From a colleague of Sean Smith, one of the US State Department officials that died in the fire:

I’d like to thank all of you for the kind comments about Sean. I worked with him and we both have the same job for the Dept. of State. I thought that you may like to know why he was there till the end and didn’t leave with everyone else. One of the requirements of our job is that we control all of the Secret and cryptology equipment at Embassy’s and Consulate’s. While the non-essential staff were allowed to get out, he had to stick it out until everything was destroyed to keep it from falling into hostile hands which could put more lives at risk. He was a great Communicator and friend and he will be missed in our small community as he will be missed in yours.