Fireman loves his risky job despite not being prestigious

By Emmy Fitri

JAKARTA (JP): Ever wonder why certain people choose to take perilous professions such as being a fireman?

Fifty-year-old Sunaryo Wiryo, who has served Central Jakarta Fire Agency for more than 28 years, simply said, "I needed a job at the time. But I love this risky job now. I enjoy it very much."

He told The Jakarta Post that he had not even thought about becoming a firefighter at the time he decided to leave his village in Central Java in 1973.

"I wanted to be a nurse instead," he said.

In his early months in the capital, the young Sunaryo learned that it would take a lot of money to become a nurse. He remembered that he had to pay Rp 12,000 - a huge sum of money at that time - to stay at a dormitory and was required to spend even more money for the course.

"A nurse is such a noble profession. I was born in a small village and was brought up to think that teachers, soldiers and nurses were respectable professions," he said.

But his dream to become a nurse never materialized as he could not afford the course.

Sunaryo later applied to be a fireman after a friend told him that the city fire agency needed one.

After all, a nurse and a fireman have something in common: they have to care for others and serve those in need.

For many people, being a firefighter is not regarded a prestigious career, he said, but to him, the profession is not only precious as his livelihood but it has been a whole way of life for him.

"There are so many things I could say about this profession," the well-built fireman said.

However, Sunaryo found it difficult to single out the most interesting stories. "All the incidents that have occurred during my duty are special, unique."

He described his work as being like a policeman or a reporter who deals with different cases that are never exactly the same every day.

"However, I am really, really sad if a fire engulfs houses in a slum area... I don't have the heart to see many people crying next to their ravaged houses and belongings."

Fires are unpredictable as they can happen anytime and anywhere and therefore all members of the fire brigade have to be ready all the time and to be "physically fit" to work, Sunaryo said.

In the capital, two or three fires are reported a day but during the dry season the number can double.

When asked what the firemen do when there are no fires, Sunaryo said, "At all fire brigade posts, there are always chess sets, cards, karambol (mini billiard) tables and, in some locations, billiard tables. They are all provided to keep us awake and for us not to get bored waiting for fire calls."

"We also play volley ball sometimes. Some of my colleagues like to wash the fire engines during our spare time or just chat among ourselves, having coffee and smoking cigarettes."

Strong bonds and feelings of solidarity among the firemen is a benefit of his profession, which he believes is rarely found in other fields, which are full of rivalries among peers.

Sunaryo recalled how mixed feelings struck most firemen if they were trapped in difficult choices of whether to extinguish the fire, rescue fire victims, save a colleague or save oneself.

He gave an example about such feelings when his friend, Danu Sisworo, a team leader of the Central Jakarta Fire Brigade was killed in a large fire that destroyed the four-story Harco electronics shopping center on Jl. Mangga Dua, Sawah Besar on April 4, 1997.

Sunaryo was working to put out the fire at one side of the blazing building, while Danu was on the other side.

"Most of us were sad and confused at the time. We wanted to save our friend, to extinguish the fire and we still had the feeling that we had to save ourselves, too," he recalled.

With the inherent risks and dangers in their work, Sunaryo said his salary was only Rp 3,000 a month when he first joint the fire agency in 1973. Sunaryo said the amount increased gradually and now he receives more than one million rupiah per month.

Is it enough to meet the daily needs for his family with his only son going to high school? Sunaryo said, "I have said to my wife and my son that the amount of my monthly earnings will always be the same so it depends upon how we use it."

"My wife is just a housewife but she is the kind of person who is ready to be poor and not demanding," Sunaryo said, proudly.

Although he loves the challenge of putting out a fire, Sunaryo said that everyday, before leaving for work, he always hoped that there were not going to be any fires.

"Whether there is a fire or not, we are still paid. So, let there be no fires," he laughed.