Heroics of firefighters in Jableh during post-earthquake rescues

Firefighters are true heroes whose real value is known only when disasters and calamities occur. When we need them, they meet us with constant willingness in their distinctive uniform and red cars. They support us and precede all to face risks and save lives.

There, in the city of Jableh, and at the time of the earthquake the firefighters raced to save and protect people despite weak capabilities. None of them waited for orders to move…They all came from their work centers or from their homes to participate in saving earthquake victims. The stories told about their heroic deeds are so many and here are some of them.

Major Iyad Muhammad, Commander of the Jableh Fire Brigade, affirmed that the personnel’s work was within the available capabilities, including hydraulic scissors, a hammer, cars with ladders, and cranes used to save the living and recover the bodies, pointing out that until this moment the firefighters are still on alert due to the existence of collapsing buildings threatening public safety and neighboring buildings before they are demolished.

Major Muhammad told SANA reporter: “I went with the rescue crane to the Al-Asiliya site where we were informed that there was a building that was about to fall with a trapped family of father, mother and a young child inside. After several attempts using the crane, we were able to pull out a child and treat him, and then the woman was rescued. She told us that her husband was inside alive under the rubble. Immediately, members of the firefighting group entered risking their lives although they know that the building may fall on them. Finally, in a work that took three hours, they managed to remove the rubble and pull the man.”

Firefighter Alaa Ibrahim, for his part, said that he came from his remote village just after the earthquake and before sunrise, heading to the Al-Ghazalat site in Jableh city. While extinguishing the fire that broke out in one of the buildings, he heard an elderly woman’s cry. He rushed with some members of his group to the source of the sound, where they searched for her, rescued her and took her to an ambulance.

Talking about another incident, Ibrahim said “we were informed that some people were still alive under the rubble in the town of Ayn al-Arous. We went there where we found soldiers from the Syrian army doing the rescue. The construction was collapsed. We opened a longitudinal space and cleared the rubble to get to the targeted place where we found two children in good health. We manage to take out the children, but unfortunately their father and mother were dead, so we took out their bodies. ”

Al-Akhdar Al-Arabi Ajamiyah Firefighter pointed out that he went to the Al-Feid site where he managed to rescue a child from under the rubble after cutting iron and demolishing part of the ceiling, noting that he had spoken with the girl child to determine her exact location and the best available way to reach her. The girl was pulled successfully by using a hydraulic cutting device with the help of the team members and civilians.

Amal Farhat