Download or read book London Firefighter written by Stephen Dudeney and published by Austin Macauley Publishers. This book was released on 2022-08-31 with total page 523 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dave and I crept up the stairs, the floor had burned through in places as had the floor above, the roof was gone so there was a bit of dull light. The floor was covered in rubble; tiles from the roof, burnt timber, cork and all sorts. Dave took the nozzle and we pushed forward along the floor. The smoke was tolerable, the heat was a different matter. As I breathed in it was searing my lungs, a bit like trying to breathe in over a boiling kettle, I was lying on the floor in a puddle of steaming water trying to find some cooler air. As Dave opened the nozzle we were engulfed in steam as the water cooled the superheated atmosphere above us. I buried my head a little lower and held on for dear life as Dave worked the jet around the large hallway, extinguishing the burning contents. We pushed further and tried making our way into a room on the right. I was suffering a bit now, and as if reading my mind, Dave pulled back and I pushed up to the nozzle. I opened it and aimed in the direction of the fire. I got some relief by breathing in the cool clean air that was being forced out of the nozzle with the water. Soon we had pushed a good way forward but we were taking a real beating. I could feel my skin scalding as the wet fire tunic steamed in the heat...

Download or read book London s Firefighters written by David C. Pike and published by Austin Macauley. This book was released on 2015-09-30 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: London's Firefighters is a wonderfully readable, lavishly illustrated anthology of articles, fiction and verse about the London Fire Brigade, most of it gathered from the Brigade's house magazines London Fireman (1966-82) and London Firefighter (1982-2005). The book's editor David C. Pike, himself a retired firefighter, has cleverly selected material that delivers both a comprehensive history of the London Fire Brigade and a fascinating portrait of individual firemen and women, at work and (occasionally) at play. The book includes vivid, occasionally harrowing articles on important events involving the Brigade - the Sidney Street Siege of 1911, the London Blitz and the 1981 Brixton riots, to name just a few - as well as covering key figures within the Brigade like James Braidwood and Massey Shaw. The more personal sections provide a revealing insight into the bravery, commitment and camaraderie of ordinary working firefighters and their families. The numerous, often highly dramatic illustrations, many from the London Fire Brigade's own collection, offer a lively commentary on the text. All the profits from this book will go to the Fire Service charity, Firemen Remembered. David Pike was a London firefighter for more than 30 years, retiring at senior rank in 1996. His first book, Beyond the Flames, was published by Austin Macauley in 2013. 'A fascinating peek into the world of the London Fire Brigade. A finalist and highly recommended.' The Wishing Shelf Book Awards 2014/15, on Beyond the Flames

Download or read book New London Firefighting written by Tara Samul and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2006-09-06 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The New London Fire Department was born in 1767 when Nathaniel Shaw Jr. presented the city with its first fire engine. Since then, New London has had a successful history of emergency medical service, heroic assistance during natural disasters, and fantastic 0firefighting. The citys most notorious fire occurred on September 6, 1781. Under the command of the infamous traitor and New London County native, Gen. Benedict Arnold, British troops set New London ablaze. A great deal of life and property was lost. At a 1786 town meeting, residents began the first regular fire company, which eventually evolved into eight volunteer companies. New London Firefighting proudly chronicles its initial humble volunteer system up to todays technologically advanced apparatus and career personnel.

Download or read book Call the Fire Brigade written by Allan Grice and published by Random House. This book was released on 2012-08-30 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Working as a fireman in London’s East End during the early 1970s was no easy ride. In the years before workplace health-and-safety legislation had started to exert its grip, Allan Grice had to cut his fire-and-rescue teeth without the advantages of a breathing apparatus for each member of his crew. Back then, the time-tested strategy was to ‘get in’ – to crawl below the intense heat and ‘eat’ the thick smoke – in order to locate a missing child or to halt a rapidly spreading inferno. In Call the Fire Brigade!, Grice recounts his most memorable experiences as a front-line member of the London Fire Brigade working the city’s East End, with its myriad commercial premises, brooding Thames-side warehouses, seedy tenements and colourful cosmopolitan community, ranging from prosperous manufacturers to down-and-out winos with their body-warming bonfires in derelict houses. Fires in factories, tenements and warehouses, and non-fire emergencies such as the Moorgate Tube disaster of 1975, are graphically described, while the elation of rescue, the sadness of being too late to save lives and the warm camaraderie of fire crews during some of the capital’s busiest peacetime years are vividly depicted.

Download or read book Into the Fire written by Edric Kennedy-Macfoy and published by Random House. This book was released on 2018-09-06 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ___________________ 'Deeply personal and blisteringly powerful.’ Tom Marcus, author of SOLDIER SPY The incredible true story of life as a London firefighter. What is it really like to be a firefighter? How does it feel to respond to an emergency call, to know that someone's life hangs in the balance and every second is critical? Into the Fire offers an unforgettable insight into the highs and lows of life in the fire service. Chronicling his thirteen-year career in the London Fire Brigade, Edric Kennedy-Macfoy takes us with him from his training days as a new recruit to his very first fire; from call-outs to cannabis farms, chemical spills and trapped swans to the devastating scenes of road traffic collisions, the Croydon tram derailment and the Grenfell Tower fire. Heart-breaking, deeply personal and at times hilarious, this is his remarkable story.

Download or read book I was a London Firefighter written by David C. Pike and published by Austin MacAuley. This book was released on 2018-10-30 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is a firefighter? They are the person next door... They are like you and me with warts and worries and unfulfilled dreams. Yet they stand taller than most of us.The latest book from author and retired fireman David Pike, I Was a London Firefighter is an anthology of factual narratives and fictional tales loosely based around the personal experiences of individual members of the London Fire Brigade. Ranging from the mid-19th century to the present day, the book includes direct reminiscences by former firefighters alongside descriptions of key historical figures like Massey Shaw, Sidney Gamble and Joe Milner. It takes in such subjects as the IRA's 20-year bombing campaign in London and the changing status of female firefighters. Running through the book is a series of gripping historical narratives subtitled 'Yesteryear's Fires', depicting the heroic professionalism of firefighters confronted by truly harrowing disasters. Some of these remain all-too-familiar, such as the King's Cross fire of 1987 which claimed the lives of 31 people; others, no less terrible, have faded into distant memory. The book ends with a fresh and compelling description of a horrifying tragedy that no one can have forgotten: 2017's Grenfell Tower fire. I Was a London Firefighter shares with David's previous works - Beyond the Flames, London Firefighters and Fire-Floats and Fireboats - a careful and comprehensive approach to historical research, an eye for striking and unusual narrative details and an understated humour. Above all, it shows an unwavering appreciation of and empathy for the concerns and drives of the ordinary firefighter, born of David's own experiences as a fireman.

Download or read book The Great Fire of London written by Stephen Porter and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2011-11-08 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Great Fire of London was the greatest catastrophe of its kind in Western Europe. Although detailed fire precautions and fire-fighting arrangements were in place, the fire raged for four days and destroyed 13,200 houses, 87 churches and 44 of the City of London's great livery halls. The 'great fire' of 1666 closely followed by the 'great plague' of 1665; as the antiquary Anthony Wood wrote left London 'much impoverished, discontented, afflicted, cast downe'. In this comprehensive account, Stephen Porter examines the background to 1666, events leading up to and during the fire, the proposals to rebuild the city and the progress of the five-year programme which followed. He places the fire firmly in context, revealing not only its destructive impact on London but also its implications for town planning, building styles and fire precautions both in the capital and provincial towns.

Download or read book My Mummy is a Firefighter written by Kerrine Bryan and published by . This book was released on 2020-03-03 with total page 10 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Great Fire of London written by Samuel Pepys and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2015-03-19 with total page 54 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'With one's face in the wind you were almost burned with a shower of Firedrops' A selection from Pepys' startlingly vivid and candid diary, including his famous account of the Great Fire Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions.

Download or read book The Fire Fighters of London in Action written by London Fire Brigade and published by . This book was released on 1942 with total page 86 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Courage High written by Sally Holloway and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kings, princes, dukes, women and watermen have all played their part in the 1000 years of firefighting - from the Romans to the present day - recorded in this text. The author has uncovered information on the Tudor auxiliary fire service, the silence of the press over a Victorian prince's firefighting escapades and the government's long indifference to fire which resulted in the near destruction of London in the Blitz.

Download or read book Fire Floats and Fireboats written by David Pike and published by Austin Macauley Publishing. This book was released on 2016-12-15 with total page 494 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After his autobiography Beyond the Flames and his eclectic anthology London's Firefighters, David C. Pike's latest book about the London Fire Brigade, Fire-Floats and Fireboats, takes as its focus the history of firefighting on the river Thames. Starting in Roman times and bringing the story right up to the present day, Pike's comprehensive survey charts the astonishing evolution of the vessels used to combat fire from the river, pays homage to the intrepid crews of these often unwieldy craft, and vividly recreates some of the most devastating conflagrations the capital has ever seen.With more than 250 fascinating illustrations, Fire-Floats and Fireboats is certain to appeal to lovers of London and aficionados of history and technology, but will also be enjoyed by a wide range of general readers.

Download or read book Firemen at War written by Neil Wallington and published by Jeremy Mills Pub. This book was released on 2007-02 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fact that London was not burnt to the ground in the Second World War is a direct tribute to the Fire Service of the time. In 1940, incendiaries and highly explosive bombs rained down on London for 57 consecutive nights. This is the story of that time and of the men and women who worked through some of the fieriest and most dramatic nights of Britain's history.

Download or read book London s Disasters written by John Withington and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2011-11-08 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From AD 61, when Queen Boudicca - outraged at her treatment at the hands of the Romans - marched on the city and burned it to the ground, London has been hit by wave upon wave of destruction. This fascinating and unique book tells the story of over 2000 years of disaster from fire, water, disease, pollution, accident, storm, riot, terrorism and enemy action. It chronicles well-known episodes like the Great Plague of 1655 and the Blitz, as well as lesser-known events such as whirlwinds and earthquakes. This new edition also includes the recent terrorist attack on 7 July 2005, as well as a new section on the crises which have plagued the financial City, including the near-collapse of Britain's banks during 2008 and 2009. London's Disasters ultimately celebrates the spirit of its people who have risen above it all and for whom London is one of the greatest cities on earth in which to live and work.

Download or read book New York City Firefighting written by Steven Scher and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2002-03-12 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of firefighting in New York City is one of danger, tradition, pride, excitement, and tragedy. It is also the story of man's triumph over destructive forces. From the gaslight days of horse-drawn steam engines to the World Trade Center tragedy of 2001, the heroic men and women who make up the city's most dynamic public service have risked and often lost their lives in order to protect and serve the people of New York City. New York City Firefighting: 1901-2001 chronicles the proudest fire department in America. The proximity of buildings in the city streets and the construction materials made each fire especially dangerous, but determined firefighters never hesitated to battle the flames and rescue the victims. Later, facing unprecedented heights and unparalleled danger, firefighters in New York City were called upon to battle infernos in the first skyscrapers, often using the most rudimentary equipment and barely protected from the flames. In its most trying moments, the Fire Department of New York responded to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in 1993 and 2001, dutifully rushing into the towers to save as many lives as possible and ultimately losing hundreds of their own.

Download or read book The Great Fire of London written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-02-13 with total page 78 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes accounts of the fire written by survivors and government officials *Includes a bibliography for further reading "[A] wooden, northern, and inartificial congestion of Houses." - John Evelyn's description of London before the fire "So I was called for, and did tell the King and Duke of York what I saw, and that unless His Majesty did command houses to be pulled down nothing could stop the fire. They seemed much troubled, and the King commanded me to go to my Lord Mayor from him, and command him to spare no houses, but to pull down before the fire every way." - Samuel Pepys In the 17th century, the people of London could boast that they had developed some of the most advanced firefighting technology and methods in the world, including the use of primitive fire engines. There were even vendors of such machines who advertised in papers of their machines' abilities to quench great fires. Of course, even with trained firefighters and new devices, the most skillful efforts could still prove limited in the face of a giant fire, as Rome had learned over 1500 years earlier and as Chicago would learn nearly 200 years later. In fact, one of the primary reasons London developed ways to fight fires was the fact that the city was particularly vulnerable. Although London was over 1500 years old and sat at the heart of the British Empire, most of the buildings were made of wood, and the city was overcrowded, in part due to the fact that city planners worked with and around the ancient Roman fortifications that had been constructed to defend it. As such, while there were spacious areas for the elite and rich outside of the city, London itself had narrow streets full of wood buildings that were practically on top of each other. With some bad luck and bad timing, a potential disaster awaited the city, and that finally came in September 1666. As it turned out, the Great Fire of London was so bad that one author who studied the blaze described it as "the perfect fire," referring to the convergence in the largest city in England of spark, wood and wind in such a way that no one could stop the fire or even fight it effectively. John Evelyn, who had warned of the potential for a devastating fire given the layout of the city, noted that people seemed so stunned by the scope of the fire that they didn't know what to do: "The conflagration was so universal, and the people so astonished, that from the beginning, I know not by what despondency or fate, they hardly stirred to quench it, so that there was nothing heard or seen but crying out and lamentation, running about like distracted creatures without at all attempting to save even their goods, such a strange consternation there was upon them." While the fire quickly spread throughout the heart of the city, the only thing that saved London's suburbs was an ancient wall built around the city to keep the enemies of Rome out, not the fire in. By the time it was finished, most of the city's homes and churches lay in ashes, and nearly 90% of the city's citizens were left homeless. The only consolation taken away from the devastation was an astonishing low death rate; although London had about 80,000 residents, only a handful died as the fire raged across the city. The fire lasted three days, and by the end of it, Londoners were shocked by the wide-scale destruction, which was so great that Samuel Pepys remarked, "It made me weep to see it." In the aftermath, people looked for scapegoats, ranging from King Charles II to the Pope and his Catholic supporters, while England's leaders looked to rebuild the city. The civil and foreign strife ultimately posed obstacles to new plans to rebuild London, which actually meant that the rebuilding efforts were designed in ways that mimicked the old layout that had invited such a disaster in the first place.

Download or read book Fighting Fires written by S. Ewen and published by Springer. This book was released on 2009-11-27 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first full-length scholarly history of the British fire service, 1800-1978, this book scrutinizes how firemen created a professional public service incumbent upon municipal government. It examines the influence of major fires and leading personalities within the fire service in constructing a professional ethos for municipal fire brigades.