About 200 firefighters held a candlelight vigil outside President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) residential compound yesterday evening in memory of the six firefighters who lost their lives in a blaze in Taoyuan two weeks ago.
The firefighters rang a gong softly as they chanted the names of all firefighters who have perished over the past few years and called on the president to enact reforms to the nation’s firefighting institutions.
Lines of police stood behind large coils of barbed wire, keeping the firefighters — who sat on the pavement with small candles in their hands — at a distance from the walls of the compound.
Led by the National Association for Firefighters’ Rights (NAFR), the firefighters accused the government of inaction and demanded that authorities correct a shortage in personnel and provide funding to upgrade their equipment.
They said that fire departments across the nation are perpetually understaffed and underfunded, adding that firefighters were often overworked.
NAFR secretary-general Cheng Ya-lin (鄭雅菱) said the nation is suffering from a shortage of 15,000 firefighters nationwide, instead of the 3,000 the Ministry of the Interior claims.
She added that the ministry and the National Fire Agency (NFA) have constantly ignored their demands for reforms that would prevent firefighters from being overworked as a result of the shortage.
NAFR vice president Yu Tzung-han (余宗翰) read a letter of condolence to the deceased firefighters, saying that two of the six fallen firefighters were his classmates.
“We don’t like to be referred to as heroes, we only hope that our brothers return safely each time we go out on duty,” Yu said.
The firefighters wore disposable gloves splattered with red paint to symbolize the blood of firefighters. They later draped the gloves over the coils of barbed wire, saying that firefighters were treated by the government as “disposable.”
Earlier in the day, the firefighters staged a demonstration in front of the Ministry of the Interior, demanding to speak with the director of the NFA.
Firefighter Hsu Kuo-yao (徐國堯), who was dismissed the Kaohsiung City Government last year for his involvement in campaigns to improve the working conditions of firefighters, accused the ministry of failing to value the lives of firefighters.
“The agency has never done anything about our lack of personnel or equipment. On what occasions have they taken any action? When somebody dies, that’s the only time they do anything,” Hsu said.
NFA Deputy Director Chiang Chi-jen (江濟人) said there were mistakes in the statistics that the firefighters presented, adding that the government has heard the firefighters’ concerns.
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