About the Author

Neal Stoffers is a retired Newark Fire Captain. He began his career as a firefighter assigned to Engine Company 6 located on Springfield Avenue and Hunterdon Street and fought fires in Newark's Central Ward from the late 1970s until the mid 1980s. During this period he found time to earn a B.A. from Seton Hall University. In 1991 he earned an M.A. from the same school. MS forced him out of the firehouse, but not off the job. Over the next twenty years, his varied assignments included everything from the Office of Hazardous Materials to vice president of the Newark Firefighters Union. However, most Newark firefighters will remember him instructing them at the Training Academy. He has written 8 oral history books about the Newark Fire Department, 3 adult novels, 3 children's novels, and a short history of the Chinese in New Jersey.