The particularly serious fire in Cau Giay (Hanoi) in the early morning of May 24th took the lives of 14 innocent people. In that life-and-death moment, there appeared many examples of courage and love for humanity of ordinary people, who did not fear danger and rushed into the fire to save people.

At the same time as the news of the fire broke on May 24, the online community also spread the image of a young man standing precariously and unfavorably on a ladder placed high up, possibly in danger of falling, but still trying to swing a hammer and hit the wall to create a hole for the fire victim to escape. That brave act was identified as that of Dong Van Tuan and Hoang Anh Tuan (from Nam Dinh).

With a healthy tan complexion and a strong, straightforward gaze, Hoang Anh Tuan had just arrived in the capital for about 30 days, and everything was still unfamiliar. After completing his military service, Tuan went to the Trung Kinh area to rent a place to stay, convenient for learning auto repair.

When the fire broke out at No. 1, Alley 31, Lane 98, Lane 43, Trung Kinh Street, Trung Hoa Ward, Cau Giay District, Tuan and some friends were still awake looking at their phones.

When he heard an explosion next door, Tuan thought someone was joking and knocking on his door. When he opened the door, he realized that there was a fire alarm. At this time, many people around came out to help put out the fire. Seeing that, Tuan also ran out by inertia, a natural reflex. When he went outside, Tuan and everyone else observed that there was an area with glass windows.

"Seeing someone on the third floor calling for help, everyone brought out a ladder. We had to connect two ladders from the ground up, then my friend and I climbed up to break the hole," Tuan recounted, adding that at that time, he didn't think about fear, when he heard the cry for help, he just tried his best to save the person.

At first, when hammering on the wall, Tuan and some others were worried that the wall would not break through. But perhaps at that moment, saving people was important, all the strength seemed to be concentrated in his arm, only about 5 minutes later, Tuan broke through the wall.

While the wall was leaking, the smoke started to get thicker. Tuan tried to get the boy down first, then together with everyone else, he helped two more adults escape from the hole in the wall.

Tuan said: “In that situation, anyone would do the same as me. People needed help so I didn’t think much, I risked everything to save them from the fire.”

In the midst of smoke and fire, accompanied by explosions, high temperatures, and a chaotic and dangerous surrounding environment, the Fire Prevention, Fire Fighting, and Rescue Police (Hanoi City Police) and local forces coordinated smoothly and carried out decisive rescue actions.

At the crucial moment, a slow, late, or hesitant decision could cost the lives of many people. Therefore, without hesitation or fear, the authorities decided to break the main gate lock to launch attacks against the “fire enemy.”

The approach was carried out in two directions: approaching the fire area through the main yard, the entrances to the rooms on the floors of the house (rescuing 3 people in this approach); breaking the window on the outer wall surface of the 2nd floor of the family house, using the rescue ladder provided by the house (rescuing 3 people in this approach from the 2nd floor of the house).

A total of 7 people were rescued by the Fire Prevention, Fire Fighting and Rescue Police, along with local residents using door-cutting and lock-breaking equipment to get them out.

After a sleepless night, working continuously at high intensity and with lurking dangers, even those in good health would have been exhausted. However, the firefighters of the Capital still expressed regret, wishing they could have acted more quickly, had more modern technical means, to have promptly saved more lives in the fire.

Along with firefighters, young people like Tuan, many women, people and organizations stood by in the hospital corridors and Cau Giay Funeral Home to comfort, encourage, and give bottles of water or food to relatives waiting for DNA samples to identify their loved ones, which somewhat comforted the families of the unfortunate; these were also good deeds, bringing many emotions about humanity in times of trouble.

In order to avoid such catastrophic fires, and to ensure that losses and sacrifices are not in vain, the Fire Prevention, Fire Fighting and Rescue Police Department recommends that people and businesses strictly comply with the provisions of the law on fire prevention, fire fighting and rescue; regularly conduct self-inspections on fire prevention, fire fighting and rescue. Each individual and household needs to proactively prepare an escape plan for themselves and their family members; prepare ladders, rope ladders and common demolition tools such as hammers, pliers, etc. to escape when a fire occurs.

People should not arrange goods or objects to block or obstruct escape routes; flammable items, goods and materials must be placed at least 0.5m away from sources of fire or heat.

People should install protective devices (fuses, circuit breakers, etc.), regularly check the electrical system and each device that consumes large amounts of electricity; turn off electrical devices when not needed, when leaving the house or office; strictly manage fire and heat sources when cooking and burning incense for worship.

In particular, people should not store gasoline, gas, flammable gases and flammable liquids in their homes; wear gas masks and soft towels to prevent smoke inhalation.

People should install early warning devices for fires and prepare on-site fire fighting equipment such as water, blankets, portable fire extinguishers... to extinguish fires as soon as they arise.

When a fire breaks out, people need to calmly consider, shout the alarm for everyone to quickly move out; organize fire fighting, rescue people and property, and immediately call the fire police, fire prevention, fire fighting and rescue force./.