Two firefighters on Sunday night died in a Hsinchu City apartment complex fire, with the last of the 351 residents evacuated at about 1:10pm yesterday, the Hsinchu City Fire Bureau said.
After receiving a report of the fire at 10:55pm on Sunday, firefighters at the scene found that cables in a pipe room were burning and emitting thick smoke, the bureau said.
Using two water pipes, they brought the blaze under control at about 11:35pm, although residual smoldering continued, it said.
Photo courtesy of Hu Han-kung
Firefighters Lee Yung-chen (李詠真) and Chou Li-hsin (周立鑫) had entered one of the buildings where the power had gone out to rescue the people trapped inside, the bureau said.
The pair were taking the stairs to the third and eighth floors, where people were reportedly trapped, when they discovered they had insufficient oxygen, a firefighter said.
More firefighters were dispatched to rescue them after receiving distress signals, and found Lee and Chou collapsed on the third-floor stairwell, the firefighter said.
The thick and sticky smoke from the burning cables might have made it harder for them to escape, they said.
Due to the heavy smoke more than 100 people remained trapped in the complex yesterday morning, while firefighters worked to vent the smoke.
The complex consists of four 28-floor buildings.
One resident said her family waited on their balcony until about 7am yesterday before being rescued by a ladder truck.
The last of the 351 residents were evacuated from the complex in the early afternoon.
Some children inhaled smoke and needed to be hospitalized, the bureau said, but no other deaths were reported.
The cause of the fire and the deaths of the firefighters had yet to be determined as of yesterday.
Hsinchu Mayor Kao Hung-an (高虹安) early yesterday morning visited rescued residents and family members of the deceased firefighters at a hospital, offering her condolences and gratitude.
She said the city government would handle the affairs for Lee’s and Chou’s families.
Lee, 39, had served in the fire bureau for 19 years and Chou, 34, for 14 years, the bureau said.
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