We Can See it from the Bridge, Dave Houseal, 2005
Dave Houseal’s grandfather worked his way up through the ranks to become Fire Chief of the Harrisburg Fire Department. His father was an officer of the neighboring Progress Fire Company for many years and Fire Chief of the department for over a decade.
As he grew up, Dave listened to their stories at the dining table, and he watched them at work on the fireground, making decisions and leading the men. The fire service was in Dave Houseal’s blood. He joined the Progress Fire Company right after high school, and became a career member of the Harrisburg Fire Department a few years later. He never looked back.
Harrisburg is not a huge city. It is not New York or Boston, Philly or Baltimore. But it is a good-sized city, and being the capital of Pennsylvania means its population nearly triples each and every day. And Harrisburg is an old city — an old, East Coast, industrial city — which means its fire department confronted all the problems the big cities had during the 60s and 70s, the period many American firefighters call “The War Years.” Abandoned factories, decaying warehouses, hundreds of crumbling and vacant row-houses, high-rise fires, church fires, arson and riots. And let’s not forget reduced manpower and antiquated equipment thanks to the slash and burn budget policies of successive political hacks.
Oh! What a time to be a firefighter!
Dave Houseal worked in every firehouse and on every platoon and almost on every company of the Harrisburg Fire Department during his almost thirty year career before he retired in 2003. Like his father and grandfather he had some great stories, and he tells them in We Can See It from the Bridge, a collection of compelling and funny tales that demonstrate Dave’s deep appreciation of the traditions of the American fire service. Dave Houseal is proud to be a firefighter, and that pride is in every page of We Can See It from the Bridge.
6" x 9 1/4", 237 pages, B&W photos, ISBN: 1-879848-30-9, hardcover, BW2633 / $24.95
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