Inheriting the Red Gene and Being the People’s Guard Forever – Remember Baota Fire Rescue Station, Baota District, Yan’an City, Shaanxi Province

　　Walking into the Baota Fire Rescue Station in Baota District, Yan’an City, the team’s motto of "Carry forward the spirit of Yan’an and be the successor of the Red Army forever" attracted attention. In the 50 years since the team was established, the team’s motto has long been integrated into the bloodline of batches of team members and has become their value coordinate.

　　Taking the encampment as its hometown and the people as its relatives, this "Flame Blue" team has always guarded the lives and property of the people in the 3,556 square kilometers of land and 750,000 old areas with sincerity and loyalty, and practiced the oath of "saving the people from fire and water, helping the people in danger, and giving the people strength".

The picture shows firefighters at Pagoda Fire Rescue Station dealing with a fire at Yan’an Refinery (photo taken on April 26, 2014). Xinhua News Agency

　　Guide with Yan’an Spirit

　　Baota Fire Rescue Station has a long history and was born out of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region Government Security Department under the leadership of the Party in Yan’an period. As a fire rescue team born in a cave, Baota Station always insists on using the spirit of Yan’an to build souls and educate people.

　　In Zhang Side Memorial Square, the team members collectively recited "Serving the People"; in Nanniwan, they reminisced about the years of self-reliance and hard work…

　　"Every time a new firefighter joins the team, the team cadres will take them to visit the old revolutionary site, recite the oath and revisit the team history. This has become the first lesson of the team entry at Pagoda Station." Zhang Baowan, the first-level fire chief of Pagoda Station, said. "It has been nearly 30 years since I came to work in Yan’an from Yichang, Hubei Province. It is the spirit of Yan’an that has educated me, nourished me and made me successful."

　　Inspired by the spirit of Yan’an, groups of team members went through fire and water without fear of difficulties and dangers, and have long become the "guardians" of the local people who fought the flood demons, the "stormtroopers" who risked their lives, and the "troubleshooters" who raced against time.

　　In July 2013, 26 days of heavy rainfall caused multiple landslides and cave dwellings to collapse on Baota Mountain and Phoenix Mountain in Yan’an. The situation was very critical. After receiving the alarm, a team of five and a team of three at Baota Station, carrying rescue equipment, went to Baota Mountain seven times and Phoenix Mountain five times in the torrential rain and mud, and fought for 26 consecutive days and nights, evacuating more than 1,000 people and rescuing 62 trapped people.

　　"Disasters are orders, and time is life. The more difficult and dangerous the situation is, the more we must play the role of’sharp knives’ and’iron fists’ and use our professional rescue to help the masses tide over the difficulties," said Mu Honggang, the third-level fire chief of the pagoda station who participated in the rescue.

　　Since its establishment, the pagoda station has received more than 12,500 police dispatches, rescued more than 3,200 trapped people, and protected the property value of 19.74 billion yuan.

　　He did not flinch at the moment of life and death, and dared to show his sword in a critical moment, witnessing the heroic nature of the pagoda firefighters one by one "on the spot".

　　"With firefighters around, we feel at ease."

　　As the "guardian" of the people in the old district, the pagoda stood for 50 years, constantly practicing the slogan of "If you can’t win in the fire field, everything is equal to zero, and if you can’t practice martial arts, you are not a qualified soldier", and regard fine martial arts as the first priority to perform your duties.

　　There are 158 revolutionary sites in Pagoda District, which receive 63 million people a year. According to Sun Shuaizheng, the head of Pagoda Station, the Pagoda Station put forward the slogan of "defending the red sites like protecting the eyes", visited and registered every revolutionary site in the jurisdiction, and explored the establishment of a "one site, one policy, one exercise" precision response mechanism to ensure the security of all revolutionary sites in the jurisdiction.

　　There are 454 high-rise buildings in Baota District. In the event of a fire, the combustion load will be large and the water supply will be difficult to fight. In response to the difficulties of fire fighting, Baota stood up and worked hard to study, and researched and produced a number of innovative equipment such as "high-rise hose laying protector" and "fire hose drying and winding device", which effectively solved the problem of fire fighting and water supply in high-rise buildings.

　　In order to meet the needs of fire fighting and rescue in the new era, the pagoda station also summarized and compiled the theoretical textbook "Fire Extinguishing and Rescue Water Supply", and innovatively proposed the whole water system foam combat method, which greatly improved the efficiency of fire fighting and rescue, and provided "pagoda experience" for fire fighting and rescue in similar areas.

　　Walking in the old revolutionary sites and streets of Baota District, whenever firefighters are mentioned, the masses always sigh with emotion: "With firefighters, our hearts will be at ease."

　　"You are good descendants, just like Zhang Side"

　　Since its establishment, the pagoda station has taken Zhang Side, who "serves the people wholeheartedly", as an example, and is deeply in love with the people in the station.

　　In August 2009, as usual, the commanders and soldiers of the pagoda station once again came to the "Bayi" nursing home for voluntary labor. The former 359th Brigade veteran Mao Guangrong grabbed the commanders’ hands and said emotionally, "You are good descendants, just like Zhang Side. You must be a good soldier and be worthy of the common people!"

　　Under the encouragement and inspiration of the old Red Army, the pagoda station established the Zhang Side Fire Service Team, which is mainly composed of party members, to help the elderly and the poor, poverty alleviation and disaster relief. Although the team members have changed batch after batch, the purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly has always shone brightly.

　　In the summer of 2021, a fire knowledge publicity activity made the firefighters at Baota Station form a deep friendship with Uncle Wang Shizi from Shanlangcha Village, Liulin Town, Baota District. Learning that Wang Shizi’s wife was sick all year round and the children were working hard outside, the firefighters came to help whenever they had time, from hospitalization to repairing light bulbs.

　　"This is He Niuniu, this is Yan Jie, this is Instructor Pei…" Wang Shizi had been here many times, and the names of the firefighters were very precious. Last New Year’s Eve, the firefighters brought the New Year’s goods to Wang Shizi’s home to offer condolences, and then invited him to the fire brigade for the New Year. The old man was moved and wrote down the words "Serve the people and win glory for the motherland".

　　Pei Wenbo, a political instructor at the pagoda station, said: "We will continue to unswervingly carry on the Yan’an spirit, let the flame blue flag flutter in the wind in the Holy Land, and let the bright red party flag fly high in the old district!"

　　(Xinhua News Agency, Xi’an, November 29, reporter Zhang Bin)

　　Guangming Daily (November 30, 2023, edition 02)