A woman who narrowly escaped a Puhi fire last week has identified the man who saved the day: Captain Clinton Fujii of the Lihu‘e Fire Department. Patti Bradley and Scotty Sagum awoke early on the morning of Dec. 28, just
A woman who narrowly escaped a Puhi fire last week has identified the man who saved the day: Captain Clinton Fujii of the Lihu‘e Fire Department.
Patti Bradley and Scotty Sagum awoke early on the morning of Dec. 28, just after midnight, to smoke and fire emanating from inside their townhome at Halelani Village in Puhi. By the time they heard the commotion outside, the fire was already in full blaze.
“I don’t know what would have happened without (Fujii),” Bradley said in a telephone interview yesterday morning. “He jumped from the fire truck as it was moving to rescue Scotty from our neighbor’s lanai.”
Bradley said that at that point, the fire had engulfed their unit, and they had nowhere to go but to the unit across the way, where a neighbor had set up a ladder.
“Fujii jumped off the truck, climbed up the ladder and pulled Scotty away from the fire. If they had taken the time to figure out what was going on and park the truck, he never would have made it. The fireman was absolutely wonderful and we are so thankful to him,” she said.
Sagum agreed, shouting in the background, “He’s the hero!”
In a phone interview yesterday, Fujii humbly said, “It was really a team effort from the entire Fire Department,” noting a special thanks should go to Captain Kavin Kuwamura for assisting him on the ladder.
“I couldn’t have done it without his help,” said Fujii.
When asked how they were doing, Bradley said Sagum was still recovering from some “pretty bad” burns, but she is grateful that everyone made it out without any real harm.
Bradley and Sagum are set to move into their new home sometime in the near future.
“It actually feels nice to start over fresh for the new year. I’m just so happy to be here,” said Bradley.
