Report from Engine Co. 82 (31 page)

“We couldn’t. She was roasted so bad, the skin was burnt completely off her face. The poor little thing. She never had a chance.”

I don’t say anything further, nor does Billy. I look up at his eyes. They are almost fully closed, but I can see they are
wet, and tearing. The corneas are red from heat and smoke, and light reflects from the watered surfaces, and they sparkle.
I wish my wife, my mother, everyone who has ever asked me why I do what I do, could see the humanity, the sympathy, the sadness
of these eyes, because in them is the reason I continue to be a firefighter.

FRIENDSHIP. LOVE. FEAR. DEATH. IT’S ALL IN A FIREMAN’S LIFE…

Here, back in print at last, is Dennis Smith’s American classic: a searing vision of urban America through the eyes of a silent
hero, a New York City fireman stationed in the South Bronx.

REPORT FROM ENGINE CO. 82

This could be
the night reads the sign above the firehouse door. And, indeed, with the introspection of a man prepared to face death with
every alarm bell, Dennis Smith turns his observant eye upon the lives he unflinchingly places before his own. From his bawdy
and brave fellow firefighters, to the hopeful, hateful, beautiful, and beleaguered residents of the poverty-stricken district
where he works, this is the compelling human story of the most brutalizing—and most rewarding— profession in the country.

Now reissued with a new introduction by the author, REPORT FROM ENGINE CO. 82 is a tense, violent, poignantly written account
from the front lines… where fire illuminates a battered city and heroes are made of ordinary men.

“THE REAL FIRES—WITH PEOPLE’S LIVES AT STAKE-ARE EXCITING READING…. YOU FEEL THE BREATH OF THE FLAMES AND TASTE THE SMOKE
YOURSELF.”

—
New York Times

“ILLUMINATING… PROVOCATIVE.” —
Newsweek