Working Fire: The Making of an Accidental Fireman - Hardcover

Unger, Zac

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1594200017 ISBN 13: 9781594200014

Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The, 2004

Synopsis

A compelling and moving memoir chronicles one man's journey from Ivy League graduate to dedicated firefighter and paramedic, discussing his training, the mpments of triumph and tragedy, the harrowing and hilarious calls, his fierce passion for his work, and the camraderie that exists among his comrades.

About this title

About the Author

Zac Unger is a firefighter and paramedic in Oakland, California. He has written about his life and work for the online magazine Slate. He is a graduate of Deep Springs College, Brown University, and UC Berkeley.

Reviews

Adult/High School–Unger is not a typical firefighter. A graduate of an Ivy League school, he answered an ad and then found himself a recruit at the training academy. He came to the job without preconceived notions, and he spares no one, not even himself. He describes the ribbing he received at the start of training as well as his failure in his first STAR drill, after which his instructor suggested that he leave the academy before he embarrassed himself further. He persevered with a strategy of never calling attention to himself, while carefully observing his classmates, teachers, and surroundings. He takes readers to his first fire, recording the panic, the instinct to flee, and the underlying faith he must have in his fellow firefighters to survive and do his job. As a firefighter in Oakland, CA, he sped to house, car, and high-rise fires, wildfires, and more. He describes what it is like to be there, from the rush of being the first in with the hose to the fear of being lost in the flames. He also provides insight into life at the firehouse, from the constant cooking and cleaning to the often-sophomoric camaraderie. An absorbing read and a candid look at this dangerous profession.–Jane S. Drabkin, Chinn Park Regional Library, Woodbridge, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Expanding on a Slate diary he wrote in 2001, Unger delivers a crisply written, somewhat gripping narrative of a rookie's life in the Oakland Fire Department. If the firefighter's memoir has lately become a new genre, this is a solid introduction from a complete outsider who ably describes the journey to grizzled insider. When Unger, an Ivy League grad and eager outdoorsman, answered a job ad he saw at an Oakland bus stop, he had little inkling that he'd found his vocation. Firefighting was a job he knew little about, and applying seemed a lark (he writes that he couldn't imagine being the first person in his family not to get a Master's degree). But he was accepted into the training program, and it wasn't until he found himself among dozens of other recruits outside "the tower" (the department's training facility) that he realized he might be on his way to becoming a fireman. What follows is a journey through both the minutiae and adventure of a rookie firefighter's life, from the complex ritual of dinner at the firehouse and the letdown of false alarms to the danger and heat of a real fire. A readable account of Unger's first years on the job, the book is occasionally repetitive and meandering. Still, Unger's self-deprecation is endearing, as when he writes, "Whoever said that a man in uniform always looks good hasn't spent much time looking at me."
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1594200017
• ISBN 13: 9781594200014
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272