Working Fire in East Cleveland: Action, hard-hitting humor, & raw honesty tell the story of inner-city career firefighter, Michael C. Ede

A career firefighter with a personal commitment that: everyone gets home safe!

26-year firefighter, Michael C. Ede, a career firefighter with a personal commitment that “everyone gets home safe,” shares true stories of emergency calls, working relationships, and life inside and outside of the firehouse in the financially and morally crumbling city of East Cleveland, Ohio.

This book offers readers a unique opportunity to enjoy a completely transparent, start-to-finish 26-year career highlights of a firefighter in a busy urban department. Readers will benefit from an honest appraisal of what a firefighter experiences both, inside the engine house, and at the emergency scene throughout the span of an entire career. The transformation from young, inexperienced rookie, to old, seasoned veteran, is chronicled in a way that keeps readers anticipating each new phase.

There are three unique topics within the book that allow the readers to benefit from a very unusual and special work environment. The fact that the story takes place in a nearly all African-American impoverished city. A black-to-white employee ratio of 50/50 in the fire department, coupled with raw honest story telling, makes this story extremely eye-opening to most readers who have never experienced this type of work and racial makeup within the work force. The contrast of the firefighters is portrayed throughout the book, and the successes, as well as the failures, are brought to the forefront. The work environment is absolutely unique. It answers the questions in a reader’s mind pertaining to how well white and black firefighters work together. Suspenseful, gripping details reveal the answer, and show that when white and black firefighters work together, great things can, and often do, take place.

Reader be warned, there are no cover ups, embellishment, fluff, or exaggeration in this book. Action, hard–hitting humor, & raw honesty tell the story of inner-city career firefighter, Michael C. Ede.

• Contents:

1. War Story 1: Trapped
2. Old School
3. The Brotherhood
4. So, You Want to Be a Firefighter
5. First Day in the Hood
6. Fire School
7. In House
8. War Stories — Introducing Charlie Catania
9. War Story 2: Lakefront Fire
10. Black & White
11. War Story 3: Elevator Fatality
12. Ball Busting
13. Real Heroes… or Not?
14. Perimeter Man
15. War Story 4:The Ultimate Paradise
16. Squad Knobs
17. Fire Boss
18. War Story 5: Sudden Death
19. Nine Dead in Charleston, South Carolina
20. Bizarre Events & Outrageous Behavior
21. The Edge
22. War Story 6: Triple header
23. Fire Chief
24. Rumors
25. Promotions
26. Circling the Drain
27. The Blowout

This story contains actual events and real people in high-stress and dangerous situations.
Contains adult language and situations.
Recommended for readers 18+