By Andrew J. Campa
Los Angeles Times
ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. — Two of eight Orange County firefighters injured in a freeway crash last month transitioned from hospital care to rehabilitation on Wednesday, the Orange County Fire Authority announced.
That means six members of the Santiago Hand Crew, tasked with helping battle the massive Airport fire, are now home or in rehab. Two unnamed firefighters continue to be hospitalized at Providence Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo and Orange County Global Medical Center in Santa Ana.
Firefighter Andrew Brown, whose condition was not released by the OCFA due to a family request for privacy, received a cheerful sendoff as he was discharged from Mission Hospital and transferred to Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colo., on Wednesday morning.
“Like all eight of the OCFA patients, Andrew continues to show the same strength and courage that makes him a tremendous hand crew firefighter,” OCFA Capt. Thanh Nguyen said in a video statement. “That excellence was on full display during the Airport fire as Andrew and the rest of the OCFA’s Santiago Hand Crew put their life on the line to protect life and property.”
Brown received a round of applause from colleagues and hospital staff, while some waved handmade support signs, as he exited the facility’s elevator, according to a video clip provided by the OCFA. He was accompanied by a family member and was wheeled out in a gurney by fellow firefighters. The OCFA said a procession of vehicles followed Brown to John Wayne Airport.
Brown, who wore a neck brace and foot restraint, was taken via ambulance to an awaiting jet, according to the video clip. On the tarmac, a cadre of firefighters stood watch until he was placed in the jet and it departed.
He’ll receive treatment at the Englewood facility, which refers to itself as a world-renowned, premier center for specialty neurorehabilitation and research for people with a spinal injury and brain injury.
Brown received a greeting from OCFA and Colorado firefighters upon his landing, according to the OCFA.
Another member of the eight firefighters, which the OCFA did not name due to a family request for privacy, transferred from Orange County Global Medical Center to Rancho Los Amigos Rehabilitation Center in Downey.
Chris Hamm, president of the 1,200-member Orange County Professional Firefighter Local 3631, is asking anyone interested in helping to support the injured fighters and their families to send donations to www.fallenfirefighterrelieffund.org/ocfahandcrew.
The firefighters were injured Sept. 19 when their vehicle crashed and flipped over on State Route 241. They were returning from fighting the Airport fire, which has burned thousands of acres in Orange and Riverside counties.
The driver’s vehicle swerved to avoid a ladder on the freeway just north of Portola Parkway in Irvine. Seven were taken via ambulance and one on a helicopter to local medical facilities.
Two of the eight firefighters were released that evening, while another two returned home the next day, according to the OCFA.
The Airport fire began on Sept. 9 and was 95% contained as of Thursday, according to Cal Fire.
The fire burned a total of 23,526 acres and ultimately involved 191 personnel, five crews, three helicopters and six fire engines along with numerous air tankers. There were 22 civilian and fire injuries, 160 structures destroyed and another 34 damaged.
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