In the early morning of April 30, 2020, Captain Mike Tipoti and Captain Allen Velega were returning to the fire station after responding to a residential fire in Afono, when the apparatus they were in crashed at a sharp curve coming down a mountain road. Several other firefighters were also injured in this incident.

Captain Tipoti and Captain Velega both graduated in the Second Fire Academy and had served with the American Samoa Fire Bureau Division since 2012. They were remembered as hardworking and dedicated firefighters.