Firefighter Leaves Hospital a Hero

Gifts, honors and the admiration of well-wishers greeted severely burned Glendale Firefighter William Jensen as he arrived home on his 53rd birthday Sunday, more than three months after he was nearly killed while fighting the Calabasas/Malibu brush fire.

Jensen left the Grossman Burn Center at Sherman Oaks Hospital and arrived at his Virginia Avenue home in Burbank to find an entire block decorated in his honor.

Yellow ribbons were wrapped around trees and signposts. Colorful balloons were everywhere. And home after home was decorated with banners reading “Welcome Home Bill,” “We Love You” or “Welcome Home Birthday Boy.”

Jensen waved and smiled to the crowd gathered outside the home.

There was some scarring visible on his face and right hand. His badly burned left hand, which was so severely injured that at one point doctors thought they might have to amputate his fingers, was in a sling.

“Thank you,” he said quietly, smiling and giving a thumbs-up with his right hand before going inside. “Thank you. See you all later.”

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For Jensen, who suffered second- and third-degree burns over more than 70% of his body, Sunday’s events were the public culmination of intense private efforts to overcome a tragedy.

He was the most seriously injured of four firefighters who were hospitalized Oct. 22 after being overtaken by flames while trying to protect homes in Corral Canyon.

Sunday’s activities began with a crowded news conference at the burn center. The center’s namesake, Dr. A. Richard Grossman, spoke to the group, which also included Jensen’s wife, Sue, and their two sons, plus several firefighters and other well-wishers.

“He’s been a super trooper,” said Grossman. “I’m real proud of the fact that he’s leaving today on his birthday.

“He’s here because he had the will to live. He is a survivor because he decided he had to be.”

Jensen, wearing a red Glendale Fire Department cap, a sweatshirt, sweatpants and sneakers, entered, walked slowly to the podium and offered some brief remarks.

“I’m not much of a talker. I just want to thank everybody out there,” Jensen said, naming several area fire and police departments and “my immediate family, all my brothers and sisters, all the friends and people that I don’t even know who have sent their love and prayers. That’s the only way I got through it all. Thank you very much.”

The crowd immediately applauded and sang “Happy Birthday.”

Officials with several fire departments had already spoken admiringly of Jensen, calling him an inspiration.

“This is a miracle,” said Chief P. Michael Freeman of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. “Bill Jensen is a new model of courage for firefighters.”

Glendale Fire Chief Richard Hinz presented him with the department’s Medal of Valor, which was awarded Wednesday at a ceremony Jensen was unable to attend.

The group then moved outside, where Jensen was greeted by a helicopter flyover tribute from the Los Angeles City Fire Department. He grew teary-eyed as he was presented with a 1997 blue Ford pickup truck donated by Galpin Ford in North Hills.

Brad Boeckmann, an executive assistant at the dealership, said the decision to give the $26,000 truck was made after a family friend of the Jensens requested assistance in buying the truck for the firefighter.

“I think Bill’s story was just so heartwarming,” Boeckmann said. “It was just moving.”

After examining the truck briefly, Jensen sat in a wheelchair eating a hot dog and cheerfully greeted friends.

Sue Jensen was watching nearby, smiling. “This is one of the best days of my life,” she said.