日批在线视频_内射毛片内射国产夫妻_亚洲三级小视频_在线观看亚洲大片短视频_女性向h片资源在线观看_亚洲最大网

Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
Opinion
Home / Opinion / From the Readers

Take steps to prevent fire tragedies

By Robert Lackman | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2018-04-03 11:21
Share
Share - WeChat
The Zimnyaya Vishnya shopping center in Prospekt Lenina Street, Kemerovo, Russia hit by fire on March 25. [Photo/VCG]

People around the world grieved over the news out of Russia. On March 25, 64 people perished in a fire in a popular shopping mall in Kemerovo, Siberia. 41 children died, including a village’s entire school class celebrating spring break. Children as young as 2 perished.

In such terrible times, it is easy to be overwhelmed. It is helpful to remember the heartfelt advice of American children’s television host Fred Rogers. He advised we "look for the helpers" as a way to avoid being overwhelmed when faced with tragedy.

In the spirit of looking to the helpers, let me mention the hundreds of firefighters who responded to the blaze. It surely must pain them that despite their efforts so many perished. I recently read the autobiography of US wildland firefighter Brendan McDonough. He mentions the frustration he felt after an exhausting day battling a fire, when he was thanked by local people. He felt so unworthy when he realized they were now homeless, since his team had not been able to contain the fire. McDonough has very mixed feelings when people call him a hero.

I was a wildland firefighter for 5 summers in college. I was not an elite, like the hotshots who travel the country to fight the most deadly fires. I was in an initial attack fire crew. Our job was to stay in our district and put out small fires before they got big. We were blessed to have a good fire boss named Mel who kept us safe. He never forgot how dangerous the job was. Two hundred firefighters doing their jobs have died in the last 20 years. He sadly had to dismiss several firefighters he judged not to be safe. He remarked he would be doing no favors keeping an unsafe firefighter because, as he said, "It is better to have no job than no life!"

He reminded us the most important rule for firefighters is to always have an escape plan. Firefighters can still get trapped despite the best training and caution, because of fire’s unpredictability. Firefighters truly are heroes, because they are endangering themselves to serve people.

This is not true for the criminals who lock fire exits. In the US' North Carolina in 1991, 25 people died and 75 were injured at a chicken processing plant because the fire exits were locked. People perished as they left kick marks on the doors trying to escape. The plant owner was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The same thing happened in the Siberian fire. There were several movie theaters in the shopping mall and the exit doors on some of the movie theaters were locked. After the fire started many parents received phone calls from their children who were unable to escape the fire because of the locked doors. One child said "We are locked in, we are suffocating." Another said, "I love you Mum, I'm dying." A parent will do anything to save their child. My father broke his leg saving me from being washed out to sea. Imagine the horror of the Russian father who heard his daughter say "I am suffocating" and could do nothing to rescue her, because his path was blocked.

This is a tragedy that has happened too many times in too many places around the world. What can be done? One obvious solution is more frequent and thorough safety inspections. Educate people to realize cheap door alarms are available, so there is never a need to lock a safety door to prevent theft. On Amazon.com exit alarms made by Safety Technologies International cost $80.

Next time you see a locked fire exit, please report it to government safety authorities. Please do it, for the sake of the children.

The author has taught at schools in Qingdao since leaving IBM in 1998.

Most Viewed in 24 Hours
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1994 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 日韩精品久久久久久免费 | 欧美久久久久久久久 | 911精品| 老牛嫩草二区三区观影体验 | 天天爱天天做天天操 | 久久精品国产精品亚洲精品色 | 91麻豆影视| 成人在线免费观看网站 | 国产成人在线免费观看视频 | 超碰人人超| 日韩视频区 | 日韩视频在线一区二区 | 日韩一区二区在线播放 | 91看片在线播放 | 人人插人人看 | 91视频色 | 久久久免费精品 | 久久国产成人精品av | 在线观看黄视频 | 激情欧美日韩 | 婷婷丁香久久 | 亚洲国产精品区 | 初体验3在线观看 | 国产在线网址 | 亚洲h视频 | 亚洲黄色大片 | 毛片网站在线看 | 超碰中文字幕在线 | 337p粉嫩大胆色噜噜噜 | 国产视频一区在线观看 | 99热这里都是精品 | 亚洲欧美小视频 | 国产视频一区二区在线观看 | 久久视频免费在线观看 | 成人午夜在线 | 天天干视频在线 | 欧美日韩不卡在线 | 国产在线一级 | 国产麻豆免费视频 | 黑人一级黄色片 | www天天操|