Customer Reviews

Firefighters: Their Lives in Their Own Words

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If your a firefighter you will relate to most of the stories in this book. the author has done an excellent job at putting the word into understandable feelings and did a excellent job in relating to firefighters. If you havnt read this book your missing out on the best one I have read yet.

I'm a 27 year-old professional firefighter in a suburb of Detroit. When I was 16 I picked up this book on a whim at the public library and it enveloped me. This book, along with Dennis Smith's classic Report From Engine Co. 82, was the inspiration for me to try to become a fireman. 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.

I'm suprised this book is now out of print. Having read it almost 10 years ago made me go back to the bookshelf and re-read it. This book is an excellent compilation of firefighters from around the country. The stories the firefighters tell are funny, sad, and overall enjoyable. It is written by firefighters for fighters.

The title really says it all. This book is told by firefighters, but it is not just for firefighters. I would highly recommend this to anyone thinking of joining the fire service.

Do you like the thrill of going into a burning building? The book "Firefighters: Their Lives in Their Own Words", is written by Dennis Smith. Firefighting is not an easy thing to do. This book tells you what they do and how they live.
Firefighters do not live an easy life, despite what American people might think. The book explores firefighting all over the United States. Some of the places are New York City, Boston, San Francisco, and Chicago. Some firefighters go into the bucket of a ladder truck; others are interior. This means that they go into the burning building and put their lives at risk.
I give this book five stars and recommend this book to anyone that loves adventures. It is an easy read with lots of pictures.

I had a hard time getting through this book. It is mostly boring and repetitive. The comments and anecdotes by Dennnis Smith are often arrogant and self-serving. I am a retired firefighter from Los Angeles County FD and very much enjoy reading about firefighter experiences and talking with firefighters from other areas and other countries. I have great admiration for volunteers who give to their community with personal sacrifice and often great risk. I am greatly bothered by firefighters, especially professionals, who toot their own horn and think of themselves as great heroes. This book is just not very interesting at best, and at worst is somewhat offensive.

This book is amazing. It truly shows how close a family we as firefighters are. They cover the entire US, with stories from different branches of our job. Makes you proud to know you're one of these fine people! If you want to know what life is really like for a firefighter, read this book. You'll walk away with a new perspective.

I don't believe this is Dennis Smith's best work. I have read both "Report from Engine 82" and "Report from Ground Zero" and they were excellent books. While some of the stories were quite compelling and interesting to hear about how things use to be, some of the stories were repetative and boring. It wasn't a totally bad book and ok to get if you get it cheap, but there are definately better reads out there.

I'm not saying this book is bad, but I just could not get into this book. I thought I'd really enjoy it, but it's all one and two page anecdotes. A lot of them are very repetitive of the other ones. I think if they stuck to only a dozen or so in depth, it would have been more interesting and enjoyable, at least for me that is. But this is just my opinion, the other reviewers all seemed to enjoy it. If you think this book may appeal to you, go ahead and try it. Don't go by my opinion, after all it is only my humble opinion.

Dennis Smith writes books that are written by a firefighter for firefighters. But the non fire service person will enjoy this as much. Give it a try. You wont be disappointed.