Firefighter recounts passion and tribulation

O Yeong-hwan, 28, a firefighter at Seongbuk Fire Station in northern Seoul, has recently published a book “A Fireman’s Prayer.” / Courtesy of Sam & Parkers

By Lee Kyung-min

O Yeong-hwan, 28, a firefighter at Seongbuk Fire Station in northern Seoul, learned the intrinsic value of life and gratitude for being alive while constantly dealing with life-and-death situations every day.

In his book, “A Fireman’s Prayer,” recently published, inspired by a poem of the same title written by a U.S. firefighter, A.W. Smokey Linn, he describes vividly the trials and tribulations he and his fellow workers who willingly risk their lives to save others undergo.

Sometimes they succeed, much more often they fail, but giving in to such guilt and depression is never an option for them. Instead, they learn to try harder to do their best, each and every moment.

“Firefighters do not give up,” O said. “That’s what I was taught when I was about to start my career. I learned not to dwell on past failures but to stay mentally strong,” he said.

“I find it really hard to distance myself from failed rescue efforts, but then I also try to remember the faces of the people who I saved and the good feelings from that.”

O chose the most demanding job, both physically and mentally, as his life-long occupation when he was a teenager.

His father was a retired military officer, but the family fell on hard times after several attempts by his father to run a business failed.

“My mother always told me and my older sister to be positive despite the adversity; even she had to work full time to support our family. That attitude helped me become the person I became.”

One day while watching TV, he saw a woman of his mother’s age on the ground crying in front of her burning home.

“A firefighter ran into the burning building answering the woman’s desperate call. That was the moment that I made up my mind to help those in similar circumstances ― those who are financially strapped but try their best to lead life without losing hope. I wanted to be the first to offer help for those in need.”

O feels strongly that his profession helped him develop empathy toward others’ suffering.

“I feel passionate about saving people who are rendered vulnerable in the instant after losing their homes in the face of a raging fire or other life-threatening emergencies. Every time I’m called to the scene, I think that could happen to anybody. That could happen to me.”

“Our objective is to successfully rescue people without injuries happening to them or to ourselves,” he said.