Francis X Holt

An FDNY dispatcher for almost a decade, Francis X. Holt was assigned to the Brooklyn Central Office. He became the borough union delegate and, soon after that, the president of the union that represented FDNY fire alarm dispatchers. He has been a frequent contributor to Fire Engineering Magazine, Firehouse Magazine and 9-1-1 Magazine. Mr. Holt has been fortunate enough to have received a lot of formal education. But he has never learned more than during his time at FDNY. More than 30 years after his textbook "Emergency Communications Management" was published, Mr. Holt started writing novels about 1970's Brooklyn Fire Alarm Dispatchers. "The Guardians of Brooklyn" is both the name of the series and the name of the first book in the series, released in June 2022. "Don't Blame Brooklyn," the sequel to "The Guardians of Brooklyn," made its debut in August 2022. "Brooklyn Hellfire" was released on November 1, 2023. "Revenge of the Guardians of Brooklyn" debuted on November 2, 2024. He has added short stories, in Tales of The Guardians of Brooklyn. These include "Brooklyn Blood for the Bishop" (2022) and "Two Tales of The Guardians of Brooklyn" (2023). A related non-fiction work, "Have I Got a Story for You: Thinking About Writing Your Fire Service/EMS Memoirs," was released in July 2023. "The Tale of Brooklyn Box 1309," a novelette, was released in June, 2024. "Two More Tales of The Guardians of Brooklyn was released in August, 2024. "Collected Tales of Brooklyn Fire Dispatch," a paperback collection of short stories which were previously available in the Kindle format only, will be released on March 9, 2025. Mr. Holt is currently working on a non-fiction book, "911 Dispatchers Are More Than You Might Imagine," due out in 2025. Additionally, Mr. Holt has appeared on dispatcher-related podcasts, discussing the large number of job-related stressors that 911 Dispatchers encounter every shift.