I was a London Firefighter PDF Download

Author: David C. Pike
Publisher: Austin MacAuley
ISBN: 9781528918008
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description
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.

Author: Edric Kennedy-Macfoy
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 147355876X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 215

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Book Description
___________________ '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.

Author: Allan Grice
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1780574339
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
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.

Author: David C. Pike
Publisher: Austin Macauley
ISBN: 9781784555412
Category : Fire fighters
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
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

Author: Monica Wellington
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0735231826
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 14

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Book Description
Bright pictures of a firefighter and his big red truck make this board book perfect for the very youngest. In twelve eye-catching spreads, Frank shows scenes from his day, from cleaning the truck to putting out a fire. With lots to look at, this book is sure to be a favorite of every truck-loving tot.

Author: Gina Bellisario
Publisher: Millbrook Press ™
ISBN: 146776518X
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 28

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Book Description
Are you curious about fire trucks? Firefighting clothes? Hoses and ladders? You're in luck! Firefighter Jim works at the fire department. He knows how to handle all kinds of emergencies. He shows a group of kids how he does his job. Let’s hear it for firefighters! So many people help out in our communities! In these books, young students talk with different community helpers to find out what they do, what skills and training they need, and how their work benefits people in the community.

Author: Paul Osborne
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1473558336
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
The full, true story of the dog featured on the cover of Clare Balding's HEROIC ANIMALS ____________________ The incredible true story of Sherlock, the brave dog with a nose for saving lives. Firefighter Paul Osborne works with the Fire Investigation Dog unit, where he handles Sherlock - an excitable, bright-eyed cocker spaniel. What makes Sherlock different? He's the most talented investigative dog the Fire Brigade has ever produced, capable of identifying extraordinarily subtle traces and scents even after thousand-degree blazes - even when he has to wear special protective boots due to the dangerous environments. Today, Paul and Sherlock fearlessly plunge into the most dramatic fire scenes in London, helping to keep the capital safe around the clock. With remarkable insight into the life of London's most heroic working dog, this inspiring account of the London Fire Brigade's four-legged heroes will delight and amaze. Foreword by Dany Cotton, Commissioner for The London Fire Brigade ____________________ Winners of the Mirror and RSPCA Animal Hero Awards 2017 Written in collaboration with and with full support from the London Fire Brigade

Author: Becky Davies
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 0593304098
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Do you want to be a firefighter? Open this book to find out what adventures await! This book will help kids to imagine what it's like to be a firefighter! Starting with putting on the uniform and then jumping into the truck to rush off to save people and put out a fire, this book provides an early introduction to a day in the life of a busy firefighter. The surprise mirror at the end provides a fun, interactive bonus!

Author: Stuart J. Murphy
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0060001208
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 39

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Book Description
We're missing all our buttons! Three firefighters scramble to find 3 sets of matching buttons before the big parade starts. A lively introduction to the simple math concept of sorting by attributes.

Author: Aylmer Firebrace CBE KPM
Publisher: Frontline Books
ISBN: 1399015028
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
War was coming. Everyone knew that confrontation with Nazi Germany was inevitable and that London was likely to be a prime target of Hitler’s bombers. So, in January 1939, Aylmer Firebrace, the Chief Officer of London Fire Brigade, was seconded to the Home Office to plan for the capital’s fire defence. Before joining the Fire Brigade, Aylmer Firebrace had been a Royal Navy officer who had fought in the Battle of Jutland during the First World War. It was following the Armistice that, in 1919, he became principal officer in the London Fire Brigade. He was promoted to deputy chief and finally chief officer in June 1938.. That war struck London soon enough, but it was on 7 September 1940, that Firebrace’s preparations were truly tested with the start of the Blitz. For the next fifty-seven days and nights London was subjected to the longest continuous bombing campaign in history. Then, as the Luftwaffe ranged wider and further across Britain’s towns and cities, Firebrace was tasked with toured the nation to see the effects of the bombing, at which point he saw the need for a national response. The result was the creation of the National Fire Service. Formed in August 1941, by the amalgamation of some 1,600 separate brigades, this remarkable organisation had, at its peak, a strength of 370,000 men and women. It was led for its entire existence by Aylmer Firebrace. As the war continued, Firebrace became Chief of the Fire Staff and Inspector-in-Chief of the Fires Services, being the first and, to date, only person to head all the fire-fighting services in Britain. This body had to deal with the expansion of the Blitz as well as the so-called ‘Baedeker’ raids, the ‘tip-and-run’ attacks, Baby Blitz and V1 and V2 offensives of the later years of the war. In his fascinating account, written immediately the war, Firebrace reflects on the functioning of the fire service at its most testing time. This book is an essential addition to the understanding of the Blitz and how London and the rest of the country survived its darkest hour.