United in saving lives

Lee, who also lives in Tai Po district, was devastated by the sight that confronted him, "But there was no time for sadness or mourning.

"I believed every firefighter at the scene shared a common belief: to save as many lives as possible," he recalled.

Lee successfully rescued two men during the operation at Tai Po. One of the injured, who was still conscious, had almost all of his skin burnt off when he was thrust out of the sea of fire to land beyond the block. Lee immediately went to his aid and shielded him from falling objects as he escorted him to a safer place.

The blaze, the deadliest Hong Kong had witnessed for decades, broke out at around 2:50pm on Nov 26 at the eight-towered residential estate Wang Fuk Court, which was under renovation, in the Tai Po district. The fire, which raged for 43 hours, is believed to have started on mesh netting on Wang Cheong House around the first and second floors. The fire quickly engulfed seven of the towers, leaving at least 159 dead, 79 injured and thousands of families homeless.

In total, 2,311 firefighters and other rescue workers using 391 fire engines and 185 ambulances were dispatched to Tai Po. One thousand police officers were also deployed during the operation.

Director of Fire Services Andy Yeung Yan-kin said the fire was escalated to a No 3 alarm within six minutes of the department being alerted. The Fire Services Department activated the Director's Command Post inside 18 minutes, which quickly decided to send an extra 10 rescue teams in 20 firetrucks to the fire-ravaged housing estate.

With calls of distress mounting quickly, the department deployed another 80 staff to keep in vital contact with those in distress through 18 hotlines, attempting to ascertain exact locations.

"Once we ascertained anyone trapped was in great peril, we swooped in right away to rescue them," Yeung said.

By the time the fire was raised to a No 5 alarm, around 600 firefighters were already scattered around the seven burning buildings, with about 70-80 firemen to each block. This was maximum capacity for deployment given the limited space on staircases and the need to leave a route for people being rescued.