On May 30, before setting out to quell the fire, Rong Zhen, a 20-year-old firefighter was video chatting with his mother who was 1600 kilometers away from him. In his last status, he posted,”The fight has lasted for 3 days and 2 nights……”Another 29-year-old hero named Kong Xianglei, was one of the elder firefighters and there was only 8 months left before he could muster himself out. He told his family,”If I survive and come back, I’d love to raise cattle and grow some fruit trees.” Gao Jikai was 26 years old, and he had been in the army for 7 years. He planned to marry his girlfriend next year. Wang Fojun, born in July, 2000, was the youngest martyr in this mission.
……
They were all heroes who sacrificed for fighting the fire.
3月30日，周六，去扑火前，20岁的森林消防队员康荣臻跟远在山东的妈妈视频聊天。他在最后一条朋友圈说，“战斗了三天两夜......”
孔祥磊29岁了，已是年纪大的老消防队员了。离退队还有8个月，他跟家人说，“如果我回来了，买几头牛，种点果树。”26岁，入伍7年，高继垲的年纪也不小了，他计划明年和女友结婚，微信签名是“努力让自己变得更优秀”。2000年7月出生的王佛军，是此次牺牲人员中，年纪最小的那个。他当了两年的森林消防员，老家在甘肃陇南。多年奋战在防森林火灾一线，听说有火情，杨达瓦把原来的工作推了，直接去了火场。
……
他们都是为扑救大火而牺牲的英雄。
On the afternoon of May 31, a huge fire broke out in the deep 
forests over 3,000 meters above sea level in Lier Village, Town of Yalong River, Muli County, Liangshan, Sichuan Province. At the time the firefighters were moving back, a change of wind made the mountain blast and 30 people lost. As their bodies were found, many official websites turned black and white to show their condolences. Two days later, in the early morning, some of the bodies were sent back to Xichang, with a crowd of people waiting in the streets spontaneously. And there were not only flowers and candles, but also white banners reading “the Deepest Condolences and the Highest Respect to the Great Heroes!” As the cars carrying the bodies drove by, a great many of people were crying,”May you rest in peace, my heroes!”
3月31日下午，四川凉山州木里县雅砻江镇立尔村，海拔三千多米的森林深处发生火灾。扑火人员在转场途中，遇瞬间风力风向突变，山火燃爆，30人失联。遗体陆续被发现，多个官网官博变成黑白，以示悼念。两天后的凌晨时分，部分遗体被送回西昌，很多群众自发在街头守候，在道路中间放着菊花，有人点了白烛，白色的条幅上写着“救火英雄一路走好”。运送遗体的车队通过时，很多人高呼：“英雄，一路走好！”
After their names were announced, we gained access to knowing how old they were and where they came from. They were from the forest fire brigade in Liangshan and among them there were 4 cadres, 23 firefighters; 22 were members of Han majority, 1 was Manchus, 1 was from Li minority, 2 were from Yi minority and 1 was from She minority; 1 was born in 80s, 24 were born in 90s and 2 were even millennials.
从事后公布的牺牲人员名单中，我们知道他们的名字，年纪多大，来自哪里。27人来自凉山州森林消防支队，其中干部4人、消防员23人；汉族22人、满族1人、黎族1人、彝族2人、畲族1人；80后1人，90后24人，00后2人。
After searching information, we found that the average age of these heroes was merely 23. The eldest one was Zhao Wankun, a political instructor of forest fire brigade in Liangshan, was close to 39 years old. And the youngest one was Wang Fojun, a firefighter of forest fire brigade in Liangshan, was not even 19. They were from all parts of China, including Sichuan, Yunnan, Chongqing, Gansu, Jiangxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Hubei, Guizhou, Hainan and so on.
澎湃新闻统计发现，这些森林消防指战员平均年龄只有23岁。年龄最大的是凉山支队西昌大队政治教导员赵万昆，不满39周岁。年龄最小的是凉山支队西昌大队消防员王佛军，离19岁生日还差3个月。他们来自祖国四面八方，包括四川、云南、重庆、甘肃、江西、山东、陕西、湖北、贵州、海南等地。
What’s more, we also contacted and interviewed part of the heroes’ family and friends, from whom we took a glimpse of some warm and moving details of their everyday life.
澎湃新闻联系采访了部分遇难者家属、朋友，通过他们的讲述以及公开媒体报道，整理记录了他们生前的一些温情、动人细节。
1.The last sentence to the world.
There were two millennials among these 27 great martyrs. One was Xu Penglong, born in May, 2000 in Shandong Linxi. The other was Wang Fojun, born in July, 2000 in Gansu Longnan. When answering the call that brought the terrible news, Wang’s father was at a loss. Wang’s father said that their 19-year-old boy had been working as a firefighter for 2 years, but on the midnight of April 2, they had been informed of losing their son. In the morning, they caught an early train to Xichang in the hope that they could see their boy for the last time. And according to Cover News’ dispatch, in Wang Fojun’s last status, there was a blurred photo of him looking back while running towards the fire. And there were also his last words to the world,”I bet my whole life on it!”Unfortunately, we couldn’t contact Xu’s family...
1、留给世界的最后一句话
Xu Penglong 徐鹏龙 Wang Fojun 王佛军
1、30人中有2名“00后”，他们是徐鹏龙，2000年3月出生，山东临沂人；王佛军，2000年7月出生，甘肃陇南人。接听电话时，王佛军的父亲有点无措，“也不知道啥情况，先赶过去看看再说。”这位父亲说，不到19岁的儿子在木里当了两年消防员，2日凌晨1时许，家属接到了消防部门的电话，说儿子没了。当天上午9时，他们一家9口人赶火车前往西昌，准备去见儿子最后一面。而据封面新闻报道，王佛军的朋友圈显示，黑暗中，山火在身后，他向前跑，匆匆回头，照片有点糊了，他写道：“来，赌命。”这是“00”后的王佛军留给世界的最后一句话。澎湃新闻未能联系上徐鹏龙的家属。
2.Working as a firefighter for 19 years with no fear of fire or car accidents.
Zhao Wankun was the eldest one among the 27 martyrs who was a political instructor of forest fire brigade in Liangshan. He was born in December, 1980, and worked as a firefighter for 19 years. And his daughter is only 8 years old who just went to elementary school. Zhao’s brother told us that they lived near Xichang, so after hearing the terrible news, more than 10 family members of Zhao’s had arrived there. A family member who saw his body said that he had been burned so hard that he could barely recognize him. Since the beginning of this year, there has been more than 20 fire accidents breaking out in Liangshan, of which Zhao took part in 90 percent.
2、干了19年消防员，生前曾说不怕火怕车祸
Zhao Wankun 赵万昆
牺牲的27名消防员中，赵万昆是年纪最大的那个，是唯一的80后。1980年12月出生，干了19年消防员，赵万昆是凉山州森林消防支队西昌大队大队部教导员。他的女儿今年8岁，在读小学。他的二哥说，他们是凉山州冕宁人，离西昌比较近，得知出事后，家属十多人早早赶到了西昌。一个已看过遗体的家属说，被烧得厉害，“认不出来了”。赵万昆的二哥说，弟弟工作忙，今年以来，凉山州共发生了20多起火灾，90%的火灾他都去过。
(The original text was abridged due to space limitations.
由于篇幅限制，原文有所删改。)
Translator:Liu Yuanyuan刘媛媛
Date:4-11-2019
