A year ago this week, Los Angeles Fire Captain Victor Aguirre was the last to leave the hospital after an explosive fire at a building in downtown LA injured him and nearly a dozen other firefighters.
Hazardous materials stored in the building were unknown to the crew putting out the flames that day.
"We got lucky that day that we didn't lose 11 firefighters," he said.
The NBC4 I-Team talked with the captain and his family to find out details about that day, his amazing recovery and how we can all learn from his survival story. "It didn't feel real," he said, shaking his head. "I just thought, 'Wait, this is not really happening."
He said he thought he was going to die while trying to evacuate when the fire got out of control. He was at the top of the engine ladder.
"I was completely on fire," he said. "I was a big fireball. And I looked to my right and I thought, 'What? Please, stop, somebody turn this off.'"
He wasn't even supposed to be working that Saturday, May 16, 2020. It was not his regular work day.
And, he remembers it was a strange day from the start.