AL U MNI | LUMEN
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Being a firefighter is a demanding job .
Failure is not an option as lives are at stake . Hence , there is an immense pressure for firefighters to be in their best physical and mental form . unbearable given the extremely hot and humid climate of Singapore . To add to the discomfort , the firefighters still needed to strap on a breathing apparatus that provides them with clean air during their operations . A total of 15 kg has to be borne when they need to put out a fire . Other than the physical aspect , Maj Huang also had to train his cognitive thinking ability . He needed to devise operations to mitigate fire and rescue people within a limited amount of time . By focusing on making small steps , he was able to overcome this obstacle .
The first operation that Maj Huang handled was a traffic accident . To this very day , he still remembers the rush of adrenaline that he felt at that moment . The area was in chaos as crowds
Facing page ( top ): Maj Huang addressing the graduating Sec 4 cohort of 2017
Facing page ( bottom ): Maj Huang having an informal conversation with principal Fr Adrian Danker
This page ( top ): Fourth from left Prefect Huang Weikang
This page ( bottom ): A token of appreciation to Maj Huang from Alexander Wilfred Chew , Senior Josephian of the Year
gathered and he and his colleagues needed to manage them in order to carry out their operation . The driver and passenger were trapped in the car and the situation was critical as the car had flipped over . The mangled metal had to be cut apart using hydraulic tools . After 15 minutes of diligently cutting the metal , Maj Huang and his teammates were finally able to complete this complex task and extricate the driver and passenger from the vehicle .
Maj Huang has dealt with various cases but his most challenging was the industrial fire that occurred on 23 February 2017 .
While recalling the incident he revealed , “ As I was responding to the fire I tuned in to the radio comms and tried to imagine what the scene was
like , mentally preparing myself for the tasks ahead . However , upon reaching the incident site , it was far beyond what I had imagined .”
The scene that lay before him was horrifying . The entire area was covered in flames and the air was black from the toxic smoke . The initial attempts of using water jets were futile as they were overcome by the fire and explosions . The crisis was worsened by the fact that there was no time to wait for further reinforcements to arrive . Maj Huang , with only 40 officers , had to strategically redeploy the fire engines and use their vehicle water monitors to control the massive fire that covered around 3.5 hectares . In the end , the fire was successfully extinguished .
Being a firefighter is a demanding job . Failure is not an option as lives are at stake . Hence , there is an immense pressure for firefighters to be in their best physical and mental form . Yet , it is a rewarding job . To Maj Huang , being part of SCDF is the perfect occupation for helping those in need . The joy that one feels when being able to save someone is immeasurable .