What is "fire watch"

n. 1 In time of war or danger, the task of looking out for signs of fire caused by the dropping of incendiary devices etc. 2 The act of watching for the occurrence of fires. This is usually done with the intent of detecting fires early so that they can be extinguished quickly and damage to land and/or property can be prevented or minimalized. Fire watches are often employed in forested areas where the risk of fires is high (dry conditions, hot weather, etc) or in industrial settings where hot work (welding, metal grinding, etc) is occurring.

Fire Watch is a book of short stories by Connie Willis, first published in 1984, that touches on time travel, nuclear war, the end of the world, and cornball humour.

The title story, "Fire Watch", is about a time-travelling historian who goes back to the Blitz in London. He's miffed because he spent years preparing to travel with St. Paul and gets sent to St. Paul's Cathedral in London, instead. This model of time travel also features in Willis's subsequent novels Doomsday Book, To Say Nothing of the Dog and Blackout/All Clear, set in the same continuity.

The stories are:

• " Fire Watch"
• "Service for the Burial of the Dead"
• "Lost and Found"
• "All My Darling Daughters"
• "The Father of the Bride"
• " A Letter from the Clearys"
• "The Sidon in the Mirror"
• "And Come from Miles Around"
• "Daisy, in the Sun"
• "Mail Order Clone"
• "Samaritan"
• "Blued Moon"

This was Connie Willis's first collection. Several of the stories won or were nominated for awards:

• "Fire Watch" won both a Hugo Award for Best Novelette and a Nebula Award for Best Novelette in 1983, besides other awards
• " A Letter from the Clearys" won a Nebula Award for Best Short Story in 1983
• "The Sidon in the Mirror" was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Novelette and a Nebula Award for Best Novelette in 1984
• "Daisy, in the Sun" was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1980
• "Blued Moon" was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Novelette in 1985.

"Fire Watch" is a science-fiction novelette by Connie Willis. The story, first published in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine in February 1982, involves a time-traveling historian who goes back to the Blitz in London, to participate in the fire lookout at St. Paul's Cathedral.