Cuba to pay tribute to firefighters fallen in the line of duty

HAVANA, Cuba, May 16 (ACN) A tribute to the fallen in the line of duty will be tomorrow the main activity of the National Week of Fire Protection, confirmed the Cuban Firefighters Corps.

The meeting to remember their martyrs will be held in Havana's Historic Center and in the Firefighters' Mausoleum, in the Colon Cemetery, according to the program of the institution, attached to the Ministry of the Interior.

This pantheon is more than 20 meters high and stands out for its beauty and majesty in remembrance of the events of May 17, 1890, when several explosions triggered a fire of great proportions in Juan Isasi's hardware store, located on Mercaderes and Lamparilla streets.

Several of the firefighters who assisted in its appeasement died with stoicism in what would be one of the extraordinary disasters of that time, due to the fact that its owner, Juan Isasi, clandestinely kept in its center considerable amounts of dynamite.

A total of 38 people died, countless others were injured and three years later, on July 24, 1897, the majestic mausoleum honoring the firefighters and the civilians who lost their lives during the incident was opened.

The National Fire Protection Week, in its 59th edition, is the main event of the National Day of the Fire, Physical and Nautical Safety and Protection System in the country, a responsibility of the Organisms of the Central Administration of the State and which concludes next Sunday 18.