Lists of the top ten this or that have been the rage for years, and fodder for great fun and debate. I decided to add to the noise with a selection of my Top Ten Fire Service reads. This is totally subjective and personal, and is my list today. It could change tomorrow. Everyone out there can and probably would come up with a different list.
My list is hopelessly prejudiced because of two selections I would automatically make. The books below are not in any particular order.
· Report From Engine Company 82—Dennis Smith
· Fireground Tactics—Emanuel Fried
· Firefight: Inside the Battle to Save the Pentagon on 9/11—Patrick Creed and Rick Newman
· D.C. Fire—Dennis Rubin
· Last Men Out: Life on the Edge at Rescue 2 Firehouse—Tom Downey
· Population 485-Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time—Michael Perry
· Thirty Years on the Line—Leo Stapleton
· B-Shifter: A Firefighter’s Memoir—Nick Brunacini
· Mayday! Firefighter Down—Gary Ryman
· Fire Men: Stories From Three Generations of a Firefighting Family—Gary Ryman
This is an eclectic list and includes some works that many may have never heard of, much less read. Some haven’t been in print for a while (but may be available on the used market). Only one is a true “tactics and strategy” book—introduced to me by my Dad over 30 years ago. It was good then and is still relevant now. There’s not a book on this list I haven’t read multiple times.
I hope you’ll put together your own list and hopefully at least one of mine will make it!
Here are some links to a few of the above.
