Firefighting is an extremely stressful career. Every single day, brave men and women face death and flames in an attempt to save their fellow man.
Most recently, a group of firefighters from Trinity County went viral after a video of them singing was uploaded to YouTube.
In the video’s title, the firefighters are referred to as the “Samoa Hotshot crew”; however, it’s unclear if this titling is the result of the members being Samoan or chosen simply because they are featured singing a Samoan song.
In case you didn’t know (cause I definitely didn’t), hotshots are “elite firefighting crews” who are sent to isolated locations to fight wildfires.
According to National Geographic, there are approximately 107 hotshot crews in the United States, with Dick Smith, a retired firefighter explaining (via National Geographic):
“In the world of wildland firefighting today, the hotshot crews are similar to the Special Forces in the military.”
“They’re highly trained and can meet the highest physical requirements.”
Now, if these firefighters’ videos are any indication, the Samoa Hotshot Crew are definitely some of the funnest hotshots around. (See the following clip for proof.)
But, aside from being fun— they are also super talented in the vocal department. As mentioned, the Samoan Hotshot Crew recently went viral after Lori Light uploaded a video to YouTube of them singing in a vast, forested wilderness.
The performance is difficult to describe if you haven’t seen it for yourself, but the first words that come to my mind are “hauntingly surreal”.
The 2-minute video opens to an empty, forested landscape. There doesn’t appear to be a soul nearby, but you can immediately hear people singing in the distance. Viewers have compared the men’s voices to a Disney song, and I can definitely understand how they could reach that conclusion.
For the first little bit of the video, the gorgeous voices are bodiless. However, at around 0:45, the hotshots finally come into view.
According to astute viewers, the group is singing “Fa’afetai i le Atua”, a song composed of three different verses thanking the Lord, his Son, and the Holy Spirit. But others have also noted that the tune is very similar to What a Friend We Have in Jesus, a Christian hymn.
Whatever they’re singing, though— it is downright beautiful.
Since being posted to YouTube in September of 2017, the Samoan Hotshot Crew’s performance has been viewed over 420,000 times.
See it for yourself below!
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