Praised as heroes, stung by criticism: firefighters torn over Tai Po blaze report

After spending 12 gruelling hours battling the Tai Po inferno, frontline firefighter Ah Fai* could not have imagined that, barely a year later, his department would find itself under the harsh glare of public scrutiny. The trauma of that night is still raw.

He remembers burning debris from the bamboo scaffolding raining down from above, blocking one of the main entrances of Wang Fuk Court. “Our colleagues simply had no chance of getting in,” he said.

Those who eventually breached the towers were...