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The sacrifice of our noble firefighters

Published: 05 Feb. 2024, 20:14

The heartfelt eulogy from firefighter Yoon In-kyu mourning for his colleagues — 27-year-old Kim Soo-kwang and 35-year-old Park Soo-hoon, who both died in a blaze in search for victims in a burning meat processing factory in Mungyeong, North Gyeongsang — encapsulated the woefulness from their loss. “We all felt unexplainable pain over and over, remembering the sight of the bodies of our chiefs consumed by the raging blaze,” Yoon said.

The two firemen were killed when the factory building collapsed as they were looking for remaining people during a fire on Jan. 31. Their deaths underscored what life-threatening dangers firefighters face every day. Kim had passed a rigorous test for rescuers and Park, a former special forces soldier with a fifth-degree black belt in Taekwondo, could not survive the inferno. Over the last 10 years, 40 firemen have lost their lives while fighting the fire. Firemen rush into burning flames to risk their lives and save others.

All of them knew the risk they had to take, as they knew the danger of flames more than anyone else. Their self-giving action to save lives should be compensated with due honor, but public interest in their noble sacrifice is usually short-lived. Over 1,000 firemen are seriously injured every year, but they cannot get adequate care due to a lack of support for their hospital expenses. President Yoon Suk Yeol promised that the nation will not forget the sacrifice and commitment of the firemen killed in Mungyeong. The governing People Power Party’s interim leader Han Dong-hoon and majority Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung also expressed teary grievance. The promises of more keen attention and support must not be short-lived this time.

The survivors from fire battlegrounds also demand keen attention. According to a survey by the National Fire Agency and Seoul National University Bundang Hospital on 52,802 career firefighters, 43.9 percent, or 23,060, have suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and other mental disorders.

The trauma of firefighters who lose their colleagues is enormous. A survey of government-employed firefighters in 2014 showed that 38 percent reported hazardous mental health. But no actions have been taken since. A mature society should never forget the devotion and sacrifice of uniformed services.

New York citizens join the annual ritual of climbing 110 stairs in remembrance of firefighters who ran up 110 stairs to save people during the falling of the World Trade Centers in 2001. We cannot protect every firefighter who selflessly gives up their life to save another. But the society at least must do its utmost to tend to the survivors. It is the least we can do in honor of the young men lost in the recent fire.