"Firehouse 101" address the 9/11 attacks from the perspective of displaced "New Yorkers" (ie people who have lived in the surrounding states as well), who were living in other parts of the country when the attacks happened and how it affected them and their emotional toll. The book deals with one such person, Alex Livingston, a Honolulu hotel executive who is forced to confront his own life choices after the attacks.

Because of the severe downturn in the travel industry after the tragic events of 9/11, Alex Livingston is transferred from his dream job in a luxurious Honolulu hotel to his company's downtown business property in Brooklyn, where he must face the family he ran away from years earlier and a city still reeling from the horrific attacks. While adjusting to life in Brooklyn, Alex discovers that it's denizens are not just trying to make sense of a world gone mad, but dealing with day to day issues in their multicultural neighborhood in Boerum Hill. Alex befriends a FDNY firefighter, Ryan Callahan, who is haunted by his own role in the events of 9/11. Through Ryan and his firehouse comrades, Alex comes to terms with the bizarre turns his life has taken and has new hope for the future.