William Li had no idea there was a fire ripping through his building when it started on Wednesday afternoon. There were no fire alarms and no signs of smoke inside his apartment.
Then, he got a call from his wife, who heard about the blaze while she was at work. “You need to go,” she said.
Mr. Li, 40, has lived in the Wang Fuk Court complex since he was born. He knew the building’s layout like the back of his hand, but escaping was far from simple. Mr. Li and two neighbors were trapped in his apartment for more than two hours before they were rescued by firefighters.
Mr. Li, a father of two, wrote about his ordeal in a Facebook post that has resonated with thousands of people in Hong Kong as the city responds to the deadliest blaze in decades. We spoke by phone after he was released following two days in a hospital.
Here is Mr. Li’s story and the photographs he captured. The interview, conducted in Cantonese, has been condensed and edited for clarity.
‘No Fire Alarm’
It was my day off. I wasn’t feeling well, so I was home. At 3:02 p.m., I got a call from my wife. She wasn’t very nervous; she just said, “There’s a fire, you need to go.”
I didn’t think it was very serious. There was no fire alarm. I couldn’t smell smoke.
I took a few minutes to change and prepare to leave the apartment. When I opened the door, the smoke rushed in. My first reaction was to shut the door right away.
I called my wife back to say I couldn’t leave. That’s when she started crying uncontrollably. She was thinking of the worst-case scenario: I was going to die.
I got some towels and used them to block the gap under the doors. I was pacing around my home looking for things when I heard voices coming from the corridors. I covered my mouth with a damp piece of clothing and rushed out. After just a minute, my throat was stinging and my eyes were watering uncontrollably.
‘We’ll Find a Way Out’
The hallway was pitch dark. I tried turning on my phone’s flashlight, but it didn’t make a difference.
I walked toward the voices and found a couple in their 60s. I led them through the smoke back to my apartment, using the wall to trace my steps. I plugged in the digital code to my apartment and shut the door.
“Why were you there?” I asked them. “Were there other people in the corridor?”
They explained that the window in their unit had burst into flames so they rushed out into the hallway. There, they heard a domestic worker calling out for an elderly woman she was caring for. Then suddenly the voice stopped.
After living here for 40 years, I know the building’s layout well. There are two sets of staircases on every floor. One goes down to the lobby, and there’s another set of back stairs. My neighbors said the back door was usually locked. My wife, who was now standing in front of the building, said the lobby was already engulfed in flames.
My friends told me to call the police. I called 999, and they transferred me to the firefighters. I told them what floor I was on and in which unit. They said, “OK, we’ll arrange for someone to come and rescue you.”
One firefighter told me to stay close to the ground and preserve my energy. From our window, we could see the fire hoses pointed at the higher floors. We waved at the firefighters, but they couldn’t see us.
At first, we were calm. I spoke to the couple’s daughter on the phone and tried to reassure her. “We’ll find a way out,” I said. “We won’t die.”
Saying Goodbye
I started to smell the smoke and the stench of something burning. The couple, who had been resting in my bedroom, came outside and said the polystyrene foam surrounding the window had caught fire.
At that moment, I really thought I might die. I share a bedroom with my wife and two kids. There are three mattresses in there and lots of blankets. I knew that if the windows burst, the fire would spread quickly.
I started calling and texting my friends on WhatsApp to say goodbye. I told them to help me look out for my family. We started flashing our lights at the firefighters and caught their attention. I pointed to the window that was on fire. They immediately directed the fire hoses at the window and put out the fire.
At first, they struggled to get the fire ladder to our unit — the scaffolding was in the way, and debris was falling from higher floors. A little after 5 p.m., they finally got to our window.
The woman told me to go first, but I said, “No, you go first. I am younger.” She was rescued first, then her husband.
For a few minutes, I was waiting alone in the apartment. It felt really somber. I looked around to see what I could take with me. I wanted to bring everything, but I couldn’t bring anything. The window was very narrow — just enough space for one person to slide out diagonally.
Turning to Dust
I grabbed my wife’s watch and some cash and stuffed them into my bag. I rushed outside and climbed onto the ladder. The firefighter told me to crouch down and hold my head down because of the falling debris.
Once I was on the ladder, I felt like time slowed down. I was sad to leave my home behind. I was drenched from the fire hoses and I felt very cold.
It felt like the sky was falling. Everything I owned was turning to dust. I felt a rush of emotions. Once I got down to the ground, the firefighters put us to one side and gave us some Pocari [a sports drink].
All the roads were blocked, so the ambulances couldn’t come to where we were. The firefighters said we could walk out on our own. The couple and I exchanged numbers and parted ways.
I went to buy some new clothes and reunited with my family. My kids were crying a lot. All their toys were gone.
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