International Firefighters' Day
The 4th of May is a national holiday in Australia. Linton was the city where the tragedy happened. On th 2nd December 1999, there was a large bush fire which demanded the lives of five people. It was an urgent mutual goal to extinguish the fire in the large populated area. Garry Vredeveldt, Chris Evans, Stuart Davidson, Jason Thomas, and Matthew Armstrong were the part of a strike team and their mission was to help extinguish the flames. Tha tragedy came when the wind suddenly switched direction and the truck strated to flame. This incident inspired JJ Edmondson to create International Fire Fighters Day to suppert those brave firefighters whose risk their life everyday to save other people.
One main aspect of Fire Fighters Day to emphasizes the importance of the more intensive and thorough training of the firefighters moreover draws attention fire prevention in schools, homes etc.
You can express your sympathy, your gratitude to the firefighters by wearing the blue and red ribbons pinned together which is the symbol of the main elements firefighters work with, red for fire and blue for water. Besides weraing the firefighters symbol you can participate in a memorial or recognition event.
On the first Sunday of May the sirens what sounds for 30 seconds speak for firefighters who have died in the work. We call it Sound off because after the sound of the sirens, everything silence for a minute.
Resources used:
https://www.firefightersday.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Firefighters%27_Day
Written by: Ágnes Illés