FIREFIGHTER DIES IN THE LINE OF DUTY

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo – Early in the morning he got ready to leave home, said goodbye to his family… and as usual he went to work, a job he knows to be difficult, intense, risky and heroic. The call came, the man in the yellow suit and helmet was needed once again; ceremoniously he said goodbye to his station and was one of the first to arrive on the scene to respond to the fire emergency, there was Commander Jesús Manuel Ortega Hernández.

In the streets of Solidaridad the alarm was heard from the big red truck that drove through the city until it reached 125th Avenue and 14th Street in the Ejidal district, a building was in flames, which were already coming out through the windows along with a thick black and gray smoke, inside the warehouse the mattresses were on fire.

Wearing boots, a helmet and a worn-out suit, Ortega Hernández fought for hours against the already formed conflagration that threatened to make some gas tanks located at the top explode, while his team was also busy removing people who might be hanging around. That was the way in which for 20 years and alongside his comrades he sought to earn a living, and at the same time to earn himself a little piece of bluer sky.

That afternoon his gaze melted before the incessant flames; the smoke, the vapors and the inexhaustible heat extinguished his breathing; after a race to the hospital, the fireman’s heart stopped after suffering a fulminating attack. The strange taste of giving everything in an instant was present, the attention was given to attend emergency after emergency, and suddenly the end was there.

Honor to whom honor is due

A complete effort is demanded from the Civil Protection personnel, a task that we have said is difficult and risky, but nevertheless can not cease to be dignified and honorable; however, the administrative authorities seem absent when it comes to safeguarding their personnel, first responders that for years have been pushing to have what is necessary to go out to battle, to protect the goods and to achieve survival.

That is why the population has raised its voice: where do their resources go if they are not where they are needed? One firefighter cried out that afternoon for water, but it was not only that day, and it is not only from one person, the team has also requested reinforcements in its staff, there are only 16 people to cover the numerous incidents of this kind that usually happen in Solidaridad.

And although during the mourning and honoring of the Commander, Laura Beristain, the still president (and candidate for reelection), together with the head of Civil Protection, Francisco Poot Kauil, were present, they have been accused of negligence. Where have they been if not ensuring that the basic safety conditions of the municipality’s personnel are fulfilled.

Poot Kauil’s performance has been questionable for months, and through social networks and different media there have been calls for his dismissal.
The indignation of those who, faithful to their vocation, seek to protect the lives of all, is the result of their weariness and resentment.