legs of a firefighter seen sitting on grass
Mayukh Saha
Mayukh Saha
September 9, 2022 Â·  2 min read

The Photo Of Firefighters Laying Across a Lawn That Went Viral

This story is originally from June 2017

Firefighters have always put their lives on the line for the general public. So it shouldn’t really be a problem if they decided to catch a nap back in 2017 on a lawn. In fact, the picture of them sleeping did prompt quite an outpouring of support for them. The firefighters had been fighting against a massive blaze in Portugal, one that had already killed 64 people. This was the deadliest forest fire in the seafaring country. The iconic picture was taken by Pedro Bras- another firefighter. The image showed his colleagues taking a nap and lying on their coats on the 18th of June, 2017. The fire, according to news, started around 200 km northeast of Lisbon. And it started gathering speed and mass, killing people in their cars as they tried to escape.[1] 

May be an image of 3 people
Image Credit: Respeito pelos Bombeiros | Facebook

Firefighters Fight Danger At Every Step- and Their Energy isn’t Limitless

With the speed at which the inferno was moving towards the rest of the country- the firefighters deserved a nap to conserve their energy. Needless to say, people on social media called these individuals ‘heroes’, and rightfully so. One user commented, “Portugal’s firefighters resting, this just broke my heart.” Another user wrote, “These real-life superheroes are risking their lives as we speak
90% of Portugal’s ‘bombeiros’ are volunteers.”

The image of the firefighters taking a nap in Portugal would remind one of a similar situation that took place in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada in 2016. The picture of the first responders to the Fort McMurray forest fire would break anyone’s heart. One could see the firefighters completely exhausted as they tried to fight the wildfire while taking naps whenever possible.

The photo from 2016 was uploaded by the Strathcona County Fire Department on Twitter. The photo highlighted several exhausted individuals who were lying on the lawn of a nearby house. Fortunately, they were safe from the ravenous fire that had already destroyed around 1,600 buildings. The County, on its part, had managed to send two 15-member crew teams to battle the fire.[2]

The first batch of firefighters had been working for two days straight without any form of respite. Seeing as they were so dangerously close to exhaustion, they were sent home on Thursday night. Devin Capcara, the Deputy Chief of Operations, stated that the picture was taken at around 2 pm on Wednesday. “They took about a 15 to 20-minute break and then went right back to it. Being there, knowing that things are burning, our guys don’t like to take rest breaks so they’ve pretty much been on the trucks the whole time.

Keep Reading: Fire Department Shares What Happens When You Park Your Car in Front of a Fire Hydrant

Sources

  1. Firefighters enjoy a rare break from battle against Portuguese forest fire.” Global News. Rebecca Joseph. June 20, 2017.
  2. Image of firefighters resting after saving homes in Fort McMurray goes viral.” Global News. Andrew Russell . May 6, 2016.