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(More customer reviews)There are many different instances, covered in this small book, where firefighters had to risk their lives. These include the aftermath of the Mexico earthquake, arson-for-profit situations, the burning WTC towers on 911, and the Our Lady of the Angels School Fire of December 1958. I focus my review on the latter two.
Imagine being in a skyscraper that is collapsing, hearing the sounds of the floors pancaking above you, and realizing that you have only seconds to live. But, fortunately for these-discussed firefighters in WTC 1, the lowest few stories of the staircases weren't crushed, and so the firefighters got their reprieve from death.
The account of the OLA Fire (pp. 35-48) is quite detailed for its brevity. It gives a summary of the course of the fire, and also recounts the experiences of two firefighters, Charles Kamin and Richard Scheidt.
Kamin laddered Room 211 (an 8th-grade class) and, pulling children out of the windows, dropped them below (He realized that he had no time to climb up and down the ladder with them). It was a race against time, measured in seconds. Boys' shirts were already turning colors from the heat, and glasses worn by students had started to melt. Then Room 211 flashed over: "Twenty-six children were still inside, but there were no more screams coming from Room 211." (p. 42). But he had managed to snatch perhaps 10 children from certain death (pp. 47-48).
Firefighter Scheidt is best known from the famous LIFE Magazine photo of him carrying the body of a child. Scheidt's men had broken through a wall to a classroom while the building was still well ablaze, and, hoping that some of the children were still alive, carried them out for resuscitation attempts. Unfortunately, for all of them, it was already too late.
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The Greatest Firefighter Stories Never ToldThe firefighters who lost their lives in the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center have become well-known-and rightfully so. But firefighters throughout America risk life and limb every day, many times without any acknowledgement whatsoever, let alone fame or fortune.In The Greatest Firefighter Stories Never Told, authors Mike Santangelo, Mara Bovsun and Allan Zullo have collected more than two dozen gripping accounts of America's bravest heroes, those who save lives every day as they rush in to rescue others. From airport firefighters to hazardous materials experts, from forest firefighters to high-elevation rescuers, from smoke jumpers to harbor firefighters, The Greatest Firefighter Stories Never Told captivates readers with its focus on the fresh and fascinating tales of real heroes and those they save.Several stories highlight some of the courageous firefighters of the New York Fire Department who were on hand during the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Already, the department's heroism has captured America's heart. These gripping, in-depth stories will put names and faces to those most deserving of worldwide recognition.
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