Along with Dennis Smith and
Leo D. Stapleton, Harry Ahearn created the literature of firefighting in America with the publication Ghetto Firefighter, his first novel. The Fire Factory solidified his reputation when it was published in
1988, and dmc books is thrilled to make this important work available again for
a new generation of firefighters.
Harry Ahearn's Fire Factory is located at East 114th
Street and
Fifth Avenue,
in New York City's Harlem. Built during a period of fiscal austerity, the
two-story brick structure with dull white-washed sides is hardly distinctive;
it seldom rates a second glance from passersby. But the firefighters of Engine
58 and Ladder 26, the men of the Fire Factory, are quite another story.
Nothing comes easy for the crew of the Fire Factory. Even
the most mundane, routine duty -- building inspection -- is hazardous, especially
when the six-foot, 250-pound building super is cantankerously drunk and no mood
for citations. A simple fundraising event -- a match between the fire
department's and the police department's "semi-pro" football teams -- has its
dangers, both on and off the field. And few events in a firefighter's life are
as miserable as a nine-alarm fire on a freezing winter's night with blowing
snow and a sub-zero wind chill.
The crew of The Fire Factory accepts all their challenges
and risks with friendship and laughter, with commitment and love -- even when
the safety rope breaks and tragedy strikes. Harry Ahearn's The Fire Factory is still a moving tribute to professionals who
confront unequaled peril with unsurpassed courage each and every day.
