ENGINE 32 ON SCENE, TRUE STORIES From an Inner-City Firehouse
ON THE BOOK SHELF
By John M. Malecky December, 2025
ENGINE 32 ON SCENE
True Stories from an Inner-City Firehouse
By Capt. Norm Ortner
Available from:
FSP Books
433 Main Street, Suite 2A
Hudson, MA 01749
1-800-522-8528
E-mail: support@fire-police-ems.com
Price: $19.99
This is a soft cover book measuring 5 ½ by 8 ½ inches and has 132 pages. It is memoirs written by the author who served in the Lynwood, California Fire Department. The stories span from the late 1970’;s through the 1990’s. At the time the city had about 60,000 population within five square miles. It eventually got absorbed into the Los Angeles County Fire Department. After the acknowledgements and introduction there are 30 chapters. All are brief but I can tell the reader that this is a very well written page turner. As with any fire department that responds to EMS calls besides fires, the majority of the stories are EMS related but hold onto your chair. A number of these stories are almost unbelievable, horrible and criminal. One in particular is about a call involving PCP also known as angle dust. It is very educational in how PCP affects the human body. While I was in the fire department I worked part time with an ambulance service for 24 years which ended 30 years ago. I never dealt with a patient affected by PCP and it was a real eye opener to read how mind altering it is along with physical effects. Engine 32 is a three-man company. They have a truck company that is only manned by a driver. The stories told had me wondering if the captain lived in this town but I do not believe he did. The author is an excellent writer and each chapter has a note in brackets in the upper left corner of the page giving a hint on what the stories are inside. As is stated on the back cover the types of people who would find this book interesting are young people aspiring to work in fire and/or EMS, new firefighters seeking to see what types of calls may be in their future, veteran firefighters, ordinary citizens and anyone who likes reading about action packed stories. There are several black and white action photos plus one of the front of Engine 32’s quarters. For the price it is well worth it and it should not take long to read.
No information from the author.
