YANGON, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi has called for people's collective strength to develope the nation.
Honoring 3,278 firefighters from different walks of life in their efforts to extinguish the recent massive dump fire in Yangon, a statement from the State Counselor's Office, published on Tuesday, expressed gratitude to the public.
The statement said "Our strength is exhibited in battling Hteinpin Fire," underlining the bringing into action in full glory the invaluable trait long hidden within the Myanmar society in fighting Hteinpin garbage fire.
"Mutual understanding and helping one another is a strong characteristics of the Myanmar people and if we can use it effectively in developing our nation then without a doubt we will reach our goals in a short amount of time."
The 3,278 firefighters include 1,727 members of Regional Fire Services Department, 722 Yangon municipal staff, 328 police force members and security personnel, 156 public health departmental staff and 220 personnel from Yangon military command.
Amid firefighting, Kanbawza Brighter Future Foundation and partner companies donated 340 million kyats (250,000 U.S. dollars) to purchase 5,000 gallons of bio foam from Thailand to put out the fire.
At the same time, 43 philanthropic organizations provided food and other necessities from numerous donors.
The firefighting involved experts from Thailand and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The Hteinpin landfill in Hlaingtharya township, western outskirts of Yangon, caught fire on April 21 due to extremely high temperature.
The fire, which started at a 121-hectare dump site in Hteinpin Cemetery, burned for several days before it was initially brought under control on April 29, causing health hazards in nearby townships due to the smoke and carbon monoxide emitted from the fire.
After 12 days' fight, the dump fire was successfully extinguished on May 2.