The Pride and the Heart of Flatbush: Memoirs FDNY 33 Years Brooklyn Fire House
ON THE BOOK SHELF
By John M. Malecky October, 2024
The Pride and the Heart of Flatbush
Memoirs FDNY 33 Years Brooklyn Fire House
By Frank J. Solimeno
Available from:
FSP Books & Videos
433 Main Street, Suite 2A
Hudson, MA 01749
1-800-522-8528
E-mail: support@fire-police-ems.com
Price: $9.99
This is a soft cover book, measuring six inches by nine inches, with 58 pages plus many black and white photos, some with captions and others without. The author put 33 years in the FDNY, and by the way he wrote he felt a calling and dedication to the job and the 41 Battalion. The stories are told quite rapidly, almost as if the author dictated them. They are basically short and somewhat detailed, and jump from one incident to another. He uses abbreviations for the personnel he worked with, as well as nicknames. It is a book you should go through rapidly. There is however no glossary, which would hamper those not familiar with FDNY terms and New York City in general. So, I will list what I can to help you, the reader out. Here goes: CIA (Coney Island Avenue, in Brooklyn), BMT (a subway system in New York), MPO (motor pump operator or engine chauffeur), 1075 (a fire in which three engines and two ladders are requested by the first arriving unit), QA (a Queen Ann, a type of residential dwelling), PWH (Probably Will Hold, a conclusion of a progress report at a fire to the dispatcher), BCE (a particular battalion chief whose name starts with an “E”), MSA (a brand of self contained breathing apparatus), OVM (outside vent man, usually from a ladder company), 1045 (a code for a person who is injured or dead, there are three codes), USAR (Urban Search and Rescue), MV (Multiversal which is a heavy stream appliance or deluge gun), 6 x 9 (hours of the night shift), 9 x 6 (hours of the day shift), TCU (Tactical Control Unit which was added apparatus during certain hours of high fire activity), BL (Booster Line which is a hard rubber hose of small diameter and on a reel), ERS (Emergency Reporting System on street corners utilizing push buttons to talk with police or fire dispatcher to request help and OSW (Occupied Structural Worker, meaning the company was heavily engaged in the incident. There are two lists in the back of the book of the busiest engine and ladder companies). With this help, you should be able to better understand the stories!
No information from the author.
