The Firehouse Yak: Michael Glore - The Importance of Fire Service War Stories

Peter Matthews talks with deputy chief and author Michael Glore about the importance of accurate fire department histories and how that helps firefighters understand what they do and why they do it.

Peter Matthews

Michael Glore

June 9, 2025

2 min read

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Peter Matthews invites author Michael Glore, who is a deputy chief with the Reading, PA, Fire Department, to share his interest in fire service history and how the war stories from the past has shaped today’s fire service.

Glore, who has nearly 40 years in the fire service and has co-authored four fire service history books, explains why firefighters should know their department’s history to help make tactical decisions, but also to understand by certain tactics are understood.

The show is filled with historical nuggets for all listeners from the recent 40th anniversary of firefighter fatality fire in Reading involving a flashover, to an early example of a BLEVE to firefighter cancer. Glore explains how firefighters can capture their history and how to share it with others.

Michael Glore

Resources

About the Author

Peter Matthews

Editor-in-Chief/Conference Director

Peter Matthews is the conference director and editor-in-chief of Firehouse. He has worked at Firehouse since 1999, serving in various roles on both Firehouse Magazine and Firehouse.com staffs. He completed an internship with the Rochester, NY, Fire Department and served with fire departments in Rush, NY, and Laurel, MD, and was a lieutenant with the Glenwood Fire Company in Glenwood, NY. Matthews served as photographer for the St. Paul, MN, Fire Department and currently is a photographer for the Fort Worth, TX, Fire Department.

Michael Glore

Michael Glore joined the Pottsville, PA Fire Department in 1986 and has held the rank of lieutenant, captain, and departmental safety officer, as well as various administrative offices. He served as assistant fire chief of the City of Pottsville, Bureau of Fire from 2004-2007. In 2007, he was hired as a career firefighter in the City of Reading, PA. In 2014, Glore was promoted to lieutenant and was assigned Rescue Company 1 in downtown and he now holds the rank of deputy chief. In 2013, Glore received the department’s Lifesaving Award. He was an officer in the Schuylkill County Fire Chiefs’ Association and was a member of the Standard Operating Guidelines committee as well as the committee that developed and implemented the Association’s Juvenile Firesetter Intervention Program. Mike also served on the Schuylkill County Local Emergency Planning Committee for 15 years, having been chairman for five of those years. Glore has co-authored the following fire service history books: Pottsville Firefighting, Reading Firefighting, Schuylkill County Firefighting, and The Great Memorial Day Fire of 1945 and other Schuylkill County Disasters.