Tremendous courage has been rewarded in the past few days following the actions of a teacher in Huai’an of Jiangsu Province, seeing him risk third-degree burns and possibly life itself, in order to prevent an entire residential block going up in flames.
The ceremony was held on the evening of 27 March, when the Huai’an Foundation for Courage in Justice visited Qingjiang Middle School in Jiangsu Province to hold a seminar and present the brave teacher with a special award for “Courageous Behaviour with Righteousness”.
The recipient, Zhu Dingcai, who is a teacher with the School, received the commendation after his entering a dangerous blaze to turn off a leaking gas valve that potentially saved scores, if not hundreds, of people.
The incident took place around 11:00 on 9 December, 2022, when a serious fire broke out in a residential community in Qingjiangpu District of Huai’an City. Responsible was an senior lady who had forgotten to turn off her gas cooker. This had in turn set on fire some kitchen utensils nearby.
Zhu, who lives in the same building, discovered the fire when he saw smoke billowing in the building’s corridor. He immediately told his family to cover their heads with wet towels and flee.
Passing the apartment on fire, he found the senior slumped on the floor. Zhu instructed his family to immediately get to a safe area, and brought another wet towel to the lady. There, he learned that she had left the gas on before leaving to pick up her grandson from school.
A thought flashed through Zhu’s mind. Their community uses natural gas. Were the fire to not be controlled, the consequences would be unimaginable. Realising this was a critical moment, Zhu, with no hestitation, rushed into the apartment.
At this point, the kitchen had become engulfed in fire, with flames having already reached the roof. Ceiling tiles were now also falling to the floor, reports the Yangtze Evening News.
At unimaginable risk to himself, Zhu entered the flames and managed to shut down the gas stove. He then quickly withdrew and helped the senior to leave. Firefighters were quickly on the scene thereafter to defuse the fire.
Zhu’s response to the dangerous situation was confirmed as a courageous act by the Qingjiangpu Branch of the Huai’an Public Security Bureau on 7 February of this year.
At this Monday’s ceremony, Zhu Guohai, Member of the Party Committee and Director of the Political Department of the Huai’an PSB, presented Zhu with his award, praising the teacher for his fearing no danger, and for acting bravely and wisely with righteousness.
