Fire Fighters: Stories of Survival from the Front Lines of Firefighting

You'll have trouble putting this one down. 21 strong selections look at firefighting from a variety of angles. I read a lot of 'fire books' but the editor found plenty I had not seen. 8 of the 21 stories are stand-alone articles, not excerpts - 2 about 9-11 that will just tear you up. The focus is split about 50/50 between city firefighting and forest firefighting, with a couple essays from folks who don't actually fight fires themselves, but must live with those who do. You'll read about a lot of brave men who never came home from their fires and you can't help but pause at the end of most of the selections. This book is especially relevant in the summer of 2002 with wildfires devouring Arizona and Colorado - what a way to better understand the human aspect of what you see on the news, and even learn something. Willis has chosen powerful, gut-wrenching, tear-jerking stuff from sources you haven't seen and you or your firefighter will stay up to read this one cover to cover.