Ghetto Fire Fighters [Firefighters]

156 pp. Virtually every aspect of the fireman's work in New York City's teeming black and Puerto Rican ghettos is explored in this extraordinarily perceptive and alternatively humorous and tragic study. Engine Five, Ladder Eight, is author Harry J. Ahearn's focal point, and all the personalities in and around the fire station are subjected to his careful and compassionate scrutiny. We meet a variety of fire fighters, see them in a host of situations both on and off the job, and become acquainted with their foibles and frailties as well as their consummate heroism--in short, we learn what makes them tick. The author seems to enter into their very minds and hearts and communicates with us their innermost thoughts and feelings. He employs the same methods in dealing with the benighted residents of the ghetto the firemen serve, and, in a revealing and ironic chapter called "Greener Pastures," with the plight of a fire commissioner, a union official, and a chaplain, respectively. Ghetto Fire Fighter is not only a salute to a courageous breed of men, but also a candid appraisal of their interaction with each other and the surrounding community.--jacket