Chapter 2 Summary and Analysis

The story of Engine Co. 82 was written in 1972. Dennis Smith introduces himself as a New York City fireman. Firemen are different from other New York City workers—ad men, bankers, truck drivers, sellers and buyers. When a fireman leaves his wife in the morning, she doesn't know if she'll see him again. She dreads all day the doorbell ringing, perhaps opening it to see a Fire Chief or Chaplain standing there prepared to tell her that her husband was a brave man and a hero.

Smith is part of Engine Co. 82 in the rough South Bronx. The year before, Engine Co. 82 responded to 9,111 alarms and its accompanying team, Engine Co. 85 responded to 8,386 calls. A new plan was developed that prohibited the two companies from responding to the same fires. That didn't work out as their ladder company, Ladder Co. 31's...