Cong Shuyin, born in December 1962, enlisted in the army in 1979. On July 16, when the Xingang oil depot in Dalian exploded and caught fire, he served as the head of the Dalian Public Security Fire Detachment for just over a month, with the rank of deputy division and colonel.

At 18:12 on July 16, the phone in the command center of the detachment rang, reporting that a 100,000 cubic meter oil tank in the Dagushan oil storage area of Xingang Wharf had exploded and caught fire.

Cong Shuyin immediately ordered to activate the emergency response plan for major disasters and accidents, and mobilized all the city's duty squadrons to rush to the scene with all high-spray trucks, high-power foam vehicles, heavy-duty water tankers, combat logistics support vehicles and other specialized petrochemical fire vehicles and combat vehicles.

Boarding the command vehicle, Cong Shuyin took his mobile phone to learn about the fire. Li Yongfeng, captain of the fire brigade of the development zone, who had already arrived at the fire scene, reported to him: More than one oil pipeline was blown up, the height of the flames reached several tens of meters, and there were flowing fires everywhere, and the area of the fire could not be judged for a while.

Cong Shuyin thought that if he didn't handle it well, something big would happen. He quickly thought about what kind of fire the development zone brigade that had arrived at the scene could control the fire, what kind of fire could be controlled by his more than 1,000 people in battle, and what the consequences would be if the situation could not be controlled. The focus of his thinking was whether to request reinforcements from the provincial public security fire brigade.

More than 300 vehicles of the Dalian City Public Security Fire Detachment drove to the fire scene, and Cong Shuyin could not make up his mind to ask the corps for reinforcements. If the fire is too big, the fire cannot be controlled, and the fighters are delayed by not asking for reinforcements in time, no one can afford this responsibility. If the fire is not large, the detachment alone can extinguish it, and the cost of reinforcements from the province is too high. Fire trucks loaded with water and foam are coming from all over the province at the fastest speed, and each truck has a load capacity of more than a dozen or dozens of tons, which is not a small matter, it is an unprecedented big thing.

What to do? While learning about the fire situation, Cong Shuyin reported the fire to the Dalian Municipal Government and the Municipal Public Security Bureau, and asked the whole society to reinforce Dagushan.

In less than 10 minutes, Cong Shuyin made up his mind decisively and asked the corps to reinforce Dalian with the provincial fire brigade. This request sounded the prelude to the fierce battle of the province's firefighters in Dagushan. Facts have proved that Cong Shuyin's determination was decisive and timely, and played a crucial role in achieving a complete victory. Fifty percent of the victory or defeat in a firefighting battle depends on whether or not the fighter can be grasped.

The mighty men of the Dalian City Public Security Fire Detachment came to the fire scene. Cong Shuyin had never seen such a big fire, the entire sky was evenly obscured by the black smoke from the burning of crude oil, and dozens of miles below the sky came a red fire like a steelmaking furnace. This is a fire field, and it is clearly hell. At the intersection of the Dagushan Peninsula, Cong Shuyin saw that the uniform of the traffic police directing the vehicle on the side of the road had turned black, and the dust fell on the comblamber. He saw the firefighters who were fighting, their faces were like statues of black stones under the action of black ash, sweat and fire, and they couldn't tell who was who, and their teeth and eyes were so white.

The sound of explosions in the fire scene continued, and the firefighters were not so much afraid of fire as they were afraid of explosions. Fire is no longer terrible in the eyes of officers and soldiers, but every explosion means that the oil tank or pipeline bursts and creates a new crack, and what is sprayed out under tremendous pressure is not oil, but a stream of fire. In the continuous explosions, the area of the ground flowing fire is getting larger and faster. The oil filled the sewers, oil pools, mixed with the water sprayed by the fire truck, and flowed faster. The water is underneath, pushing the oil forward.

To say that this Cong Shuyin is really not an ordinary person, at this moment, he is the supreme commander of the fire, the lives of more than 1,000 officers and soldiers are in his hands, the lives of the people of Dalian are in his hands, and his own lives are also in his hands. However, as a commander, the first thing to take care of is not his own life, but the state property, the safety of the people's lives, and the hundreds of families of the officers and soldiers. People who don't have urine at all, just seeing this scene, are scared and paralyzed. Cong Shuyin went to the fire ground and instantly went through his experience in his mind, after 32 years of being a soldier, the country is waiting for such a day to make you see death as home, and you will definitely rush forward. Even if you are buried in the fire and let people pick up the corpse and see it, you will know that you are the closest to the fire, not a bad seed. This is the loyalty of a soldier. As a commander, it is all the more necessary to be strategic, to have a clear understanding of the fire scene, to correctly arrange troops, to protect the lives and safety of officers and men, to use the limited amount of water and foam on the blade, and to be prepared to fight a protracted war.

Dagushan Peninsula has the country's largest crude oil storage and oil processing base. There are more than 20 large-scale chemical, petrochemical, oil storage and transshipment enterprises in the area, with a total storage capacity of 15 million cubic meters of oil tanks that have been put into use or are under construction. The total reserves of the oil depot in the free trade zone where the fire broke out were 1.85 million cubic meters, and there were 17 crude oil tanks of 100,000 cubic meters and 3 crude oil tanks of 50,000 cubic meters. The total reserves of the oil tank farm of Dalian Port on the east side are 1.32 million cubic meters, with 12 crude oil tanks of 100,000 cubic meters and 51 storage tanks of high-risk chemicals with reserves of 124,500 cubic meters. On the north side is the tank farm of the State Oil Storage Company, which is about to be put into use, with 30 crude oil tanks of 100,000 cubic meters and a total reserve of 3 million cubic meters. On the south side are LNG terminals, residential areas and port units under construction.

To put it simply, there are 59 crude oil tanks of 100,000 cubic meters, 3 crude oil tanks of 50,000 cubic meters, and 51 storage tanks of high-risk chemicals. The explosion started the fire in tank No. 103, which has a crude oil reserve of 10 cubic meters. and three pipelines with diameters of 900 mm, 750 mm and 600 mm.

What is the concept of a 100,000 cubic meter crude oil tank, it is a behemoth, 22 meters high and 80 meters in diameter, larger than a football field, storing 100,000 tons of crude oil.

Theoretically, a small oil fire can be extinguished with a foam gun. However, after the explosion, Tank 103 was torn open, and the oil sprayed out was all fire, and the foam guns and foam cannons could not be extinguished immediately. Because the amount of crude oil is too large, it will flow out through this opening, and it will turn into fire under the action of high temperature. Theoretically, this is a fire that cannot be extinguished by human and mechanical equipment.

Cong Shuyin and his officers and soldiers faced an unprecedented battle to fight oil fires in the history of world firefighting.

Some people say that the fire broke out at the Xingang Wharf in Dalian, that the Dalian City Public Security Fire Detachment was put into operation in advance, and that the firefighters of the whole province gathered to launch a general battle and won a complete victory. If it were not for the equipment, equipment, and personnel of the Dalian City Public Security Fire Brigade, and the fighting power won by the provincial fire brigade to build an iron army, even if all the fire brigades in the country were transferred to fight, it would be too late to extinguish the fire. The oil fire exploded and burned at its own speed and pressure, leaving no time for anyone.

The following is an overview of the Dalian Public Security Fire Detachment:

In recent years, the Dalian Public Security Fire Detachment has continued to build the foundation of building a "fire fighting iron army". In 2007, the detachment invested 113 million yuan to take the lead in the country in establishing a combat logistics support brigade and building six combat logistics support substations in counties (cities) far away from the main urban areas, thus providing an operational support system for fighting big and evil wars under modern conditions. In 2008, the detachment invested 468 million yuan to build 34 standard fire brigade stations, so that 61 fire brigade stations could achieve seamless coverage of urban and rural fire brigades. According to the standards of developed countries, they have invested 390 million yuan to equip 195 advanced vehicles such as detection vehicles, anti-chemical vehicles, high-power decontamination foam vehicles, and remote water supply vehicles, as well as 45,640 sets of equipment and equipment such as spherical lifting air cushions, radar life detectors, and plasma cutters. The total number of fire extinguishing and rescue vehicles in the city reached 317, with a total water load of 1,140 tons and 116 tons of disposable vehicle-mounted foam. In 2010, the detachment held an emergency rescue exercise to test the combat capabilities of integrated dispatch and response, flat decision-making and command, city-wide combat support, and information application management. Liu Jinguo, vice minister of public security, who watched the exercise, said: "This is the most successful exercise I have seen, and Dalian emergency rescue has set a model for the whole country." ”

The above is hardware construction, and the core factor of combat is people. In recent years, they have implemented the deployment of the provincial public security fire brigade, taken the lead in carrying out the construction of fire fighting and rescue teams, carefully selected 244 business backbones, set up 61 teams, and invested 60 million yuan to equip each group with 46 kinds of high-precision equipment and equipment in 8 categories, such as 9-liter air respirators, emergency rescue audio and video command systems, and oxygen cutters, forming a complete independent combat unit. Undertake the tasks of high-rise, underground, large-space, and large-span building fire assault and close combat, fire control and rescue and disposal of hazardous chemicals.

The attacking group implements devilish training. The team members train 12 hours a day 6 days a week, and each person completes a 5-kilometer weight-bearing run, 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 bar-end arm flexion and extension, 100 pull-ups, a set of physical fitness comprehensive training exercises, and a weight-bearing climb every day. A 10,000-meter run once a week, a 25-kilometer cross-country run every half a month, forging strong generals.

is such a team, in the 7.16 fire field, it still encountered a life and death test that surpassed the limits of physiology, will and skill.

Cong Shuyin determined the operational principle of "control first, then elimination" and arranged the position accordingly. He ordered 14 vehicle-mounted guns and 3 mobile guns to cool and suppress the explosion of the ignition tank and adjacent tanks. Concentrate 18 foam guns to extinguish the ground spilling fire. Four additional lines of defense were added to the east, north, and south sides of the harbor to prevent the fire from spreading. The fire field was divided into five major theaters, and 40 attack groups were formed to attack on all fronts, and the leaders of the detachment divided their troops to guard and fight on the front line.

Closing the valve and cutting off the material means sending someone to close the valve of the adjacent tank of tank No. 103 and isolate tank No. 103. Otherwise, as long as there is oil, there will be fire, and the oil tanks in this reserve area are connected with more than 10 million cubic meters of crude oil, which cannot be burned in a month. Closing the valve and cutting off the material is equivalent to drawing wages from the bottom of the kettle.

Stabilizing the morale of the military depends on courage and fearlessness. Cong Shuyin demanded that every order he issued from the walkie-talkie be clear and calm, so that every officer and soldier who heard the order had a bottom in their hearts.

As soon as the detachment arrived at the scene, it encountered an explosion. 900 mm pipe explosion. Two hours later, a third explosion occurred, half an hour apart, and the pump room, as well as the desulfurizer, exploded. Their positions have changed from two to five.

The Lushun Fire Brigade was 80 kilometers away from the fire scene and came to the scene. The Zhuanghe brigade was 150 kilometers away from the fire site and came to the scene. More than 1,000 officers and soldiers of the Dalian City Public Security Fire Detachment waged a tenacious struggle against the fire demon.

The fire was 800 millimeters thick and 30 meters high. The officers and men aimed their foam guns at the roots of the fire and pushed them back as if they were shaving their heads. People can't stand and squat and fight. I couldn't support it, so I lay down in the oil and water to fight, pushing the fire back little by little.

If the fire cannot be stopped, the tanks of high-risk chemicals not far from tank 103 will ignite. Chemicals have a low ignition point, and they will explode when they encounter fire, and they are serial explosions. If this consequence occurs, the Dagushan Peninsula will no longer exist, and the entire Dalian will face extinction. Poison gases drift in all directions with the wind, and humans, animals, and even plants lose signs of life.

If the tank of high-risk chemicals explodes, the entire reservoir area will be detonated, millions of tons of crude oil will be dumped into the sea, and the sea surface of China, Japan, North Korea and South Korea will be polluted. The first to be martyred will be more than 1,000 officers and soldiers of the Dalian City Public Security Fire Detachment.

This is just hypothesis, or consequence speculation. To prevent the occurrence of malignant consequences, it is not by luck or God's grace that all the officers and men stop the flowing fire inch by inch, and would rather let the fire burn over the body than let it burn into the tanks of high-risk chemicals.

At the height of the fire, there was fire in the ground and underground pipes. The fire burned with oil in drainage ditches, sewage wells and crude oil pipelines, and flames rose a foot high from the vents of sewer manhole covers. When some soldiers held water cannons to extinguish fires, their crotches were still not visible. The combat uniforms of the officers and men were all stained with oil, and flames burst out of the vents of the sewer manhole covers, burning from the feet to the buttocks.

The Dalian Public Security Fire Detachment arrived at the scene at 18:45 and suffered three explosions in succession. The fourth explosion occurred at 21:15, when the pump room that pressurized the crude oil was blown into the sky, and 1 ton of desulfurizer (hydrogen peroxide) exploded at the same time, and a huge mushroom cloud rose into the sky.

Just 3 minutes before the explosion, Cong Shuyin gave the order to "retreat all" through the walkie-talkie. All the officers and men urgently withdrew from their positions, and then there was an earth-shattering explosion, and the fire wave more than 10 meters high instantly engulfed the place where they had just stood. If it weren't for the timely retreat, they wouldn't have left even a trace. Li Yongfeng, captain of the fire brigade of the development zone, said: "The order of the captain of the Cong Shuyin detachment is worth thousands of gold. Zheng Chunsheng, full-time fire commander of the Dalian City Public Security Fire Detachment, said: "The detachment commander has too much experience, the detachment headquarters is only 300 meters away from the No. 103 tank, Cong Shuyin stood on a high place, overlooking the overall situation, judging from the color and sound of the fire in the pump room, a big explosion was about to occur, and he decisively gave the order to save the lives of the officers and soldiers." Sun Qi, director of the Political Department of the Dalian Public Security Fire Detachment, said: "It was a correct decision for the head of the Cong Shuyin detachment to decisively ask for reinforcements from the provincial corps, and it was a wise decision to issue a retreat order before the explosion of the pump room." ”

After the team retreated, they continued to assemble and charge forward to stop the flowing fire. At this time, the biggest problem is the lack of water, and the on-site fire hydrant has no pressure and cannot get water. The 16-ton fire truck that officers and men drove from the city divided four 19-millimeter water cannons, and all 16 tons of water were sprayed within 12 minutes. Flames burst out of the torn gaps in the thick oil pipeline, fueling the fire, and the wind fueled the fire, rolling and spreading along the pipeline. Water is ammunition, and now it is close to running out of ammunition.

At this moment, the remote water supply system of the Dalian Public Security Fire Detachment has played a surprisingly winning role. The system runs pipelines from 2 kilometers away to transport seawater into fire fighting vehicles. The system absorbs 20 tons of water per minute, and one line can supply 10 80 mm trunk lines. This set of equipment, which was purchased from the Netherlands at a huge cost, has never had the opportunity to use it after it was bought. Some people say: If you don't use it, it will be a disaster. The July 16 fire was undoubtedly a disaster, but the remote water supply system made a great contribution to fighting the fire and protecting the lives of officers and soldiers.

The fire in Tank 103 was still blazing, with a screaming sound that pierced the eardrums, and the pipes spewed fireballs, black smoke and flames erupted like a volcano. The leaked crude oil formed thousands of square meters of flowing fire, rushing in all directions like magma, and steel facilities such as manhole covers and valves were thrown into the air like pieces of paper blown by the wind. The excellent equipment and equipment of the officers and men of the Dalian Fire Detachment was not a decisive factor in such a tragic battlefield, and the core that supported them to fight to the end was the superhuman willpower of the officers and men. For the honor of the "Iron Army of Firefighting" and for the peace of the people of Dalian, the officers and men carried mobile cannons and foam cannons and advanced inch by inch in the oil and fire, and withstood the fire to the death.

At this time, the No. 37 and No. 42 cans have been roasted red by the flowing fire, and the high-risk chemical tanks are in danger at an instant. The flowing fire occupied Yingbin Road, the main road of the tank farm. If this road is burned, the provincial reinforcement vehicles that will come later will be blocked outside, and none of them will be able to pass.

Cong Shuyin called Guo Wei, chief of staff of the detachment, and demarcated two lines of life and death.