Fire Watch (book)

Fire Watch is a 1984 collection of science-fiction short stories by Connie Willis that touches on time travel, nuclear war, the end of the world, and cornball humor.

The title story, "Fire Watch", is about a time-travelling history student who goes back to the Blitz in London for his final project. He is miffed because he has spent years preparing to travel with St. Paul but instead is sent to St. Paul's Cathedral centuries later. During his time in the past, he is assigned to a crew that watches over the cathedral during bombing raids for any fires, which they then put out amid dangerous conditions. The story examines the lessons he learns about the harsh realities of time travel and the permanence of the past. 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.