The adventure begins when James Michael Sullivan is introducedto the Purgatory Fire Department’s A-shift headquarters crewand is immediately thrust into the often-violent world of thefirefighter-emergency medical technician. At first unable tocomprehend the morbid humor approach of veteran firefighters,he is gradually transformed into a jaded professional, so totallyproficient at bottling his emotional responses to horror that hebegins to feel his humanity is in jeopardy. His mission: Save livesand property. His goal: Reach retirement age physically and mentallywhole. How will the adventure end? The answer lies in a place calledPurgatory. Welcome.
Robert Breen was a seventeen-yearmember of the Petaluma, California FireDepartment, 1973-1990. He worked asa firefighter-emergency medical technician,a rescue vehicle driver, a relief engineer andtruck operator, a producer of trainingvideos, and a CPR instructor.After retirement, he enrolled at SonomaState College in Rohnert Park, California,graduating in 1993 with a B.A. degreein dramatic arts, and returning in 1998to take postgraduate courses in creativewriting. He lives with his wife in Petaluma.