Report from Engine Co. 82

I first read this book as a teenager because the author's name is the same as mine. I didn't understand much of the social commentary Smith wrote, but enough to know the people in the South Bronx had a completely different life than my own. We lived outside the city then and would drive through the South Bronx on our way to Manhattan, I would see the large public housing buildings and envision the people in Smith's book.Rereading Engine Company 82 years later, it strikes me of how much of Smith's description of the poor in urban environments has not changed as much as it should have, despite trillions of dollars and myriad of well intended government programs. Why?This book is a great first hand look into the late 1960's early '70's and the socioeconomics of the era.

My father ( sorry I have to boast here) worked with Dennis Smith in the belly of the beast while he was writing this wonderful book. He was in 38 truck which supported 82 at many fires in the south Bronx. Smith changed 38 to 48 in his novel. This novel was really the first book to lionize firefighters and give the public a view into the lives they lead. My father has nothing but the highest opinion of Dennis Smith as both a firefighter and as a man.Dennis during the 911 commission hearings again ran head first into a political firestorm by testifying to the criminally negligent leadership of the leadership of the city of New York on that fateful day that contributed to the loss of 343 firefighters. Smith debunked the myth that communications were lost due to the loss of the communications repeating tower when the first tower fell.The communications were lost because Giuliani's political cronies and lackeys who were appointed to run the department were criminally negligent and did not buy the department the new radios that had been badly needed and that had been promised to the rank and file. And that would have had the capability to broadcast with ease from the base of the towers to the roof of the towers.Is is logical to conclude that had the first tower of fallen and the new radios been delivered as promised the firefighters in the second towers would have been warned to get out. And would be alive and breathing today. Some estimate that as many as 150 plus firefighters could have been spared.

Reading this book is like sitting around the dinner table, listening to the senior fireman tell stories. I read this book in 2 days. Awesome stories of notable fires, saves, plus inner dialog about the pleasure and pain of serving one of the most impoverished peoples in America at the time. Best book I've read on firefighting.

This book was written in a time when firefighters rarely wore an air mask, wore hip boots instead of bunker pants, had no fire hoods, rode the back-step of the apparatus, served watch duty, slid fire poles in multistory fire stations, and understood the original concepts of the box alarm system and its box numbering approach to aid in dispatching. Those concepts are now past, but the reasons that those firefighters served then, and the reasons that firefighters serve today have NOT changed, and this book deeply defines those reasons; and it vividly describes the valiant, often self-sacrificing efforts that firefighters, daily, make for all of us within our respective communities. Firefighters are the modern-day "Minutemen" and "Citizen Soldiers" who consistently respond to the immediate health and life safety needs of citizens, Most of our nation's firefighters are volunteers, some are paid; but ALL serve with genuine concern for their fellow man, and many lay down their lives, as needed, to ensure that the quality of life within our communities is the best that it can be. This book shows how that foundation and commitment for community service is manifested among us, and it gives the reader a deep insight into the love and compassion that resides within those walls of the local fire station. Read, learn, and appreciate what firefighters stand for, and why YOU are blessed to have firefighters who will serve in your community.

Even though this book was written years ago and the service has changed tremendously, the stories still ring true to the modern fire service. This is a great account of the trials and tribulations that all firefighters feel working at busy urban departments. Even though the era of this book is from years before I even started the job, it’s still true today.

Report from Engine Co. 82 is an up close look at the working life of a South Bronx Firefighter in the 1970's. The author wrote this in 1972 when he had been a Firefighter for 8 years. There was an unprecedented amount of activity at this time in the South Bronx and the author does a great job of describing fireground activity before a Mask policy and constant running around to false alarms, rubbish fires, auto accidents , assaults and overdoses and the resultant death and injury. Dennis Smith was a cerebral warrior who read Steinbeck and Mailer to relax, quoted poetry and played the Bagpipes. As he describes the conditions of the area he works in he compares it to his own upbringing on the East side of Manhattan and his home 60 miles away upstate. His caring and those of his fellow Firefighters is evidenced in his sympathetic and questioning description of emergency conditions they respond to. This book was responsible for inspiring many future Firefighters and bringing to light the dangerous job they do. Over 40 years after this book was written the authors stories still ring true and are prime examples of a disciplined , dedicated and effective workforce in NYC. Recommended.

Gripping stories and fascinating snapshot of 1970's America. Equal parts frustrated and empathetic to a downtrodden section of society the author would give his life to protect even if they won't always thank him for it.

Obviously this is a classic and I enjoyed it. However, it did become a little boring with so manfalse alarms.

Very, very good

i have read this book before but lost it so if anyone wants to have a good read this could be the book for them

very good