Watching beautiful fireworks from burned-out building

A fire that spread to 10 homes kept a crew of firefighters busy on Chinese New Year's Eve. After putting out the fire, it was just in time for them to see in the new year. (Photo: Shanghai Daily/Ti Gong)

Fire officer Bai Yu and his crew were on duty throughout Spring Festival, when fireworks and firecrackers create additional hazards.

As all firefighters in Shanghai are on duty during the weeklong holiday, which began from February 18 this year, they had their New Year's celebration dinner on February 17.

In Zhoudu Fire Control Squadron in the Pudong New Area, cooks prepared special dishes for homesick firefighters, as 80 percent of Shanghai's crews are not city natives.

This was the seventh year since becoming a firefighter that 29-year-old Bai missed dinner on Chinese New Year's Eve with his parents in Yancheng City, in neighboring Jiangsu Province.

"I'm an only child, so without me their New Year's Eve dinner can be quite lonely," Bai told Shanghai Daily.

He married three years ago, but his wife returns to her home in central China's Hubei Province alone every Spring Festival. "I'm really grateful to my wife. She never complains about it," he added.

On Chinese New Year's Eve on February 18, Bai got up at 6:30am as usual. While having breakfast with colleagues, an emergency call came. A man was trapped in a car that had overturned on the Outer Ring Road. Firefighters got him out and an ambulance rushed him to a hospital.

At around 10am they helped an elderly couple who were locked outside their house while something was cooking on the stove.

After 6pm, after dealing with several minor incidents, firefighters donned heavier uniforms to be ready for New Year's Eve emergencies.

At 10:15pm they were called to extinguish a blaze on waste material in Sanlin Town ignited by fireworks.

Shortly after, they attended a house on Yangnan Road that had caught fire and spread to 9 neighboring homes. The blaze was extinguished an hour later — just in time for the crew to welcome the New Year.

"Our countdown took place in the burned out ruins, watching beautiful fireworks sparkle in the sky," Bai said.

However, Bai said this was the least busy Spring Festival he had experienced as Shanghai has introduced strict regulations on fireworks.

"As there were fewer fireworks, we had fewer incidents and no casualties," he said.