A date which will live in infamy was also a day the Honolulu Fire Department unexpectedly went to war.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Engine 6 was the first to respond to Hickam Airfield.
“They were used to seeing practice anti-aircraft artillery and they knew that to be white smoke, white puffs in the sky,” said Capt. David Jenkins, Honolulu Fire Department. “This morning, those puffs were black. They knew it was live ammunition and Oahu was under attack.”
Bodies were everywhere, hangars and aircraft burned out of control.
Hoseman Harry Tuck Lee Pang was killed after being shot in the abdomen. Crews ran to a hangar but that proved to be unsafe.
“The hangar was struck itself and two other firefighters, captains Macy and Carreira were also fatally injured,” Jenkins said.