The Southland Firestorm: A Special Report : The Firefighters : ‘That Is My Job. That Is My Life. That Is What I Do.’

The signs said it best. From Laguna Beach to Malibu and throughout the fire zone, they captured a community’s gratitude: “We Firemen” or simply, “Thank you!” And the demonstrations: In Santa Monica’s Palisades Park, strollers broke into applause as a parade of fire engines passed by.

They came from as far away as Oregon and the Indian reservations of the Southwest. From San Francisco and a place called Mi-Wuk. There were California foresters toiling alongside prison inmates and former gang members.

In the Southern California firestorm of 1993, an occasion desperately in search of heroes, 7,000 firefighters answered the call.

For many of these foot soldiers, the last 10 days have been a blur of fire lines, half-eaten meals and catnaps beside their engines. They have hopscotched, like the fires, from Escondido to Altadena to Topanga to Thousand Oaks.

Nearly 70 were burned or felled by smoke inhalation. Many more worked so hard that their feet seemed permanently rooted in their boots. Their legs were so heavy that they were sure they could not bend them to lay down even one more hose.

But when the flames leaped up, so did they.

When homes were swept away, they shook their heads in awe and dismay. They also relished the warm hugs from the owners of the ones they saved.

Alongside Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, Peter Hamborg, an Orange County firefighter, reflected on his eight days on the line in Laguna Beach and Malibu.

He remembered the triumph along a flank of the Emerald Bay fire--the thrill of seeing the line of homes he helped save from flames that had loomed “like a bazillion blowtorches.” And the dismay, later, when he and his comrades had to help an old woman sift through the rubble that was once her home.

“It’s a strange feeling,” Hamborg concluded. “It’s everything from fear to exhilaration and a real sense of accomplishment. At the same time, you get a kick out of it. But you hate it.”