A Honolulu firefighter was tragically killed while responding to a three-alarm building fire Monday evening.
Crews were sent to the McCully area building at about 7:40 p.m. to extinguish a fast-spreading blaze. By 8 p.m., a Mayday call was issued with two firefighters declared missing.
One of the two missing firefighters managed to escape the structure before a partial roof collapse.
The other, 25-year-old Jeffrey Fiala, was located and extricated just before 8:30 p.m. but couldn’t be revived.
Six people, including five firefighters, were taken to the hospital. Witnesses believe the massive blaze was sparked by a resident cooking in his unit.
“He came out to the front and said he called 911 because his place had caught on fire while he was cooking something,” one recalled.
“Smoke was coming out and then I happened to look over and the flames all came out at one time.”
Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi mourned the loss of life as he stopped at the hospital.
“To lose a firefighter who was tragically killed in response to a fire is a very somber moment for us. We’re off to a tough start of this year,” he said.
