Jim Hawkins has worked in almost every aspect of firefighting, beginning as a wild land "Hot Shot", working as a radio dispatcher and firefighter in Arizona, assisting with arson investigations and almost 25 years as a firefighter and EMT for the City and County of Denver.He is quick to acknowledge that anyone working in emergency services will have a catalog of "war stories" to relate. In this book, he has assembled many of his experiences that range from humorous to unbelievable. He has made an effort to show the human and sometimes flawed life of a professional firefighter/medic. Although, possibly entertaining, "blood and guts" situations are not the focus of his stories.Looking back through the smoke and sirens, you will be able to glimpse the everyday workings of a big city fire station, the slang vocabulary that becomes a working language inside the department and some of the bizarre situations firefighters encounter.