Hospital Releases 2 Injured Firefighters : Recovery: Both were hurt in Oct. 27 wildfires in Chatsworth and Altadena. Three others are still undergoing treatment in burn center.

Two firefighters seriously injured in the recent wildfires were released from the hospital Friday and sent home for recuperation.

“It is an incredibly happy time,” said Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Donald O. Manning, presiding over a news conference at the Sherman Oaks Hospital Burn Center. “For a little bit, we were not sure if this day was ever going to come.”

One of those released was Engineer Cleveland Tipton, 45, who was badly burned Oct. 27 when a firestorm overtook him and three other firefighters, engulfing their truck in Santa Susana Pass during the Chatsworth fire. The three others remain in the hospital with burns over up to 40% of their bodies.

Even though one of them is still listed in serious condition, all are expected to be released within the next three weeks, according to Dr. Richard Grossman, director of the burn unit.

The other firefighter released Friday was Capt. Mike Rodriguez, 39, who was injured in Altadena also on Oct. 27, when a red-hot nail pierced his boot and left foot. After the injury, which caused third-degree burns and an infection, Rodriguez stayed with his crew on the fire line for almost 24 more hours, taking only Advil for the pain.

Both men spoke in detail about the incidents that landed them in the hospital.

“We got caught in a bad situation, something you can’t predict,” said Tipton, a 19-year LAFD veteran who drives a fire engine for Pacoima-based Company 98. At the time he was injured, his company was working to protect another company of nearby firefighters from the advancing fire in Box Canyon.

Tipton was using a fire hose near the truck.

“Part of my job is to protect the engine if there is trouble,” said Tipton, who lives in Quartz Hill in the Antelope Valley.

He had just taken off one of his protective gloves to put on a dust mask when the wind suddenly changed. A wall of fire estimated at 50 feet high came roaring over him.

“It was only a matter of a few seconds and I was in the middle of it,” he said. “I had never seen anything like it in all the years I have been doing this work.”

Tipton was burned on the unprotected hand and arm. He dropped the hose and ran for the cab of the fire engine. “You don’t have time to do anything but react,” he said.

Inside the cab was one of his colleagues, Gary Carpenter, also seeking refuge from the firestorm. But the two men could hardly breathe. “All the oxygen was gone because of the firestorm,” Tipton said.

After only about 30 seconds the windows of the cab imploded from the heat. The two men jumped down from the cab and Tipton ran to the back of the fire engine, where he saw some of the other firefighters.

“That’s when they told me my hair was on fire,” he said.

When the firestorm passed, Tipton and the others made their way about 150 feet up a hill to get help from members of another fire company. He had suffered burns over 12% of his body. In the hospital, he underwent surgery and treatment sessions in a hyperbaric chamber.

Grossman said Carpenter and Firefighter Russell Nakamura, also injured in the firestorm, will probably be released next week. More serious injuries were suffered by Capt. Jan Bernard, who Grossman said would probably have to undergo two more surgeries before leaving the hospital.

Rodriguez, like Tipton a 19-year veteran, was injured about 11:30 a.m.

“The nail was stuck in my boot, so I had to take the boot off to get at it,” he said.

The burn spread to about the size of a quarter and the injury was deep in his foot. A doctor who lived in the area came by and took a look at it.

“The nail was hot enough that it had cauterized it, he told me,” said Rodriguez, who lives in Sylmar.

Despite the pain, he decided to stay on the scene. “I’m the captain and I can’t leave the crew.”

Rodriguez and his crew did not leave the area until 11 a.m. the next day. He went to the hospital to get a tetanus shot and have the wound dressed. Then he returned home to rest. But by Saturday he was in so much pain that he returned to the burn center.

“They said the infection was all the way through and I had to be admitted,” he said.

While in the hospital, Rodriguez--who has two children, ages 1 and 3--befriended 4-year-old burn victim Kenny Mounts. Mounts, burned when his shirt caught fire while he was playing with a lighter in June, had already been released from the hospital but he returned for the news conference.

“I also want to thank my buddy, Kenny, for helping me with my recovery,” said Rodriguez, smiling at the boy.

Both men said they were thankful for the public support they got while in the hospital. Tipton said he got “cards and letters from elementary school kids, people I don’t even know.”