Rush into the fire to serve the people

HCMC - "Ready to accept sacrifices and losses to carry out the mission of saving people and property, and also the spirit of the People's Police serving the people."

That is the sharing of Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Chi Thanh - Deputy Captain of the Fire Fighting and Rescue Team (Fire Fighting and Rescue Team), Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Department (PC07), Ho Chi Minh City Police, a brave, passionate and dedicated soldier. Over the past 20 years, he cannot remember how many "death doors" he has gone through, only knowing to devote himself with his teammates to fulfill the responsibility of a soldier in peacetime.

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Chi Thanh - Deputy Captain of the Fire Fighting and Rescue Team (PCCC and Rescue), Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Department (PC07), Ho Chi Minh City Police for more than 20 years of dedication to the profession, serving the people. Photo: Chan Phuc

Fighting the "fire enemy"

Originally from Thai Binh , but born and raised in Cu Chi (HCMC), Thanh's family has lived along the Saigon River since he was a child. He has witnessed many people drowning, their bodies were not intact after many days of searching, especially his relatives who also drowned and died tragically. "That image really made my heart ache", he emotionally recalled and said that it was the motivation that urged him to pursue a career in rescue.

In April 2002, Mr. Thanh was assigned to carry out a firefighting mission at U Minh Thuong National Forest in Kien Giang - the first difficult mission of his career. At that time, Mr. Thanh and 30 officers and soldiers, 20 pumps and 3 fire trucks set out to "go to battle". The rescue site had rugged terrain forest, while firefighting tools could not be deployed, and fire trucks could not reach the scene.

"We had to use manpower to dig a 4km water canal into the forest, placing a fire pump every 200m," he recalled.

After many days, Mr. Thanh and his teammates successfully completed the mission, protecting 700 hectares of primary forest and preventing the fire from spreading to 10,000 hectares of planted forest.

Image of a firefighter willing to accept sacrifice and loss to carry out the mission of saving people. Photo: Character provided

Just want to live to serve the people

With 23 years in the profession, Mr. Thanh confided that when facing a victim, he had no time to think about himself, only thinking about how to save their lives as quickly as possible, or at least bring the victim back to their family to ease the pain of those left behind.

Recalling the time he and the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security participated in the earthquake rescue in Turkey in early 2023, Mr. Thanh said that it was a trip he will never forget in his life. Upon arrival, the whole team had not yet had time to rest before starting the search in temperatures of -6 degrees Celsius, without electricity or water, and had to live in temporary tents.

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Chi Thanh and his teammates set off to a neighboring country to support search and rescue efforts. Photo: Character provided

Thanh's team was assigned to a location where many other countries had searched before but found no survivors. “We dug from dawn to dusk, cutting iron, using body temperature detectors, using our senses to detect victims and a miracle happened,” he recounted emotionally.

The team reached and rescued the 17-year-old boy from the rubble, to the joy of his family, local authorities and international rescue forces. He then continued to search for 14 bodies with the team.

Lieutenant Colonel Thanh said that at that time, the Turkish Government and people, as well as international friends, highly appreciated the sense of responsibility, capacity, modern means and professionalism of the Vietnamese delegation.

Lieutenant Colonel Thanh during the earthquake rescue in Türkiye. Photo: Provided by the character

"People ran out, we had to run in even though we knew it was dangerous but we had to do it," he said with tears in his eyes and told himself to always keep himself safe so he could continue to dedicate himself to his profession for the rest of his life.

Source: https://laodong.vn/xa-hoi/lao-vao-bien-lua-de-phuc-vu-nhan-dan-1381708.ldo