FIREFIGHTER, From Rookie to Chief
ON THE BOOK SHELF
By John M. Malecky October, 2020
FIREFIGHTER
From Rookie to Chief
By A. I Dower
Available from:
FSP Books & Videos
188 Central Street, Suite #4
Hudson, MA 01749-1330
800-522-8528
E-mail: support@fire-police-ems.com
www.fire-police-ems.com
Price: $19.95
This is a soft cover book measuring 6 inches by 9 inches and has 164 pages plus nine pages of black and white photos. The author at present will be 95 years old this year. He joined the London Fire Brigade in 1950 and retired in 1983 after rising from rookie to chief and then inspector. There are 13 chapters of interesting reading starting with a chapter before the fire service and building on each subsequent chapter which was memoirs of each rank that he held. I believe that he may have had intended to address British readers because there is no glossary to explain many terms used by the British fire service which different from the United States fire service. Nevertheless it is a colorful read especially trying to figure out what certain terms or titles may mean. Sometimes I had to go to the search engine of my computer to find a definition here and there. Add to that the jargon spoken by the English much of which Americans may describe as slang, and you have interesting stories. Although he spent his career in many assignments in many different types of areas, he explains about his experiences battling fires and emergencies of all kinds. He does not dwell on many of these calls some of which were tragic and others at times humorous. We must not forget fire station routines and atmospheres of comradery which are always fun to read about and those can be found in the book. One of this things which amused me the most is how the British could take a noun or verb that Americans would be familiar with and present with another word or term. In those cases I would say to myself, “Yeah I guess you could call it that also!” In any event I believe this is an interesting book to read for anyone who has the time. The photos are at the end of the book and are mostly group photos or presentation. He and his late wife are in one photo. She is credited with being an important inspiration to him when he did his writing. He now resides in Spain.
No information from the author.
