Firehouse

In 1975, driven by a deep admiration for firefighters and a desire to document their selfless heroism, Jill Freedman embedded herself with the FDNY during the turbulent "War Years" in the South Bronx and Harlem. Because women were not permitted in the firehouse dormitories, she slept in the back seat of a chief’s car parked in the station for six days a week, spending her nights and days responding to alarms alongside the crew. Strapping two cameras to her neck, she ran into burning, smoke-filled tenements to capture the dangerous, grueling reality of their work from the inside.

Published in 1977 in collaboration with firefighter and author Dennis Smith, Firehouse stands as an unfiltered, deeply empathetic portrait of brotherhood, exhaustion, and resilience. Looking beyond the adrenaline of the blazes, Freedman recorded the quiet moments around the kitchen table, the dark humor, and the shared grief between calls, capturing a rare insider’s record of courage and community amid a city in crisis.