The Book Shelf
FIREFIGHTER OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY, Jerry W. Laughlin, editor, International Fire Service Training Association, Fire Protection Publications, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Okla. 74074; 242 pages, $7.
This first IFSTA venture in a fire fighter safety manual runs the gamut from safety concepts to activities in the station and fireground operations. Where other IFSTA manuals have included safety as an integral part of training and fire fighting evolutions, this new manual concentrates on the safety procedures to follow while working as a fire fighter.
A chapter on special hazards discusses safety in handling hazardous chemical, electrical and radiation incidents. There is also a chapter on making inspections and testing fire protection equipment so as to avoid accidents. In the appendix is a safety check list covering the various fire fighter working environments.
SALVAGE AND OVERHAUL PRACTICES, 6th Edition, Jerry W. Laughlin, editor; International Fire Service Training Association, Fire Protection Publications, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Okla. 74074; 141 pages, $7.
This manual starts its discussion of salvage with cooperation between the fire department and the property occupant to arrange building contents so that salvage can be more effective. Various types of salvage equipment and kits are recommended and a number of ways of folding and spreading salvage covers are described. Other chapters discuss ways of removing water from buildings through the use of chutes, soil pipes, siphons and pumps.
Overhaul, or the search for hidden fire, is the subject of another chapter, and there is some advice on recognizing indications of arson and putting together an arson evidence kit. The concluding chapter discusses ways of restoring the building as much as possible to reasonable conditions.
FIREFIGHTER STUDY GUIDE, Carl E. McCoy; International Fire Service Training Association, Fire Protection Publications, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Okla. 74074; 97 pages, $5.
Aimed at the fire fighter seeking certification based on NFPA Standard 1001, “Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications,” this publication provides both a list of topics referenced to IFSTA manuals and space alongside each topic for entering the result of the test. All three fire fighter certification levels are covered.
DANGEROUS PROPERTIES OF INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS, 5th Edition, N. Irving Sax; Van Nostrand Reinhold, 135 West 50th Street, New York, N.Y. 10020; 1118 pages, $54.50.
While some 300 pages of this book are devoted to industrial health, chemical pollution and radiation hazards, the major value for the fire service is in the 776 pages defining the characteristics of thousands of chemical substances. Where pertinent, the degree of fire hazard and the recommended means of extinguishing fire are specified. Other information found in this listing includes explosion hazard, toxicity data, disaster hazard and spontaneous heating possibility.
This edition continues the reputation of earlier editions for being a basic reference for chemicals.
VOLUNTEERS, Raymond Pompilio; The Crossing Press, Trumanshurg, N.Y. 14886; 142 pages, $8.95 paper, $15.95 cloth.
Like the subtitle says, “A Portrait of Small Town Firefighters,” this book’s photos are mostly of fire fighters—on the fireground, on parade and even at play—rather than of fires. Raymond Pompilio, both photographer and author of the text accompanying the photos, has captured on film the emotions of volunteer fire fighters who are weary, eager, concerned and joyful.
The photos are well done—sharp, pertinent and well reproduced. Most of all, they are interesting because they mirror the activities of fire fighters everywhere. Furthermore, the text is spiced with accounts of fireground experiences. It describes the life of a volunteer with factual insight and without embellishment.
THE FIRE THAT WILL NOT DIE, Michele McBride; ETC Publications, P.O. Box 1627-A, Palm Springs, Calif. 92263; 246 pages, $10.
Michele McBride, the author, was seriously burned in the Our Lady of the Angels School fire in Chicago on December 1, 1958, and this is the story of how she fought physical and psychological problems to effect what she calls her rebirth.” Only a small part of the book is about the fire that took the lives of 92 children and three nuns. The rest is about the author’s efforts to first live through 4 1/2 months in a hospital and later to come to terms with her life.
“Being a burn is to be immensely lonely; it keeps loved ones at a distance and makes strangers curious enough to ask hurtful questions … For post-burn patients, there is little understanding and help,” Ms. McBride wrote. To provide understanding and help, she is working to establish what she calls the Phoenix Program to assist burn victims with all their problems—not just their medical ones.
