Dennis Smith (1940–2022), firefighter and bestselling author
legacy.comDennis Smith was a New York City firefighter and author whose bestselling books included “Report from Ground Zero.”Smith joined the New York City Fire Department in 1963 after serving in the U.S.
Air Force. He received his first book deal after writing a thoughtful letter to the New York Times Book Review in response to statements by author Joyce Carol Oates about poet William Butler Yeats.
His first book, 1972’s “Report from Engine Co. 82,” was a memoir of his early years as a firefighter that sold millions of copies and inspired readers to join their own fire departments.
Smith went on to write more than a dozen books, including “History of Firefighting in America” and “San Francisco Is Burning: The Untold Story of the 1906 Earthquake and Fires.” He also wrote the children’s books “The Little Fire Engine that Saved the City” and “Brassy the Fire Engine” and founded Firehouse magazine.
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