Even with the new bunker gear, he said, the rate of heart attack among firefighters has stayed roughly the same.

"I thought I told you men wearing bunker gear to get the hell out of this bar," the chief growled.

"All this job is anymore is pulling bodies," said a fireman in bunker gear as he filed out the door.

When the heavy, flame-resistant pants and coats known as bunker gear became mandatory, a lot of older guys quit.

High overhead in the rafters dangled bunker gear that looked brand-new.

Firefighters in heavy bunker gear yelled at colleagues, who stood looking toward a rolling pillar of smoke to move.

But he maintained that bunker gear "certainly could have reduced the severity of the burns."

"You can look into the weave of the bunker gear and see the dust," he said.

Add in forty pounds of bunker gear, a breath-pack and all the rest and it was a challenge.

She'd stripped out of the bunker gear by then and she stood in the coverall tall and stone faced.