Firehouse

The book centres on Engine 40 and Ladder 35, a firehouse on Manhattan's West Side near Lincoln Center. On the morning of September 11, 2001, two fire rigs carrying thirteen men left the station, and twelve of those men never returned. The account comes from David Halberstam, a Pulitzer Prize winner known for his reporting on the Vietnam War, who wrote more than twenty books.

Halberstam tells the story from the heart of the disaster, drawing intimate portraits of the men who answered the call while their families waited for word. He also examines the culture of the firehouse: the men who live, eat, train, socialize and help one another with home repairs, and who face dangers that demand instinctive, complete trust. He asks why capable men choose this work, often following their fathers into it, and why for them it is a vocation rather than merely a job.

The book combines reporting with history to show how one small institution was swept up in the catastrophe of that day.