"Flames and Smoke Visible " is the true story about a veteran fire fighter who was injured on the fireground. While in the hospital, he is compelled to consider what it means to be. What emerges from his remembrance of things past is a lean and eloquent book about brave and honorable fire fighters who possess the mystery of knowing how to face the living and the dying. Their valiant stories are filled with understated wisdom and humility about the beautiful and dreadful things encountered on the fireground. As David Willson, author of "REMF Diary: A Novel of the Vietnam War Zone," writes: With the authority of experience as a professional fire fighter, D.S. Lliteras has written an authentic and entertaining book . . . a beautifully written, riveting account about this profession that is not only a first-rate entertaining book but also a book which informs, instructs, and allows the reader access to the human heart. "