New York: May 4 is celebrated as International Firefighters’ Day. The special day is marked to pay respect to those firefighting experts who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
On May 4, people wear a symbolic badge made from red and blue ribbons to pay their gratitude to all the martyred firefighters. For those who don’t know, both red and blue are the main elements of a firefighter’s work because red denotes fire and blue is symbolic of water.
Unfortunately, the International Firefighters’ Day originated after a tragic incident occurred in Linton town of Australia, on December 2, 1998. In the horrible incident, five firemen lost their lives, while trying to douse a wildfire.
Those five firefighters include Garry Vredeveldt, Chris Evans, Stuart Davidson, Jason Thomas, and Matthew Armstrong, who were a part of a strike team and had to rush to attend an SOS call, but sadly all five died battling the fire.
After the tragedy, on January 4, 1998, a proposal was sent to all the nations to honour the brave firemen and to pay respect to the ones who sacrificed their lives.
The other main aspect of the International Firefighters’ Day is to prevent such tragedies and express the need to improve intensive and thorough training in the near future. It is celebrated by not only wearing the red and blue ribbons but also donating money to the charity that supports the medical treatment and wellbeing of retired and former firefighters.
International Firefighters’ Day (IFFD) is celebrated to seek the world’s attention and help them recognize and honor the sacrifices of firefighters. The celebration aims to ensure that their communities and environment are as safe as possible and it is due to the sincere work of the firefighters. It is a day to commemorate and thank the current and past firefighters for their contributions.
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