The U.S. Fire Administration reported on the deaths of two firefighters in American Samoa in the South Pacific.
After responding to a residential fire on April 30, 2020, Captain Mike Tipoti and Captain Allen Velega with American Samoa Fire Bureau Division of the Department of Public Safety of Pago Pago were returning to the firehouse when the accident occurred. The fire apparatus the members were in crashed at a sharp curve after coming down a mountain road.
Captain Tipoti, 44, who was driving the apparatus, was pronounced deceased at the scene. Captain Velega, 50, was pronounced deceased shortly after his arrival at the hospital emergency room.
