Firefighters silent heroes in deadly Saigon apartment fire
Monday, March 26, 2018, 11:59 GMT+7
Firefighters are usually the unsung heroes in emergency situations and the deadly apartment blaze that claimed 13 lives in Ho Chi Minh City last week was no exception.
When pillars of black smoke were belching from the basement of the Carina Plaza apartment complex in District 8, dozens of firefighters risked their lives to save others trapped inside the apartment buildings by the flames that broke out before dawn on Friday.
Risking lives for others’
As a Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporter rushed to the scene, two young firemen were helping a woman and a child, who was crying in fear, get out of the building.
Shortly after handing the two victims to their coworkers, the two firefighters collapsed to the soaked ground due to smoke inhalation.
It was 2:30 am, about an hour into the blaze that eventually killed 13 and injured 91 others, making it the most catastrophic fire in Ho Chi Minh City since 2002.
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| The Carina Plaza is seen on fire in Ho Chi Minh on March 23, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre |
The Ho Chi Minh City fire department said it had dispatched more than 200 firefighters and 34 fire trucks from eight different units to the scene on Vo Van Kiet Street.
The first responders had to put out the fire and race against the clock to rescue some 1,000 victims at the same time.
While some firefighters defied the toxic smoke and burning heat to splash water onto the flames, others entered the building to seek victims and took them out safe and sound.
Two firemen were about to leave the exit on the ground floor when the ceiling suddenly gave way, pushing both of them to the ground. However, only minutes later, they rushed back to the fire again to continue their duty.
The firefighters took turns to bring victims, some of whom were barely able to walk and others had their entire bodies blackened by smoke, out of the building, while their fellows were busily climbing up the ladders to access people trapped inside the upper floors.
Tenants who were saved or managed to escape from the inferno themselves would besiege any firefighters within their reach, asking them to check ‘this room on that floor’ for their family members who remained unaccounted for.
No single request was turned down and the firefighters kept on rushing into the flames, risking their own lives to save others’.
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| Firefighters calm panic victims after taking them to the ground safely. Photo: Tuoi Tre |
‘It’s our duty’
The deadly fire occurred in a basement located between the two apartment blocks A and B, sending toxic smoke to as high as the 14th floors due to fire doors on all floors being left wide open.
The fire doors were supposed to stay closed all the time, and could only be opened from the inside in case of emergency to prevent smoke from spreading to all compartments of a multiple-story building.
This, complete with the inactivated fire alarm and sprinkler systems, only worsened the severity of the basement fire that should not have caused damage to the upper floors of the apartment buildings.
It was the bravery of the firefighters that helped prevent the death toll from rising.
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| Two firefighters take a rest after the fire is put out. Photo: VietNamNet |
Chau Thanh Quang, head of the firefighting unit of District 8, said his team members were present at the scene only ten minutes after being notified of the fire.
“The first thing we saw at the scene was large plumes of smoke coming from the upper floors of the building, and the exploding sound followed by the cries and shouts of the trapped tenants,” Quang told online newspaper VietNamNet.
Quang added he managed to reach the 12th floor with a ladder and continued climbing the stairs to the 14th floor to save people.
“I gathered them into one place and told them how to find the exit and maintain oxygen levels, before taking them safely to the ground,” he recalled.
“I rescued more than 20 people, including one expectant mother and some children.”
Quang said firefighters will always rush into flames without any hesitation because “it is our duty and nothing is better than saving lives.”
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| Firefighters help people to leave the building. Photo: Tuoi Tre |
Pham Thanh Duong, another member of the District 8 fire unit, said he was tasked with entering the building after the fire in the basement was put out to rescue the trapped victims.
“Everybody was in panic and I had to calm them down,” he told Dan Tri (Intellectual) news website.
Duong and three of his team members managed to bring nearly 30 tenants to the ground safe and sound, and had to “immediately return to the building, knocking every door to ensure no one was left behind.”
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| Firefighters take a rest after the fire is put out. Photo: VietNamNet |
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| A fireman with his hand burned after the fire. Photo: Tuoi Tre |
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| Firefighters are seen at the scene. Photo: Tuoi Tre |
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Not all heroes wear capes Besides the brave firefighters, one security guard of the Carina Plaza also sacrificed his life to save as many tenants as possible when the fire broke out. Tran Van An, who was on duty at Block A on the tragic night, came and knocked on the door of every apartment in the building to alert them to the fire, when firefighters were already at the scene. As he had to run from floor to floor on foot, An was exhausted and died of smoke inhalation when he reached the fifth floor, having helped many to escape for their own lives. Two other guards, Le Gia An, 21, and Nguyen Thanh Sang, 22, who were on duty at Block B, which was not directly affected by the fire, also rushed to Block A to assist the rescue efforts. They both survived the fire and were on Sunday commended by the local youth association for their efforts. The young men said they want to dedicate this honor to An, “who risked his life for others’.” |
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