"Fire Watch" is a science-fiction story written in 1982 by Connie Willis. The story involves a time-travelling historian who goes back to the Blitz in London, to participate in the fire watch at St. Paul's Cathedral.
The story won both a Hugo Award for Best Novelette and a Nebula Award for Best Novelette.[1] It was included in her 1984 short-story collection also titled Fire Watch.
The idea of a time-travelling history department at Oxford University, introduced in this story, was also used in her later novels Doomsday Book, To Say Nothing of the Dog, and Blackout/All Clear.
Willis's writing of "Fire Watch" predates the production of Doomsday Book by about a decade. However, Kivrin Engle, the main character of Doomsday Book, also appears as a minor character in "Fire Watch". The story references her experience with the Black Plague while time-traveling in the 14th Century.
The character of Professor James Dunworthy figures in "Fire Watch", Doomsday Book, To Say Nothing of the Dog, Blackout, and All Clear.