A former firefigher reflects on human emotions and fragility of life in the course of his dangerous career
It has been a rough few months in terms of natural disasters since last August. With each new calamity, whether wildfires in Chongqing or the earthquake that struck Luding county in Sichuan, we have seen images of firefighters running to battle on the front lines.
Today, we hear from Chenchen, a young man who worked as a firefighter for eight years. With each deployment to an emergency, Chenchen experiences countless life-and-death moments, and has witnessed the full gamut of human feelings. In addition, Chenchen worked as a dispatcher answering emergency calls at the fire brigade’s command center, the starting point of all firefighting missions.
Founded in 2017 by Kou Aizhe, Story FM is one of the most renowned podcast in China. Each episode focuses on ordinary people’s lives and viewpoints, including the difficulties of marginalized people. Through intimate and private interviews, Story FM digs out first-person experiences and lets listeners immerse themselves in another person’s voice and feelings. You can listen to their podcast in Chinese on Ximalaya, Qingting FM, Apple Podcasts, and the 故事FM mini-app on WeChat.
Translated By
Ana Padilla Fornieles is a Spanish translator, writer and creative currently based in Beijing, where she is part of Spittoon International Arts Collective and a regular contributor to The Beijinger. You can find her prose and poetry featured in The Shanghai Literary Review, Voice & Verse Poetry Magazine, Womanhood, Sledgehammer and more. Her comics and linocut prints have appeared in Shaving in the Dark, F*EMS and Celestite Poetry. Her literary translation work has been published or is forthcoming with a series of publishing houses and magazines, such as Penguin, De Gruyter, Spittoon Magazine and Books from Taiwan.
