36. Fire Station Staff Monument
Children always adore
Red fire engines and firemen who are ready to die.
Yet sadly
They had no choice but to die
In that wave of heat like a small sun
In that invisible radiation.
Explanation
This monument used to be located in Kako-machi at the time of the A-bombing, one km away from the hypocenter. It collapsed and was heavily damaged in the bombing. After a while, it was relocated and rebuilt here.
The huge monument stone with the edges chipped away tells us what enormous power the A-bomb had. The names of 781 firemen killed in the line of duty are engraved on the back of the monument. Six hundred eighty-one of them were victims of the A-bomb.
Location: Hijiyama Park, Minami-ku