FACES OF THE FIRE : Fire Break : Aftermath: Crews, spent after 24 hours on the lines, finally take a breather. The thank yous fail to ease professional frustration.

The frustration and exhaustion showed as firefighter Kevin Valentine slumped against the bumper of his fire truck, trying to catch a breather after 24 hours of battling the wicked south Orange County blaze.

“I have a lot of compassion for these people--all we can do is our very best, and that’s what we’ve done,” Valentine said, adjusting the soiled bandanna across his brow. “This one is just so big. It’s like, where do you start? You just have to get somewhere, hold your ground and hope for the best.”

When a group of residents drove by in a car loaded with personal effects, shouting “Thank you, guys!” to Valentine and his weary crew, all the 25-year-old Arcadia firefighter could muster was a slow wave as acknowledgment.

More than 2,500 firefighters from throughout the state were physically and emotionally drained Thursday from their encounter with the most devastating blaze in Orange County history.

At times, they were armed with hoses that had the pressure and impact of water pistols. Often, they were forced to retreat from towering flames that devoured scrubs, trees and wood frame houses.

Lugging as much as 100 pounds of equipment on their backs, firefighters in groups large and small made heroic stands to protect entire neighborhoods or to save just one family’s home. Like Valentine, many parched and ash-covered firefighters worked for 24 straight hours without rest.

But by day’s end, the tired firefighters had managed to hem in the blaze.

Miraculously, few were hurt. Blessedly, none were hurt seriously. Fire officials said 19 firefighters were injured, the most serious with a burned cornea.

To some on the scene, it was a terrifying, surreal experience.

Ken Strang, a firefighter from Huntington Beach, saw a plastic trash can melt from the heat. The fire’s intensity was mind-boggling, he said. Some fire crews hosed each other down to keep from being overwhelmed by the heat.

“I’ve been a fireman for 20 years and this is the worst I’ve seen,” said Phil Busman, an engineer for the Anaheim Fire Department.

“You get a little scared,” added Mike McGrath, a seven-year veteran with the Orange County Fire Department.

It wasn’t just the flames that confounded the firefighters, it was the dry and windy weather as well. And while Mother Nature was blamed for aggravating the devastation, she also helped corral the fire.

County fire spokesman Capt. Dan Young said the turning point occurred about midnight Thursday, a few hours after Santa Ana winds had died down and a cool marine layer shrouded the area. In the calmer weather, the fire did not spread as quickly and crews were able to move in and extinguish the hot spots.

At its fiery peak, though, the blaze seemed untamable even by the massive force sent from throughout the state.

About 300 fire engines were poised late Wednesday and early Thursday throughout Laguna Beach, training one to four hoses per engine at the blaze whose tentacles had snaked throughout the oceanfront community.

The tenacious fire forced firefighters to abandoned the traditional strategy of attacking a fire’s flanks. Instead, Young said, they had to employ a less effective “hot-spotting” technique, where individual fire companies would make “fight or run” decisions on a house-to-house basis.

It was literally spray and pray.

“We didn’t even know where we were at,” said Kern County Fire Capt. John Peterson, in the early morning hours of Thursday.

“They just told us to save this street and we did,” said Peterson.

One of the tools firefighters used in Irvine Cove was a chemical penetrating agent for wood shingle roofs. The firefighters call it “Liquid Joy” or “Dawn” because it looks like dishwashing liquid. An eight-ounce bottle of the wetting agent mixed into 500 gallons of water opens the pores in wood shingles so water soaks in instead of running off.

“With that agent we were able to make quite a few saves” of threatened homes, said Thomas Dailey, a captain with an Orange County fire volunteer unit from Villa Park.

Dailey, 29, who is a Villa Park general contractor, was like most firefighters late Wednesday night: tired and hungry. They had grabbed food where they could while doing battle.

“We stopped at a Circle K store on the way over and I literally swept my arms across the counter and scooped up every Snickers bar they had,” he said. “Me and my crew have been living on these melted chocolate bars all afternoon.”

By mid-morning Thursday, crews from as far north as Humboldt County and as far south as San Diego relieved the exhausted men and women who had worked throughout the night.

Many used the respite to eat, drink and rest before going back out. Throughout the day, firefighters were greeted with gratitude by residents and praise from local and state politicians.

Gov. Pete Wilson hailed their “extraordinary” efforts.

Sipping from a bottle of water, Wilson told several firefighters on a break that he was struck by the sheer enormity of the devastation during his morning tour of the area. “It was the damnedest thing,” he said.

As he left, Wilson told the firefighters: “Now get some rest.”

Times staff writer Eric Lichtblau and correspondents Geoff Boucher and Richard Core contributed to this story.