Report from Engine Co. 82 [Paperback]

Dennis Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1999

From his bawdy and brave fellow firefighters to the hopeful, hateful, beautiful and beleaguered residents of the poverty-stricken district where he works, Dennis Smith tells the story of a brutalising yet rewarding profession.

Editorial Reviews

Review

In 1972, Emergency, a show about the Los Angeles Fire Department, debuted on network TV. That same year, Smith, a New York City fireman, published this book about life in what was the busiest fire station in the country. It is the diary of a fireman in a station with over 700 calls per month. From the life and death heroics of firefighting to the frustration of false alarms and garbage fires, Smith ably shares his life at Engine Co. 82. Written during a period of civil unrest, the work captures the spirit of that time and shows how the social problems of the era affected the lives of the firemen whose duty was to protect all the citizens in their district. The author paints a portrait of the fire house: the drills, the off-color jokes, the male-bonding that occurs when men know their lives will often be in the hands of their buddies. Adam Henderson does a great job with the various New York City accents. Highly recommended for all public libraries.-Theresa Connors, Arkansas Tech Univ., Russellville (Library Journal ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

DENNIS SMITH is a retired New York City firefighter. He stayed in the Fire Department an additional 19 years after the success of his first book, Report from Engine Co. 82. He is the author of 11 books including three other bestsellers about firefighting. Smith founded Firehouse Magazine and has become an outstanding spokesman for firefighters nationwide. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (April 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446675520
• ISBN-13: 978-0446675529
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.6 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75,925 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #51 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Regional U.S. > Mid Atlantic
  • #96 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Sociology > Urban

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An American firefighting classic April 4, 2002

By jmk444

Format:Paperback

Dennis Smith's Report From Engine Company 82 was a huge best seller when it first appeared in 1972 and it immediately put its author into the rarified air of commercially successful authors. No small feat considering that 1 of every 3 books published fails to make any money at all and fewer than 1% sell more than a million copies, the way this book did.

Smith captured forever the day to day grind of inner city firefighters, before air masks were used regularly. He brings the reader into the last days of pre-modern, urban firefighting, the suffocating heat, the blinding smoke, the gut wrenching fear and most of all the camaraderie that comes along with a job that requires disciplined teamwork and exacting attention to detail.

Report opens up with a fire, of course, where Engine 82 and Ladder 31 are forced to breach or break through a wall to get a teenager out of a rear bedroom of a burning apartment. The first two firefighters from Engine 82 enter without air masks and take a terrible beating before they're relieved on the line by two members who are "tanked up." Smith takes the reader through the entire event, step by agonizing step.

Smith lets us see the teeming ghetto that existed around his Intervale Avenue firehouse at the time - today, that same area is covered with single family Nehemia Homes. He takes the reader through the emergencies (gas and water leaks), car accidents, false alarms and spectacular fires, from a firefighter's perspective. In it, he chronicles the death of a fireman, from Engine 82, who fell off the back of the rig, or backstep, while responding to a false alarm. In those days, firefighters still "rode outside" the rig, hanging off the back of the Engine or Pumper by holding onto straps that hung off a rear metal bar across the "backstep" or rear of the rig.

Dennis Smith worked in the early part of a quarter century period (from the late sixties to the late eighties) that saw 30% of all the buildings in NYC burned. Entire tracts of the South Bronx and huge swaths of Brooklyn were reduced to prairie like fields. Thousands of other buildings were made vacant.

I work in the same area today...about a mile and a half west of Engine 82 & Ladder 31. When I first arrived there in 1986 there were tons of vacant buildings, left over remnants from the firestorm of the previous decade. I've known lots of firefighters who went through that period. Most of them have been put out of the job with various forms of cancer, emphysema, throat disorders etc. The effects of swallowing all that smoke are well documented thanks to their sacrifices. Most of NYC's inner city firefighters from that period are dead now.

Of course, air masks are mandatory now (thank God!) and bunker gear has been mandated as of 1994. Despite all that, New York has lost over twenty firefighters in the line of duty over the past five years alone, 764 in its history - pre-9/11.

The book is divided into numerous vignettes which cover the range of incidents Engine 82 responded to, the squalor of the South Bronx, the good natured ribbing of firehouse life, while contrasting the job and that area, to his home and family life in Westchester County, about 30 miles north of New York City.

If there is any nit to be picked with this book, it's that the other firefighters are not very well developed characters. This may have been due to Smith's reluctance to expose the real people he'd worked with. Still, it's a quick and compelling read. Smith has an engaging story telling style and a good-hearted humility and strong sense of humanity that shines through the book. A must for fire buffs everywhere and an interesting behind-the-scenes story about our very recent history for others.

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The most accurate and heartfelt account of firefighting July 14, 2000

By Rich H. [e-mail]

Format:Paperback

I was in seventh grade in 1978 when I first read Report From Engine Co. 82, and no book I've read since has ever had as profound an effect on me. Dennis Smith and his brother firefighters on Intervale Ave. inspired me and, I'm sure, many others to become firefighters. The book is gripping and "in-your-face", taking you into some of the most dangerous and frustrating working conditions imaginable.

I just re-read the book, and doing so rekindled the respect and admiration for the heroes of the FDNY that it originally instilled in me 22 years ago. Recently a friend and I visited "The Big House" in the South Bronx, talked with the firemen, took pictures of the neighborhood, and brought Smith's book to life. The pull box at Charlotte St. & East 170th St. made infamous by Smith's book has been replaced by an ERS box; the crumbling, burning tenaments replaced by suburban looking homes. All that remains of the horrors that took place there in the seventies is the memories of daily heroism performed by the men of Engines 82, 85, Ladder 31 and 712 perpetuated by Smith's book.

Now a teacher, I'll be sharing Report From Engine Co. 82 with my class this year. I hope that with the use of this book, I can inspire the same respect, compassion, and concern for human life in my students that Smith inspired in me so long ago.

You don't have to be a firefighter or a "wanna-be" to love Report From Engine Co. 82. Treat yourself to it as soon as you can.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An outstanding look at the career of firefighting May 1, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

This book, when I first read it in the 70's as a kid, cemented my desire to be a firefighter. It went past the gleaming paint and chrome and really showed me the grit of the job; that it wasn't always the glorious one I had envisioned but more of a thankless one. Dennis Smith's vivid imagery makes you feel like you're in the battle right there with his company. It also shows the toll that firefighting takes on it's participants, the physical as well as the emotional scars the job leaves. Smith takes you through his personal life, discussing his humble childhood and the effect his career has on his adult life.

All in all, a wonderful story that grabs you at the beginning and doesn't let go until the last page.