Hot Zone

This memoir is a riveting account of what it’s like to be a professional firefighter, from rookie to chief officer, over the course of a 31-year career. The anecdotes are funny, sad, and grim: all serve to educate readers about a profession that many dreamed about when they were children but would never pursue or truly understand. Chief Howes provides a better understanding of the profession and respect for the men and women who protect our communities by relating his own experiences as well as those of other firefighters in some of the busiest stations in the country. The author is donating 10% of royalties to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, the nonprofit group dedicated to the development and expansion of programs to honor our fallen fire heroes and assist their families and coworkers.

Christopher Teale Howes is a retired district chief from the Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue in Florida. He lives in Armathwaite, Tennessee.

Christopher Teale Howes

Foreword by Cortez Lawrence

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 252
Bibliographic Info: 34 photos, glossary, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2012
pISBN: 978-0-7864-6960-4
eISBN: 978-0-7864-9272-5
Imprint: McFarland

Foreword by Cortez Lawrence      1
Preface      3
Introduction      5

Part I. Early Years: Rookie Firefighter and Driver Engineer
On the Job: Merry Christmas      9
1. Betwixt and Between      12
2. Then and Now      16
3. Early Training: Fire and EMT School      26
4. Captain Schnabel      34
5. Driver Engineer      39
6. Labor Relations      48
7. Country Jams and Unions      55
8. Banished to the Beach      62

Part II. Middle Years: Lieutenant and Captain
On the Job: Little Blue Dress      67
9. Promotional Process      71
10. Sandalfoot Cove      76
11. Second Chance      81
12. Just Another Fire Alarm      85
13. Rescuing the Rescuers      89
14. Special Operations      94
15. Women in the Fire Service      103
16. Bill Rogers      119

Part III. Later Years: Chief Officer
On the Job: Near Miss      125
17. Transition Process      131
18. Incident Management      137
19. Continuing Education      145
20. Tigers and Fire      157
21. Jimmy      163
22. Rookies      168
23. Unsung Heroes      173
24. Reflections      182

Glossary      195
Appendices
A: Palm Beach County Fire Control Districts      198
B: Fire District Consolidation Memo      198
C: Union Ballot      199
D: PERC Letter, 1978      201
E: Contract, October 1979      202
F: First Country Jam Flyer      229
G: Florida Firefighter Bill of Rights      230
H: NIMS Management Model      231
I: Graduation Speech      231
Chapter Notes      233
Bibliography      237
Index      239

• “Will amuse, enlighten, entertain, educate, surprise, have you clinging to the edge of your seat and give readers a higher respect for fire and medical personnel and what it is like on the front line of rescue work”—First Responder News