A story about the women and men who wake up for the 2 a.m. call, who clothe themselves in nomex and mask their faces while the sirens sing and the windows fog. For the things we've lost and found in fires—broken glass, victims, the sound of our own breath. Blackened ceilings and frozen hose lines, breathing bottled air. Rolling black smoke and one-inch visibility. Saws and metal on rooftops and surviving structural collapse. The stillness when we reemerge, and the steam lifts off us like wings.

22 tracks