Three years since port blast, Lebanon’s firefighters grind on as challenges pile up

A view shows portraits of firefighters who were killed during August 2020 Beirut port blast, at the fire station in Beirut, Lebanon August 2, 2023. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

BEIRUT (Reuters) - For nearly three years now, 10 portraits on the outer wall of a Beirut fire station have honoured its firefighters killed in the explosion at the city's port.

Their surviving colleagues, grinding on as Lebanon's economic meltdown guts their salaries and budgets for repairs and equipment while a threat of wildfires looms large, say Aug. 4, 2020, remains burned in their memories.