Road King contributor Michael Perry is a volunteer fireman and EMT in his hometown of New Auburn, Wis. Population 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time (HarperCollins, $24.95) is his first major book, a moving, funny and often deeply insightful account of his experiences and of life in a small town.

As a writer living on Main Street, Perry was an ideal volunteer – he had a valid driver's license and a pulse and was home a lot. It was also a family tradition – his mother and younger brothers serve on the squads. This makes for some hijinks, but there's a sobering moment in the middle of a burning house when Perry realizes that all three brothers are inside, on the hose.

New Auburn is full of characters, like The One-Eyed Beagle whose divorces force him to buy gas in another town, and the boozer who objects to a diagnosis of “cardiac arrest.” The humor often underscores loss. In a small town, saviors and survivors live side by side, and Perry reveals how this can produce a profound comfort, especially in the book's devastating final chapter.

Population: 485 hits bookstores Oct. 11. For more about the book and its author, see www.population485.com.