Yes, I would eject before turning off. I just did not note that key step. I just wanted to keep it cool and off until I need it. Thankss

There are no external firewire hard drives that I know of, which can be safely turned off without unmounting.

For this type of feature and for a price, you could use a network drive that connects through ethernet. While this type of drive will safely shut down without unmounting, you still run a risk of loosing open files from users.