FUZHOU, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Firefighters in multiple Chinese cities received anonymous gifts and tear-jerking notes as the country honored the fallen firefighters in southwest China's Sichuan Province.
A young man left two cases of bottled water and three cartons of milk at the gate of the Fuyu Fire Brigade in Xiamen on Wednesday morning, with a note saying "brothers, hope you can escape all of the dangers, come back safe and sound."
"Our eyes welled up with tears the moment we saw the note. All the hard work and sacrifices is worth it," said Xu Zanye, commander of the brigade.
The brigade expressed thanks through its Sina Weibo account, saying "we will find the boy as soon as possible to express our gratitude."
The outpour of public compassion comes after a forest fire caused heavy firefighter casualties in Muli County, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in southwest China's Sichuan Province. A total of 31 people, including 27 firefighters and four locals, died. The body of the 31st person who died fighting the fire was found Thursday afternoon, local authorities said.
People across the country have adopted the anonymous gifting practice. On Wednesday afternoon, a courier walked into a fire station in Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province, with three cartons of milk and two bags of fruits in his hands, along with a note saying "I hope that you never have to brave the fire."
He claimed that an anonymous customer placed the order for the deliveries.
Similar incidents happened in cities including Yibin and Leshan in Sichuan Province, Bengbu city in Anhui Province and Pingdingshan city in central China's Henan Province.
These gifts and heart-warming notes soon became a trending topic on social media, and wishes for firefighter safety were echoed by netizens nationwide.
