Al Ford

Smoke Eater, Short Stories of a Retired Battalion Chief Al Ford

After 40 years in the fire service, I decided to write this book of true short stories of my first in the fire service volume 1. My first structure fire, my first suicide and so forth. I also hoped to leave my two sons a lasting legacy of their father. I am a member of the last generation of smoke eaters that rarely used a Self Contained Breathing Apparatus at a fire. Even later in my fire career, I would remove my SCBA mask during mop-up operations. You will find, as you read my book, that I was as descriptive as I could be regarding the smell of blood after it leaves the human body and of burnt flesh of a fire victim. I also describe some of the fire station life a firefighter encounters while on duty or even at a volunteer weekly meeting. My desire is for the reader, whether you are a citizen or a veteran firefighter, to develop a renewed respect and understanding of a firefighters life. The firefighter never leaves what they see, smell, or hear at the firehouse. It stays with them for the rest of their life and each one must make that conscious effort of dealing with it the best they can.