Michael Branch, a two year veteran of the Louisville Fire Department, is one of 50 fire service professionals to be profiled in a new book by Rizzoli New York.
"American Firefighter" (Welcome Books) is a series of written reflections from 50 firefighters accompanied by photography from Paul Mobley, a prominent portrait photographer.
Mobley and his crew traversed the United States in 2016 to capture the images in the book. Branch, who is stationed at Engine 18, Platoon 3, was selected from a large pool of nominees from across the country to write essays on what drew them to become firefighters.