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.

周三下午火灾刚开始时，李威廉(William Li)完全不知道他所在的大厦起火了。既没有火灾警报响起，他的公寓内也看不到任何烟雾迹象。

Then, he got a call from his wife, who heard about the blaze while she was at work. “You need to go,” she said.

然后，他接到正在上班的太太的电话，她说外面已经知道着火了：“你快点走！”

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.

40岁的李先生从出生起就住在宏福苑，闭着眼睛都知道大楼的格局，但逃生一点都不简单。他和两位邻居被困在家里超过两个小时，最后才被消防员救出。

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.

作为两个孩子的父亲，李先生在Facebook发文讲述自己的惊险经历，在香港引发数千人共鸣——这是香港几十年来最致命的一场大火。出院两天后，我们通过电话对他进行了采访。

Here is Mr. Li’s story and the photographs he captured. The interview, conducted in Cantonese, has been condensed and edited for clarity.

以下是李先生的自述和他拍下的照片。采访以粤语进行，现已精简并编辑以便阅读。

‘No Fire Alarm’

“完全没有火警铃”

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.”

那一天我放假，身体不舒服，所以留在家里。下午3点02分，太太打电话来。她当时不算很惊慌，只是说：“着火了，你快点走。”

I didn’t think it was very serious. There was no fire alarm. I couldn’t smell smoke.

我当时没觉得很严重，因为完全没有火警铃，也闻不到烟味。

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.

我换了衣服、收拾了一下准备离开。开门的一瞬间，浓烟瞬间涌进来，我第一反应就是马上把门关上。

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.

我再打给太太说走不了，她听到后立刻崩溃大哭，她脑子里想的是最坏的情况：我死定了。

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.

我拿毛巾把门底的缝隙堵住，在屋里走来走去想办法，后来听到走廊有人声。我用湿布掩住口鼻冲出去，才一分钟，喉咙就辣得痛，眼泪不停流。

‘We’ll Find a Way Out’

“我们一定会出去”

The hallway was pitch dark. I tried turning on my phone’s flashlight, but it didn’t make a difference.

走廊一片漆黑，我打开手机电筒也完全没用。

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.

我循声走去，找到一对60多岁的夫妇，我摸着墙带他们穿过浓烟回到我家，用电子密码锁开门，把门关上。

“Why were you there?” I asked them. “Were there other people in the corridor?”

我问他们：“你们怎么会在走廊？”“还有其他人吗？”

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.

他们说他们家的窗户突然爆出火舌，所以冲到走廊。那里听到一个家佣在喊她照顾的老婆婆，但喊着喊着声音就突然停了。

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.

我在这里住了40年，大楼布局我很熟。每层有两组楼梯，一组通向大堂，另一组是后楼梯。邻居说后楼梯门平时是锁上的。我太太已经站在大厦下面，她说大堂已经全是火。

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.”

朋友叫我报警。我打999，转接到消防，他们问我在哪一层哪一单位，我说了之后，他们说：“好，我们会安排人来救你。”

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.

有个消防员叫我贴着地面，保存体力。我们从窗口看到水枪对着高层的楼喷，我们拼命挥手，但他们看不到我们。

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.”

一开始我们还算镇定。我跟那对夫妇的女儿通电话，安慰她说：“我们一定会出去的，不会死的。”

Saying Goodbye

跟家人说再见

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.

后来开始闻到烟味和烧焦的臭味。那对夫妇从我房间走出来，说窗户周围的发泡胶已经着火了。

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.

那一刻我真的觉得自己要死了。我和太太、两个孩子睡的主卧有三张床垫，很多被子。我知道一旦窗户爆裂，火会一下子烧进来。

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.

我开始在WhatsApp逐个给朋友打电话、发信息道别，请他们以后帮我照顾家人。我们拼命用手机灯光照向消防员，终于引起他们注意。我指着着火的窗户，他们立刻把水枪对准，把火扑灭了。

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.

一开始云梯升不上来，因为有棚架挡着，上面还有杂物不断掉下来。下午5点多，终于升到我们窗口。

The woman told me to go first, but I said, “No, you go first. I am younger.” She was rescued first, then her husband.

那对夫妇的太太叫我先走，我说：“不，你们先走，我年轻。”太太是先获救的，然后是她先生。

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.

最后几分钟，我一个人在屋里，气氛很沉重。我四处张望想带点东西走，但什么都带不了。窗户很窄，只能斜着身子一个人滑出去。

Turning to Dust

一切化为乌有

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.

我抓起太太的手表和一些现金塞进包里，冲出去爬上云梯。消防员叫我弯腰、低头，防止上面掉东西砸到。

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.

一踏上云梯，感觉时间都慢下来了。离开这个家我很难过，水枪喷得我全身湿透，好冷。

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].

感觉天都塌下来了，我拥有的一切都在化为灰烬，心里百感交集。落到地面后，消防员把我们安置在一旁，给了我们宝矿力。

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.

四周道路全部封锁，救护车进不来。消防员说我们可以自己走出去。我和那对夫妇交换了电话号码，就分开了。

I went to buy some new clothes and reunited with my family. My kids were crying a lot. All their toys were gone.

我去买了几件衣服，和家人团聚。两个小孩哭得很厉害，他们所有的玩具都没了。