HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in years burned through the night, leaving at least 44 people dead and 279 reported missing with rescuers still pulling residents from blazing high-rise apartment buildings into the morning.

Several local media outlets reported that police had arrested three men on suspicion of manslaughter in connection with fire which began Wednesday afternoon in a housing complex in Tai Po district, a suburb in the New Territories. By Thursday morning local time, the fire was yet to be put out and rescues continued with the death toll reaching 44.

Hundreds of residents were evacuated as the fire spread across seven of the eight buildings in the complex. At least 29 others remained hospitalized. Bright flames and smoke shot out of windows as night fell.

Authorities said earlier that investigators would be looking into factors including whether material on the exterior walls of high-rise buildings met fire resistance standards, as the rapid spread of the fire was unusual. Director of Fire Services Andy Yeung said officers had found foam sheets that are highly flammable.

Officials said the fire started on the external scaffolding of one of the buildings, a 32-story tower, and later spread to inside the building and then to nearby buildings, likely aided by windy conditions.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday expressed condolences to the firefighter who died and extended sympathies to the families of the victims, according to state broadcaster CCTV. He also urged efforts to minimize casualties and losses.

John Lee, the city’s chief executive, said the government will prioritize the disaster but halt public efforts for the Dec. 7 elections for the Legislative Council. He didn’t say if the elections could be delayed but said decisions would come “a few days later.”

The fire at three of the buildings was “coming under control” shortly past midnight, according to the Fire Services Department.

The housing complex consisted of eight buildings with almost 2,000 apartments housing about 4,800 residents, including many elderly people. It was built in the 1980s and had recently been undergoing a major renovation.

Fire chiefs said high temperatures at the scene made it difficult for crews to mount rescue operations. A column of flames and thick smoke rose as the blaze spread quickly on bamboo scaffolding and construction netting that had been set up around the exterior of the buildings. About 900 people were evacuated to temporary shelters.

Authorities said that hundreds of firefighters, police officers and paramedics were deployed. Firefighters aimed water at the intense flames from high up on ladder trucks.

The blaze, which started mid-afternoon, was upgraded to a level 5 alarm — the highest level of severity — as night fell. Authorities said that conditions remained very challenging for firefighters.

“Debris and scaffolding of the affected buildings (is) falling down,” said Derek Armstrong Chan, deputy director of Fire Service operations. “The temperature inside the buildings concerned is very high. It’s difficult for us to enter the building and go upstairs to conduct firefighting and rescue operations.”

The fire department said that it received “numerous” calls requesting assistance. It said some residents remained trapped as of Wednesday night.

Firefighters deployed about 200 fire trucks and more than 100 ambulances to the scene, according to RTHK, the local

HME AHRENS-FOX—Notre Dame Fire Department, South Bend, IN, pumper. HME Ahrens-Fox short front overhang (SFO) medium four door (MFDxl) cab and chassis with 12-inch raised roof; Cummins L9 380-hp engine; Hale DSD 1,500- gpm pump; 700-gallon polypropylene water tank. Dealer: Kyle Koons, 911 Fleet and Fire Equipment, Florence, KY.

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Special Delivery Alan M. Petrillo

To help protect aircraft and miles of runways and taxiways, the 28-square-mile Dallas Fort Worth Airport Fire Department has placed six Oshkosh Striker Volterra™ aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) trucks in service—four front-line rigs and two in reserve.

Daniel White, Dallas Fort Worth Airport’s fire chief, says he and the department were drawn to the vehicle when Oshkosh first introduced the idea of a Striker Volterra. “What caught our attention when Oshkosh brought the concept vehicle out in 2020 was the pump-and-roll capability with the power divider drivetrain,” White points out. “It allows a constant pressure level on the pump with no surging or disruption and a very smooth constant manifold pressure.”

In addition, White notes, “When in electric vehicle drive mode, the Striker Volterra ARFF truck uses only its onboard batteries to power the rig fully on electricity, which is very useful for reducing emissions and removing exhaust fumes when exiting and entering the fire station.”

When hard acceleration is needed from the truck, he adds, the rig automatically transitions if the acceleration drive mode is active and allows the batteries and diesel engine to work together to maximize performance and improve response time by developing up to 950 horsepower (hp). “The Striker Volterra is very fast, going from zero to 50 miles per hour (mph) in 21 seconds,” White says.

1 The Dallas Fort Worth Airport (TX) Fire Department has six Oshkosh Striker Volterra 6×6 ARFF trucks in its fleet. (Photos courtesy of Oshkosh Corp.)

2 The trucks are easch powered by two 700-VDC lithium-ion batteries, a Scania DC13 diesel engine, and an Oshkosh power divider.

3 The rigs have Waterous CRQB 2,000-gpm pumps, 3,170-gallon water tanks, 425-gallon foam tanks, Oshkosh ECO EFP foam systems, and 550-pound dry chemical powder systems.

Department

Dallas Fort Worth Airport (TX) Fire Department

Strength: 191 paid full-time firefighters; six stations.

Service area: The Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) Airport Fire Department is an all-hazards ISO-1 agency that provides aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF), emergency medical services (EMS), structural firefighting, rescue and technical rescue, confined space, and hazardous materials response to the airport’s 28 square miles.

Other apparatus: Six Oshkosh Striker Volterra ARFF 6×6 trucks, four front-line, two reserve; two Oshkosh Striker 6×6 ARFF trucks with 65-foot high-reach extendable turrets (HRETs); two Oshkosh Striker 4×4 rapid response vehicles with ultra-high-pressure pumps and hoselines; one Oshkosh 4×4 Striker ARFF with a 50-foot HRET for the DFW Fire Training Center; four Pierce pumpers, three front-line, one reserve; two Pierce 105-foot aerial ladders; two Pierce 105-foot aerial ladder platforms; one Pierce technical rescue/hazmat truck; one Pierce aerial ladder quint in reserve.

Travis Ownby, sales representative for Siddons-Martin Emergency Group, who sold the six Striker Volterra ARFF trucks to Dallas Fort Worth Airport, says the ARFF rigs are all identical 6×6 trucks with TAK-4® all-wheel independent suspensions and regenerative braking through electro-mech