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The shield of a firefighter's helmet gets blackened from experience, from meeting the challenges and confronting the dangers of the job day after day, night after night, from taking walking tours of hell with the devil as your guide. Don Whitney worked as a firefighter in one of New England's oldest, most densely populated cities during perhaps the most challenging period in the history of the American fire service - the 60s, 70s and early 80s. When Don retired, with the rank of lieutenant, from the Portland, Maine Fire Department, his helmet shield was battered and blackened from countless battles with the enemy. And he had some stories to tell...
He had stories about fires in triple-deckers and high-rises, about arson for profit, arson for revenge, and arson just for the hell of it, about abandoned warehouses and dilapidated piers, about the evolution from leather lungs to SCBA, about conflagrations on the city's harbor islands and ravenous forest fires just a twenty minute drive from downtown, about union pride and tradition, and City Hall's shortsightedness and greed, about demonstrations, protests and riots, about the public's gratitude, the public's ignorance and, sometimes, the public's outright and inexplicable animosity.
And he had stories about his fellow firefighters, as brave and dedicated to the job as any firefighter in any city in America - and, of course, many of them just as insanely and necessarily whacky.
And those stories became The Blackened Shield.
If you like well told stories about the fire service, if you're a fan of Leo Stapleton's Jakes or Harry Ahearn's Ghetto Firefighter, then Don Whitney's The Blackened Shield is definitely a book for you, a book you will read and enjoy many times, a must for your collection.
Don Whitney grew up in a working class neighborhood of Portland, Maine. Twentyseven firemen lived in the neighborhood, which also had three firehouses. Don was appointed to the Portland Fire Department in 1966. After a trying, tough, enjoyable career, he now lives outside the city with his wife and children. The Blackened Shield is his second book.
Advance praise for Don Whitney's
THE BLACKENED SHIELD
FROM LEO D. STAPLETON
"I really enjoyed this book. Don Whitney has effectively captured a two decade period in the fire service that was historically unique and will probably never be repeated. His book makes abundantly clear that major fires, civil disturbances, harassment of fire fighters, public apathy, underfunding and understaffing of fire departments were not confined to major municipalities. These problems existed in many smaller cities, such as Portland, Maine, during the hectic sixties and seventies.
His descriptions of the many fires and the operating procedures utilized, indicate his extensive personal experience in firefighting and company leadership. The reflections on previous decades are also enjoyable because they accurately reflect the evolution of equipment and operating procedures in the department.
The characters Don Whitney identifies as working firefighters reaffirm my own belief that those attracted to the profession have a similar outlook on life in general, the wry sense of humor that is essential to accepting the hazards as well as the ironies that are encountered in the job, always overshadowed by the determination to save lives and property."
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