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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How were the men rescued during the factory fire?

2. Which Irish writer did Smith discuss in his letter to the editor?

3. How did Smith feel when first approached about writing a memoir of firefighting?

4. In which city did Smith serve?

5. What did the three men sitting on Charlotte Street do when they saw the kid pull the false alarm in Chapter 3?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why, according to Dennis Smith, were so many false alarms were pulled in the South Bronx?

2. In reflecting on the boys who chanted hate-filled slogans at the firefighters in Chapter 4, Smith reflects that "people don't hate other people." What does he mean by that?

3. How did the firefighters feel about the deaths of the two teenagers in the Intervale Avenue arson fire in Chapter 1?

4. In what ways does Smith view the old-style machine politics as preferable to the current system?

5. Why was Smith reminded of the sun when he entered the burning room on Forest Avenue in Chapter 5?

6. Why does Smith say city workers were fleeing cities to live in the suburbs?

7. How did Dennis Smith get started on writing Report From Engine Co. 82?

8. What did the South Bronx neighbors do in an attempt to stop malicious false alarms from the Hoe Avenue alarm box and was it effective?

9. Explain why the landlord of the Intervale Avenue apartment building wanted the place torched.

10. Why did the firemen tease Billy Valenzio about his strength?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Fire departments in the United States are traditionally overwhelmingly white--Smith himself came from an Irish background and many of his fellow firemen are Irish or Italian. How did that situation arise? Does the tradition of family members following one another into the field explain it? In what ways have fire departments attempted to diversify in recent years, and have those efforts been successful? Are there specific ways you can think of that would help diversify fire departments?

Essay Topic 2

The firefighters of Engine Co. 82 made several efforts to connect with the neighborhood children, for example, through ice cream parties. Do these sorts of community outreach projects ultimately help the community and if so, how? How can seeing authority figures "at ease" and off the job help children see them as non-threatening? Smith at one point expresses dismay that firefighters willing to to crawl through a fire to rescue one black child will share ice cream with 100 black children. In what ways do these community outreach projects help firefighters themselves? Do they normally get the chance to see people at their best? Can getting to know the neighbors outside of emergency calls help firefighters develop a deeper and more satisfying relationship with their community?

Essay Topic 3

Smith describes his reasons for living outside of the community in which he served. Do you think it is necessary for civil servants to live in the communities for which they work? Would Smith have been any more effective if he had lived in the South Bronx? Or, did his decision to seek a quieter life for his family make it easier for him to serve a needy community? In what ways could living amongst the people you serve make you a better servant? Do communities have a responsibility to make it easier for civil servants to live locally by, for instance, ensuring affordable housing?

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