The Last Men Out: Life on the Edge at Rescue 2 Firehouse

From Publishers Weekly
Deputy Chief Ray Downey, the most highly decorated firefighter in the history of the FDNY, died during the World Trade Center rescue operations, but months earlier, he had arranged for his nephew, filmmaker Tom Downey, to make a documentary on the emergency experts of Brooklyn's Rescue Company No. 2, the "most active firefighting unit in the city." After the completed film, Still Riding: Rescue Company New York City, aired on September 11, 2002, Tom Downey continued his research, writing about firefighters for the New York Times. For this book, he follows the efforts of the new captain, Phil Ruvolo, to take command and establish a rapport with his men. Interweaving the history and lore of landmark fires with daily chores and rituals, Downey recreates the firehouse's kitchen table banter and sardonic humor. He probes the physical toll and psychological problems firefighters experience, along with the job's dangers: "Crawling in for a job, a fireman would feel the linoleum, think it was safe to enter, and then fall through." Limning individual personalities and capturing the company's camaraderie with amusing anecdotes, Downey's descriptions burn into the pages with searing intensity. Writing with verve and energy in a gritty style, he explores all extremes of the firemen's world, from triumphant moments of heroism to bitter tragedies. The concluding chapters document 9/11 and its aftermath from the firemen's point of view: the "horrible losses" resulting in a massive shortage of qualified firefighters to fill the ranks of the rescue and squad companies. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


From Booklist
Downey's father and uncles were firemen, and the late chief Ray Downey, an uncle, was in command of Brooklyn's Rescue 2 for 14 years. Rescue 2 firefighters are experts in every kind of emergency; if you are trapped under a train, pinned in a car wreck, or buried in a building collapse, these are the people with the tools and the knowledge to save your life. The author lived in the firehouse for months, spending night shifts cruising the borough with them. He had just started to work on the book when the 9/11 disaster struck, but most of it deals with the years before that tragic event. He profiles several of the firefighters and their families; he lets us in on their taste for practical jokes and the merciless hazing that recruits face, as well as the make-work chores they carry out between fires. And he explains the procedures in fighting a fire and defines firehouse jargon, all of which adds to an intimate look at the daily lives of veteran firefighters. George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
"The rescue companies in our nation's fire departments are like special forces in the military, ready to go into the most dangerous and frightening situations at a moment's notice. They are equipped to handle anything from shoring up a collapsing building, to finding a trapped worker far beneath the earth's surface. Heroes among heroes, we follow these stalwart men in Tom Downey's fine account from fires, to funerals, to loving homes, and to the endless banter and hilarity of the firehouse kitchen. This is a book about good men in stories well told, from tragic neighborhood fires to the national tragedy of ground zero. Half of the rescue firefighters were lost on 9/11 and Downey recounts that story bravely and with the keen eye of an author who has the blood of firefighters pulsing through his veins. You can feel the drama on every page."—Dennis Smith, author of Report from Engine Company 82

"Tom Downey had arrived on the scene of the lives of firefighters long before the rest of the world caught up and he has written the inside story of this secret fraternity, this band of brothers. These working-men heros step off of these pages and into our lives. Downey has done a masterful job of storytelling." —Doug Stanton, author of In Harm's Way



Book Description
The inside story of one of America’s most elite firehouses and the extraordinary brotherhood of men who face extreme danger every day

Firefighting is a world of absolutes: evil is a red devil that wants destruction and death, good is a charged hose line, full of water to fight the flames. The best and boldest firefighters in the country, the men of Rescue 2 are hand-picked to fight not just the biggest blazes but any other emergency New York can throw at them. The sheer adrenaline of the job is perfectly captured in the dramatic story of their firehouse, a model for others nationwide--dubbed "the cuisinart" because it slices up new recruits.

The story begins in the late 1990s as Phil Ruvolo takes command just a few years after the departure of Captain Ray Downey, a legendary FDNY leader. Ruvolo inherits a stubborn group of vets, many still loyal to Downey. He also steps into a firehouse mourning the recent loss of a brother-- Rescue 2's first fire fatality since the 1950s.

Tom Downey takes us into the fireman’s world: the smell of their coats after a good fire, the hardened eyes of a veteran after a fellow fireman’s death, the humor and camaraderie. His firemen are not cardboard heroes; they’re a group of gritty, larger-than-life personalities brought together by dedication and a mission to save lives. Rescue 2 doesn’t leave a fire until everybody’s safe. They’re the last men out. Theirs is an inspiring story destined to become a classic.




About the Author
Tom Downey is a writer-filmmaker who grew up in a family of firefighters. He is also the nephew of the late, legendary Chief Ray Downey, former head of rescue operations for the FDNY, who arranged for Tom to live and work with Rescue 2¹s men in order to make a film (which aired on The Learning Channel). Tom spent a year in the house before 9/11, when his uncle died, and has also been on hand since that disaster.



Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
From The Last Men Out:
Small pockets of fire tease the engine company men who spray the ceilings and walls trying to shake down the flames. Terry hears an engine guy ask Louis to hug the wall so they can bend the stiff hose around the corner.

Suddenly, Terry hears a snap, like a wooden plank being split with an ax, then a much louder cracking noise that makes him shudder. He dives to the ground as the roof and walls crumble around him. Firemen cry out and Maydays go out over the radio. But nobody can hear the calls. They’re all buried.

Terry’s first thought is to get air. As he hears the men around him burrowing to the surface, he claws his way toward the sunlight. He feels cold snow on his glove as he heaves his body up out of the rubble.

Most of the firemen around Terry have also been lucky. But when Terry starts to wade through the debris, a piece of shiny black rubber catches his eye. Two boots sticking out of the rubble. He gets on the radio.

“Rescue Chauffeur to Battalion. Mayday. We have a man trapped about ten feet from the rear door.”



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Writer/filmmaker Downey looks inside one of New York's elite firehouses before and after 9/11. Brooklyn's Rescue 2 company is charged with saving endangered firefighters from other houses. Following the Rescue 2 crews on their missions, staying in the firehouse between calls, the author began in the summer of 2000 a documentary film about their work. The book opens in 1996 with a fatal accident, Rescue 2's first loss of one of its members since the 1950s. The stunned reaction of the victim's comrades, tough and competitive men with enormous pride in their mission, clearly defines the bond between these men who refer to themselves as brothers. Downey then moves back in time to paint the history of Rescue 2 under its various captains: Fred Gallagher, who pushed his crew to excel at firefighting during the '70s, when fires were an overt symptom of racial strife; his successor Ray Downey (the author's uncle), whose physical courage and ability to breathe even the thickest smoke were key components in his leadership; and Phil Ruvolo, who brought the company into the new era of firefighting after 9/11. The narrative is full of firefighters' war stories, of macho camaraderie, and of the gallows humor common to men who put their lives on the line every day. Downey also gives the reader insight into the bureaucratic jungle of New York City government, where political back-scratching intrudes even into the meritocracy of firefighting. The author has a keen eye for character, and the rugged individualists of Rescue 2 give him plenty of material to work with. The book builds inevitably to 9/11, when eight men from Rescue 2, as well as their former Captain Ray Downey, lost their lives. THis narrativedescribes the tragedy without histrionics, making its impact even stronger. A powerful tribute to men whose daily lives are the stuff of heroism. Agent: Heather Schroder/ICM


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