A review by ericwelch
On Fire by Larry Brown

4.0

Larry Brown, a Mississippi fireman, wrote these recollections which include some heart-warming stories in addition to the mind-numbingly tragic ones. In one case, his company had been called to a trailer fire. The trailer was half-destroyed when they arrived — “They always are”, — but fortunately no one was home. They discovered puppy on the floor with all the classic signs of death: eyes glazed over and bowels evacuated. They carried him out, and one of the firemen remarked how they had all the lifesaving equipment along, why not give the puppy a shot. They slid the oxygen tube in the puppy’s mouth and amazingly he came out of it. Not all of the stories are as pleasant. “Some of the boys on another shift, just playing around out of boredom and in good-natured [!:] fun, tie one of the nozzlemen into a rolling chair with lots of rope and push him off down Price Hill into traffic. They say his screams were something to behold.”

Brown's early death was a tragedy.