On May 16, 2020, eleven firefighters were seriously injured during one of the most intense and dangerous fires in the history of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
One of those firefighters was Fire Capt. Víctor Aguirre, who suffered serious burns. He spoke with our sister station Telemundo 52 about his miraculous recovery and the voracious fire that almost took his life away.
Aguirre recalls giving the order to leave the roof and calling out "Mayday," the emergency signal, during the May 16 fire in downtown LA. "I will never forget that day, I have it engraved in my mind and in my body," said Capt. Aguirre.
When Aguirre and his team tried to enter the building through the roof to attack the fire, he said he had a strange feeling.
“In my heart, in my mind, I felt uneasy,” said the Los Angeles Fire Department captain.
Minutes later when the fire was too intense to bear, Aguirre gave the order to retreat, and I heard multiple explosions and the roar of the fire.