Fired up — that’s why they’re hired

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Kung-fu Hillbilly
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Fired up — that’s why they’re hired

Post by Kung-fu Hillbilly »

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Members of the Municipal Fire-Fighting Unit and their fire-truck. GT2/Taing Rinith


Taing Rinith
August 16, 2019


While Cambodian folks live the day, the job of fire-fighting fall squarely on a motley crew.

A Khmer proverb says, “A sinking boat in the middle of a river is better than a house on fire”. Of course, the last thing any sane person wants is a fire. Yet in the city of Phnom Penh, in the deadly mix of humid climate, a Rubik’s Cube of entangled buildings, endless traffic jams and a spiderweb of power lines have left ‘many a ruin for the poor boys’. While Cambodian folks live the day, the job of fire-fighting fall squarely on a motley crew. So are the lives of these brave men in red anywhere like the Marvel heroes of Stan Lee?

The alarm suddenly went off, which meant a callout coming through. Everyone in the municipal fire-fighting department drop what they are doing and dash for their protective gear, fire hoses and other specialized equipment. Then all of them clamber onto one of the big fire trucks parked in a lot next to the station and head out to a storehouse on fire. By the time they reach the hotspot, a blast was already out of control, so they have to focus on stopping the blaze from spreading and also look for people who need rescue

“Some drivers stop their vehicles in front of our truck like nothing is happening,” Sambath says with utter disbelief. “I believe they behave like this because it is not their property which is being destroyed.”

According to Major General Neth Vantha, Director of the Interior Ministry’s Fire Department, the most frequent causes of fires in Phnom Penh are electrical faults and flammable substances, which accounted for 40 percent and 38 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, only about half of 1.5 million Phnom Penhers have at least one fire extinguisher at home.

Full https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50634164/f ... yre-hired/
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