In Case of Fire: Firefighters and Other Combustible Hazards

When you hear “firefighter,” what comes to mind? A big brawny guy charging into a burning building to rescue a helpless victim? Though this image is iconic, it is also, according to veteran firefighter Jeremy Norton, as incomplete and anachronistic as it is awe-inspiring. More than a memoir, In Case of Fire offers Norton’s close-up account of fighting fires, the complexities of emergency response, and a probing critique of the insular world of the fire service.

Only five percent of calls answered by most city fire departments are actual fires; the rest involve false alarms, hazmat incidents, lockouts, water leaks, and the mayhem of emergency medical incidents. For the firefighters whose professional culture holds to its own legendary renown, the dissonance between myth and everyday reality can result in a formidable identity crisis. After twenty-six years of experience, Norton brings his critical perspective to the isolating effects of masculine posturing and exclusionary workplace cultures, as well as his sincere appreciation for the incredible generosity of spirit embodied by firefighters in dire moments. Alongside on-the-ground dispatches of harrowing fires he’s faced, Norton reveals the surprising nature of the 24-hour firefighting shift—long, idle hours spent with an evolving cast of characters cooking, arguing, and pulling pranks in the firehouse, all waiting to rush to help strangers at a moment’s notice.

A frank personal account of a dynamic career, In Case of Fire presents a fascinating view of what it really means to be a firefighter today.

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