Dennis Smith (firefighter)
| Dennis Smith | |
|---|---|
| Born | Dennis Smith Manhattan, New York City, United States |
| Occupation | FDNY Firefighter (Retired), writer |
| Genre | Memoirs, Firefighting Research |
| Website | |
| www |
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Dennis Smith is an American writer and retired firefighter. He is the author of 16 books, most notable of which is the memoir, Report from Engine Co. 82, a chronicle of his career as a firefighter with the New York City Fire Department in a South Bronx firehouse from the late 1960s and into the 1970s. Smith served for 18 years as a New York City firefighter, from 1963 to 1981, and is the most well-known advocate for firefighters in the United States. After 9/11, he chronicled the 57 days he spent in rescue and recovery operations at the World Trade Center collapse in a bestselling book, Report from Ground Zero.
Dennis Smith is also the creator, founder and chairman of Wavepeg, an innovative vertical-dynamic social media site.
According to his autobiography, Dennis Smith is of Irish ancestry and grew up in a tenement on the East Side of Manhattan. In 1963, Smith took the New York City Civil Service Test and became a firefighter in the New York City Fire Department. He was first assigned to Engine Company 292, a fire company located in Queens. Three years later, in 1966, Smith transferred to the busiest fire company in the city, and perhaps the world at the time, Engine Company 82, located in the South Bronx. In the mid-1970s, shortly after his first book was published, Smith transferred to Ladder Company 66 in the North Bronx. During the duration of his career, Smith lived with his family in the Orange County suburb of Washingtonville, New York, before moving to East 84th Street in New York City.
In 1976, Smith founded Firehouse magazine. The magazine became the journal of record for the American fire service, and accorded Smith as its editor the opportunity to educate himself on most of the nation’s emergency management concerns. He sold Firehouse in 1991, but continued as founding editor. At the time, Firehouse was a monthly trade magazine with a circulation of 120,000, and a readership of 700,000 within the community of firefighters. While serving as the editor and publisher of Firehouse, Smith also created the Firehouse Muster and Convention in Baltimore (now in Nashville). He was presented with the Legacy Award of Firehouse Magazine in 2016.
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