You may not want to watch this — family hopes video of young firefighters dying will bring answers

WARNING: BEFORE WATCHING THE VIDEO ABOVE, YOU SHOULD READ BELOW WHAT IT IS ABOUT. THE VIDEO SHOWS THE DEATHS OF FOUR FIREFIGHTERS AND IS QUITE GRAPHIC.

The video above includes the sights and sounds as four young firefighters die. I turned it off after about 20 seconds and have not viewed the entire video. You may not want to watch it all. But, then again, you may.

The wildfire occurred last year in Argentina and took the lives of Martin Albarracin, Victor Ferreyra and Mauricio Valdez. The video was from Martin Albarrain’s phone and was published yesterday (Tuesday) by the newspaper El Tribuno.

Reading translated pages from the articles posted with the video, it appears this video was given to the paper by Firefighter Albarrain’s family (interview with Martin Alabarrain’s brother). They are still searching for answers, trying to understand who was in charge and how the decisions were made that led to the deaths. Their hope is the reaction to the video by the public and officials will help get the information released that they are seeking.

El Tribuno:

Nobody tells the relatives of Martin Albarracin, Victor Ferreyra, Mauricio Valdez and Matthias Vilte who gave the order that later triggered the end of their lives. Yesterday, The Tribune published a video showing the hell that lived in the four brigades Guachipas. The images, beamed around the world via the web, social networks and television, are chilling. Rescuers is trying to flee as the fire around them.

As much as I believe we shouldn’t sugar coat things and should try to let the public know the reality of fighting fires, my original inclination was not to post this. But after reading the stories surrounding the video I changed my mind. I am not sure it’s the right decision, but it is the one I’ve made. Feel free to share your thoughts.