Heroes killed

The word hero is used far too often in my opinion. It should be reserved for the deserving few, and way up on my list of the few are firefighters.

A hero to me is someone who deliberately goes towards something the rest of us run from. Like fire. Like collapsing buildings.

Yesterday there were two stories in Gulf News, I'm sure their appearance in the same edition was a coincidence.

First, a story from Al Ain about the Technical Rescue & Quick Intervention team that's part of the Department of Emergency & Public Safety at the Ministry of Interior. The title of the story was, appropriately, "Risking lives to ensure safety."

And on the front page was a news item: "Firefighters die trying to put out blaze."

Today the two firefighters are named as Hytham Faraj and Kamal Hussein, who died while fighting a fire on a Palm Jumeirah construction site.

Like their firefighter colleagues around the world, they were heroes.

Stories are here. and here.