Firefighter's Confession: When life and death are just a split second apart

Dangerous Choices

Both Khanh and Tuan entered the profession by chance. While Tuan "fell in love" with the police service and has been with the industry for 11 years since leaving school, Khanh was transferred to this position 7 years ago. In the role of fire police officers, they have overcome life and death moments together, are considered to be good fighters, ready to sacrifice, contribute and have many achievements in their professional duties.

Senior Lieutenant Ho Dinh Khanh (left) and Senior Lieutenant Nguyen Duc Tuan (right) have achieved many high achievements in their professional duties. Photo: NVCC

Meet Khanh and Tuan after the showrehearsal, I could imagine the hardships that the two had just gone through on their faces red from the sun, sweat drenching their protective clothing. No matter how stressful and difficult the training sessions and drills were, they could not compare to the harshness and danger of real situations - stories that few people witnessed and were rarely told by firefighters.

Because no one would be foolish enough to rush into a fire, very few people can imagine what it would be like inside - where firefighters risk their lives to do their duty. "Civil fires in buildings often have a lot of black smoke, filling the space in two directions (from bottom to top and from top to bottom), the smoke is so thick that you can't see anything, the smell of burning materials is strong, ash and dust are so thick on the floor that you have to crawl to avoid falling, the dust can be so much that when we come home that night, we may have a sore throat, and a few days later we will still cough up black particles. An oxygen tank is enough to breathe for 15 minutes under normal conditions. But in the working conditions of firefighters, the amount of gas in the tank can sometimes only be used for 5-10 minutes, they often communicate with each other by symbols, all operations must be quick, calculated precisely to save time, because life and death are only a split second apart..." - Tuan began his career story with the most general things.

Firefighters control a large fire. Photo: DVCC

Unlike theory, unlike drills, in reality, no fire is the same as another fire, so firefighters need to be both professionally skilled and good at improvising and handling. Sharing about a scary situation he experienced, Nguyen Duc Tuan told about the time he put out a fire at a bar on Ly Thuong Kiet Street (Vinh City). Assigned to the reconnaissance team, Tuan and a colleague went to the second floor of the building when the fire was relatively under control. Tuan recalled: “The thickness of the second floor floor was very thin, the cladding underneath was made of flammable materials that had burned down. Before deciding to step on it, we had already stepped on it to test the strength of the floor, but halfway up, the floor still broke and collapsed unexpectedly. By reflex, the two brothers stretched out their arms and luckily grabbed onto the crossbar so they did not fall. From a height of 4m above the ground, below were scattered charred tables and chairs, with only the steel frames left. If they fell, they would definitely be seriously injured.”

Fire Prevention and Rescue Team No. 1 (Vinh City Police) extinguishes a civil fire. Photo: DVCC

As for Ho Dinh Khanh, among the most memorable fires, the one at Tan Thinh Apartment (Vinh city) must be mentioned. “The fire was discovered at 4am, caused by an electrical short circuit, originating from the electrical room on the 6th floor, but black smoke had already filled the upper floors. After rescuing the houses on the 6th and 7th floors, and determining that there was a family trapped on the 13th floor, I wrapped a wet towel around my head and took on the task of bringing these people down. There were 2 grandparents, 1 mother and 2 children in the house. The mother was holding 1 child, I was holding the other child and led the whole family down the stairs. When reaching the 9th floor, the mother was exhausted, so I carried both children. Halfway, the towel slipped off but I couldn’t stop to fix it, so smoke, dust, and heat rushed straight into my nose. When I reached the apartment lobby and safely handed over the 2 children, I was completely exhausted and didn’t know anything else,” Khanh said. He was unconscious and taken to the emergency room immediately.

If thosecivil fireis the myriad of difficulties in putting out firesforest firemuch easier to imagine. Faced with huge flames that raged for hours, even days, firefighters could only equip themselves with the simplest protection.

Tuan shared: “The scariest thing when fighting a forest fire is the change in direction of the wind. There are many cases where people are hit by fire when the wind suddenly blows the fire in the opposite direction. In addition, fighting a forest fire is often very tiring because of working for a long time in harsh conditions, complex terrain, and fires occur at high density during the hot season. There were days when we had to deal with up to 15 fires, so tired that when we heard the phone ring, we shivered, and after putting out the fire, we just lay on the ground, unable to stand up.”

Putting out a forest fire in Hung Nguyen. Photo: Trong Kien

The hardships and difficulties have been mentioned in the media, but perhaps not many people know about the firefighters drinking puddle water and river water while putting out the fire.

Khanh explained: “The water used to put out the fire in the fire truck is tap water, but when it runs out of water, the truck will get water from any nearest source, including ditch water, pond water, lake water... In many cases, when we are thirsty and have no supply, that water source is also our drinking water. At that time, we do not think about cleanliness or dirtiness, we just drink to avoid dying of thirst.” Having said that, Khanh patted his colleague on the shoulder, humorously listing the rivers that the two brothers had “tasted”.

Obsession, Serenity and Pride

When asked about the obsession of the profession, both Khanh and Tuan paused. For them, obsession is part of the job, a part that is always present - a very sad part.

“Haunted by death” - Tuan replied.

Pausing for a moment, he continued: “At first, newcomers to the profession will be haunted by what they witness, to the point of losing sleep all night. After a while in the profession, the haunting images will disappear. But the hauntings of loss, pain, and tragedy will not, each time it is a different story, a different pain.”

Even after many years of working, firefighters like Tuan and Khanh will never get used to the feeling of their hearts tightening when they touch a victim but their skin is already cold, never get used to the sight of the skeletons of a small family lined up next to each other on a bed, never get used to the pain of seeing a baby that has not yet been born...

Scene of a serious fire in Vinh City, after it was extinguished. Photo: Nam Phuc

Those haunting memories are the reason why each time they receive a mission, both of them always try their best and rush into it with the same determination. “When we rush into the fire, we only think of one goal: how to ensure the safety of people's lives and property. That goal is like an order from within ourselves, only when we complete it will we feel relieved and peaceful” – Khanh said.

Despite their efforts, soldiers like Khanh and Tuan are not always rewarded.well-deserved recognition“We have 90 seconds from the time we receive the fire alarm until the vehicle leaves the unit gate. All personal belongings and tools must always be ready. During the shift, protective clothing is always worn. However, traffic in Vinh during rush hour is very crowded and complicated, so moving is not always fast. If we are late, we will be blamed. Besides, in some situations, when we think that the central area has burned down and cannot be saved, we concentrate on zoning off the area and spraying water around, but people still misunderstand,” Tuan shared.

Joy when the fire was extinguished. Photo: NVCC

Surely because they had a specific goal, a supreme command from within, Tuan and Khanh mentioned the misunderstanding in a light way, just like the way they talked about the joy of receiving thank you letters and gifts from people, the joy of living in a group of brothers united and close together...

“After experiencing so many dangers, if given the choice, would Khanh and Tuan choose to become firefighters?” – I asked. “We will still be firefighters and are willing to do this job as long as our health allows. Because the feeling of saving a life and extinguishing a dangerous fire is an extremely happy feeling, it is worth the trade-off and facing the dangers” – Khanh confided with Tuan’s agreement.

As for me, I think those soldiers were born with a mission.heroes.