Santiago del Teide Ayuntamiento has bestowed its top municipal award, the Barlia de Oro, on the Voluntary Bomberos who fought the fires in Tenerife in July-August 2007. Santiago del Teide was one of the municipalities most affected, and the award ceremony was attended by the mayor, Juan Damián Gorrín Ramos, the Council Secretary, Domingo González, and the President of the Voluntary Bomberos, Julián Ramos, as well as various members of the local corporation, and a public audience composed of those who wanted to show their appreciation and gratitude for the work of these volunteers during the most awful fires last year.
The Barlia de Oro (the Gold Orchid) is the highest public award that the Ayuntamiento can bestow in Santiago del Teide for exceptional services in the public good. The Orchid is characteristic of the area, and grows on the edges of the forest areas which, in these fires, were so badly affected. The plaque handed over to the Bomberos contained a gold medal with the orchid stamped on it.
Boy do they deserve it. I remember these fires first hand, and reported on them elsewhere ... they were terrifying, and that was from a fair distance. These guys are heroes, and if you had only seen how close the inferno got to a petrol station in Santiago del Teide town itself, you'd know how heroic they really are.
Diario de Avisos
Santiago del Teide Bomberos get the Gold Orchid for their services to firefighting in the Tenerife fires of 2007 
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