Surprising stories in major fires around the world
A mother threw her child from the 5th floor in a critical moment, a son carried his mother on his back to escape from the highest floor of an apartment building, 19 firefighters sacrificed their lives to save the forest... are touching stories of major fires around the world.
Video: Unknown hero risks his life to save a wild rabbit (Source: ABC News)
The story of a mother from the 5th floor of a burning apartment building
In 2017, a terrible fire broke out in London, England. The Grenfell Tower apartment building burned down, taking 17 lives and injuring 74. In that fire, many people did not hesitate to risk their lives to save others.
A typical example is the case of a little girl who was saved by a brave neighbor. In desperation, the girl’s mother had to throw her out of a 5th (or 6th) floor window to escape the fire that was engulfing the entire apartment building. It is known that the distance the girl fell from the window to the ground was 15m.
A miracle happened when her neighbor Pat caught her and sheltered her under a tree. A witness said he held the girl tightly in his arms as debris from the building fell.
A witness named Kadelia Woods, 20, recalled: “Her mother was standing at the window screaming. The fire was very big. It was about 2am and the building was surrounded by smoke. The man named Pat shouted: ‘Let her go, I’ll catch her’.
But the mother screamed: 'No, no, I can't!'. Finally, the mother threw the girl out of the window and Pat caught her.
The girl and Pat were then taken to the hospital for treatment by rescuers. Unfortunately, the girl’s mother died.
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| Photo: BBC |
The boy carried his mother out of the fire.
Not only Pat, another hero honored by the media in the Grenfell Tower fire was Shekeb Neda - the guy who carried his paralyzed mother from the top floor of the apartment building to escape.
Shekeb Neda (24 years old) is a graduate student at Kingston University, UK. Shekeb's uncle, Mr. Areaf (54 years old), said that Mrs. Flora suffered from muscular paralysis and when the apartment building caught fire, she suffered from smoke inhalation.
Mr. Areaf recalled: "My grandson put his mother's arms around his neck and carried her down from the 24th floor."
A friend of Shekeb’s family, Mr. Fahim Muzhary (62), also said: “Shekeb is a hero. In the chaos, everyone was screaming and running. But Shekeb still carried his mother from the top floor of the apartment building.
He ran all the way out. I don't know how he did it."
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| Shekeb Neda and family. |
Shekeb Neda and his mother eventually survived and recovered in hospital, but his father, Mohamed, was lost in the fire.
The Story of 19 Firefighters
A lightning-caused wildfire in the town of Yarnell, 130km northwest of Phoenix, USA, has claimed the lives of 19 firefighters.
This fire is recorded as one of the most destructive fires in US history.
These soldiers are part of a special team called Hotshot, which is a team that specializes in handling the most serious fires in the country. There are 110 Hotshot teams in the US, each with only 20 people and specially trained.
According to government sources, a forest near the town of Yarnell was on fire, and to prevent the fire from spreading to the town, these soldiers were mobilized to do the job. But because the fire spread too quickly, 19 firefighters were unfortunately sacrificed.
The soldiers' sacrifice is the largest loss of American firefighters in 80 years.
Only one member of the 20-man group survived, because he was moving the unit's truck at that crucial moment.
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| The firefighters are part of the Hotshots squad. |
A memorial was established to commemorate the heroic sacrifice of these “19 heroes”. Later, a movie called “Only the brave” was also produced by Hollywood to honor and commemorate the soldiers.
The Unsung Hero in the California Wildfire Disaster
Last year, Americans were devastated by a massive wildfire in California that forced 200,000 people to evacuate.
This is considered a historic fire that destroyed habitats and burned many wild animals. The clip of a man risking his life to rush into the fire to save a wild rabbit was the most shared on social media last year.
The clip, recorded by an ABC News reporter, shows a man panicking when he sees a wild rabbit struggling in the middle of a fire.
At first he was confused about what to do but then he ran over and saved the rabbit from the raging fire.
Asked to be interviewed, the man refused and did not reveal his identity.
Then the silent hero faded into the darkness, knowing only that the wild rabbit was safe in his arms.
