Firefighter is a firefighter wherever he/she stands.
To tell the truth, when I watched the scene on the news I wondered how they were going to control such an emergency and what methods they would apply, confesses Raúl Álvarez, a Venezuelan firefighter who in August 2022 arrived in Cuba to collaborate in the fight against the fire that caused havoc a year ago at the Supertanker Base in the city of Matanzas.
At world level, the sister island of Martí and Fidel appeared in the headlines and what a pity it was not to exalt part of its achievements, which in spite of so much time in economic blockade they managed to consolidate in Revolution, it was highlighted by the incident that devastated a hydrocarbon reservoir after the impact of an electric shock in a tank, Alvarez recalls in digital communication.
«When I heard the reporters say about an explosion in one of the tanks and that apparently there were missing people, I knew the high possibility that they were firefighters because they were the ones who were in the hot zone of the event, that shook me.
«I just wanted to arrive and join the operations with the team that our President Nicolás Maduro Moros entrusted with the task of helping in the control of the raging fire, 42 men and a female representation, all professionals to whom I will always have respect and admiration.
During the trip, the faces of my loved ones would come to me when I told them that I was going to support the firefighters in Cuba because of the situation that was developing, and certainly the voice of my family would come to me and say: «Come back well and may God protect you, we will pray for you here».
The good wishes filled me with courage to strive harder in the goal of helping, but also to return safe and sound to Venezuela, highlights the senior technician in Fire Science and Fire Safety.
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I can say that from our leaders to the technical personnel we embraced the mission with the same dedication that moved everyone on the island; Venezuela, Mexico and Cuba were united in heart in the same place, as brotherly peoples, he assures.
«In the hours of teamwork the children of the three nations were exhausted but never with the intention of giving up, that put us in tune with each other to bring to zero the fire that saddened without borders.
«I particularly consider the firefighters of Cuba to be hardened fighters, whom I will always hold in high esteem, since they are constant and firm in the fulfillment of their mission, my humble congratulations to those comrades.
«I have to comment that I prayed to the major fireman, our God, as we call him in Venezuela in the slang of the guild, we felt the sign of heaven through a drizzle that fell in the area of Matanzas a few hours after carrying out the control work.
«We always kept in mind that fellow firefighters were left in that place, firefighter is firefighter wherever you stand, tears were not long in coming after the imminent feeling of empathy that approached us for the irreparable loss of those worthy sons of Cuba who gave their lives to protect their brothers; one should never forget the fallen, on the contrary.»
A year after that August, in the distant state of Monagas, the fireman Raul has as present as the Cubans the hours in which the brotherhood grew more than the fire in Matanzas, until the extinction of the fire on the morning of Friday the 12th of the year 2022.
With the frank affection that is created by sharing the same risks, he assures the children of the island where he received the Medal of Friendship from Venezuela: «You can count on the fact that here, you will always have one more of your own».
Written by Yenly Lemus.
