“I feel guilty that I was the one who brought them there.”

During the 2006 Lebanon war, Civil Defense team leader Ali Safiuddin brought his wife and young daughter, Lynn, to the station, believing they would be safer close to him.

When an Israeli attack struck the station, the rescuer who had dedicated his life to saving others suffered an unimaginable personal loss – one that shapes his work to this very day.

Watch Under Fire: Lebanon’s first responders, an Al Jazeera Originals documentary now available on YouTube.