Five Floors Up The Heroic Family Story of Four Generations in the FDNY

Rescue Me meets Blue Bloods in this riveting social history of the New York City Fire Department told from the perspective of the Feehan family, who served in the FDNY for four generations and counting.

Seen through the eyes of four generations of a firefighter family, Five Floors Up the story of the modern New York City Fire Department. From the days just after the horse-drawn firetruck, to the devastation of the 1970s when the Bronx was Burning, to the unspeakable tragedy of 9/11, to the culture-busting department of today, a Feehan has worn the shoulder patch of the FDNY. The tale shines the spotlight on the career of William M. Feehan. “Chief” Feehan is the only person to have held every rank in the FDNY including New York City’s 28th Fire Commissioner. He died in the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center. But Five Floors Up is at root an intimate look at a firefighter clan, the selflessness and bravery of not only those who face the flames, but the family members who stand by their sides. Alternately humorous and harrowing, rich with anecdotes and meticulously researched and reported, Five Floors Up takes us inside a world few truly understand, documenting an era that is quickly passing us by. 
 

Brian McDonald was born in the Bronx and grew up in Rockland County, New York. He is a graduate of Fordham University and the Columbia School of Journalism, contributes frequently to New York City newspapers, including The New York Times, and teaches writing and journalism at several schools, including Fordham University. He is the author of the nonfiction works My Father's Gun, Indian Summer, Safe Harbor: A Murder In Nantucket, and Last Call at Elaine's. He also co-wrote, with Malachy McCourt, Death Need Not Be Fatal, and has ghostwritten four political books, three of which were New York Times bestsellers, with one topping the list for five weeks.