Chapter 5 Summary and Analysis

It's 2:30 am and Engine Co. 82 is hard at working spraying down a stubborn fire in a building on Charlotte Street. Part of the roof has caved in and the part that remains is a danger to the firemen. They are spraying water from the cold street. If they could enter, they could put the fire out sooner. But it's just too dangerous. Dennis' fire hat has icicles hanging from it. Other firemen are jumping up and down trying to get warm. One man took his icy rubber jacket off and it stood up by itself. The men take turns holding the hose, giving their fellow firemen a break from the miserable weather.

At an earlier fire, the men had to walk up five stairs winding the fire hose behind them. If only the designers of these buildings had been firemen, they...