More Firefighting Lore

In a book such as this, Conway–a former fire chief and publisher of a number of books on the history of fire fighting–can’t really avoid telling the story of the Great Chicago Fire. However, he doesn’t pay much attention to the cow that knocked over the lantern, concentrating instead on the dispatcher who was intent on playing the guitar and failed to turn in an alarm. Almost lost to history, Conway says, is a fire that began on the same evening some 250 miles to the north, in Peshtigo, Wisconsin. About 1,200 people died there, four times more than in Chicago. Conway tells of other great fires–such as the ones set in Honolulu to control bubonic plague–and of historical curiosities, such as the fire extinguisher invented by Squire Boone, Daniel Boone’s younger brother, and why soda ash extinguishers were finally banned (they often exploded). Together, these short, readable tales give a rough history of fire fighting in the U.S. John Mort