - Plot & Excerpts
The following quotes are taken from Report from Engine Co. 82, by Dennis Smith. Page numbers are provided from the paperback published by Warner Books in 1999, ISBN: 0-446-67552-0---I hope that the young men joining the fire departments around the country are doing so out of some sense of commitment to the profession and to the people, not because of the excitement of the sounds of sirens and bells. Firefighting is a brutalizing business. The community will take you for granted, they will not say "thank you" often if at all, and they are rarely on the firefighter's side when the time comes to negotiate salary and benefits. Romantic visions of courage and heroism are the stuff from which novels are constructed, but the reality of courage and heroism to a firefighter is hard, dirty work. There are rewards, but they are intangible. Each firefighter must seek them in his own way. 157---What most firefighters do not know, however, is that a good case for economic determinism can be made to explain this prejudice, that those one rung up from the bottom of the status ladder traditionally resent those below them. Nor do most firefighters know that conditions make their job tough, not people. People only reflect the conditions. Poverty is manifested in fire statistics - that's a safe generalization. 169---I picked up a copy of the Fire Department's annual report and turned to the statistics page. The company listed first under "RUNS" and "WORKERS" was Engine Company 82. That's where I'll go, I said to myself. If you're going to make a change, make a full change. Go to the busiest engine company in the city, the one at the top of the list. It was a decision I'll never regret. 199---I am in the street, resting and breathing short, regimented gulps of air. Men pass by and ask how I'm feeling, but I just nod to them. I don't feel like speaking. I feel like I have climbed a mountain, and although I have given up all of my strength, I will bask in the silent, personal satisfaction of victory. I have done what I have been trained to do, and in the doing I have trained for the next time. My throat is congested, and as I spit the black phlegm of my trade I realize again the price I - all of us - pay for the victory. Is it worth it, this brutal self-flagellation, this constant ingestion of black poison, this exhaustion, this aging? Firefighting is a job. It is not a spiritual vocation. Hundreds of years have passed since medieval ascetics whipped themselves for glory. No, it is not worth it. Garbage men are paid as much as we, prison guards and subway policemen reap the same benefits. We get satisfaction. Yet... yet, this is what we do, what we do well. We could not do anything else with such a great sense of accomplishment. 208-9
I realized about a third of the way through that I had read this years and years ago, but it is still worth the time. Having worked for almost 20 years as a 911 Dispatcher in Iowa City, it is hard for me to fathom the work load these NYC Firefighters had to endure. And so thanklessly. In Iowa City everyone LOVES the Firefighters. I am also thankful that times and equipment have changed making things a little safer. However, when you read this book knowing it took place 40 years ago, you realize the Bronx isn't any better as far as poverty, crime and Officer safety. Hats off to all who continue to do what you do. Don't forget to thank a Firefighter & their spouses for not being afraid to go in in while others are running out.
What do You think about Report From Engine Co. 82 (1999)?
Definitely enlightening. I learned so much from this book. The good, the bad, the ugly....and the "snotty". (Book was written before FF wore face masks, or so I've been told)This book makes you look at Firemen like the people that they are. They have family. Wives. Husbands. Children. And they put themselves at risk for your safety.Love you local Firemen. Check your smoke alarms! My favorite new "Firefighting term" from my favorite local Firefighter:"Gotta put the wet stuff on the red stuff" Okay, I'm sorry, I just have to add this!!!
—Jenn Scranton
Firemen have one of the most thank less jobs imaginable, nobody really cares about them until all hell breaks loose and they don't know who to turn to.in this book this is something Firefighter Dennis Smith deals with everyday he walked through those big gleaming bay doors of the firehouse.Smith is a very well respected New York City fireman he spent over 18 years with the department in one of the worst boroughs of the city,the south Bronx,Smith did not only write this book, he is writing about his riveting experiences accumulated over the years. with great consideration Smith shares his opinions and thoughts as he has done with all of his other books in particular,"REPORT FROM GROUND ZERO". Smith goes into grave detail recalling one incident where a man was speeding and accidentally struck a young boy.they boy sustained multiple injuries,however,the whole neighborhood took part in removing the driver from his vehicle and beating him half to death.Another gut wrenching recollection of Smiths occurs on one shift when engine 82 is called to a structure fire,shortly after smith and his men enter the building and begin putting water on the fire,the smoke becomes so thick that none of the men can breath and begin to vomit on each other from smoke inhalation(bare in mind this novel takes place in the 70's and although breathing apparatus's,scott packs,where in use by the department you were considered less of a man for using one). It is smith's goal to educate the public on what happens on a day to day basis in the New York City Fire Department.
—Aidan Mace
Decent book. The juxtaposition of the firefighters fighting fires in the middle of hell (the South Bronx in the late 1960s) sticks with you. All these people living terrible lives and dying bad deaths but the guys in the firehouse going out call after call in the middle of meals, of sleep, of just returning from other calls. (700 some odd calls a month would be bad enough, but the 1/3 that are malicious false alarms that get other folks killed is the kicker). The cumulative exhaustion, the trips to the hospital, coughing black grime, while they're keeping a house running all while soaked, freezing, and get smoke inhalation at the same time. The references to William Carlos Williams, Tennyson, et. al show a thinker and a writer wearing the fireman's coat; I just wish he had explored them more.
—Josh
