Home at Last

The first stop on Dennis Silgen’s way home from the hospital Monday was Fire Station 90 in Van Nuys, where his friends couldn’t resist teasing him for wearing a splashy blue Hawaiian-print shirt.

His wife, Laura, couldn’t find anything else with sleeves big enough to fit over Silgen’s two arm casts--reminders of the Los Angeles Fire Department helicopter crash near Griffith Park that he survived two weeks ago, an accident that killed three of his colleagues and an 11-year-old girl they were transporting from a car crash in Sun Valley.

The pilot, Steve Robinson of the Ventura County community of Oak Park, also survived and was released from the hospital Friday. An investigation into the cause of the crash was continuing. On Monday, though, Silgen and his family did not want to talk about that--they were too busy savoring his homecoming.

Balloons and a “Welcome Home, Miracle Man” sign hung outside Silgen’s Thousand Oaks house while family members--including a son and brother who are also firefighters--hovered by the open front door, awaiting his arrival.

When word came that Silgen, 52, would arrive home shortly in an ambulance from USC University Hospital, family members hurriedly made sure everything was just right. Son-in-law Craig Calabrese even dusted the tops of the frames in the front hall that hold the graduation pictures of Silgen’s three children.

When the ambulance rolled up, the family ran out to greet him under an arch of red and white balloons.

Still in the driveway, on a stretcher, Silgen was greeted with cheers and yet more jokes about his shirt. Laura Silgen kissed her husband and placed his granddaughter, 8-month-old Samantha, on his chest. Neighbors hearing the commotion came out to join the celebration.

“This is a nice, warm feeling again. I got a little lonesome over there,” Silgen said. “The Fire Department has so much love. I’m still overwhelmed by it. We’re just a big brotherhood. What a family.”

Dave Lowe, a firefighter who worked with Silgen and drove him home Monday, said Silgen perked up at the offer to stop by the Van Nuys station because so many of his friends wanted to see him.

“It was emotional,” Lowe said. “What’s great is that you work 20 years with macho firemen, and then all these guys you thought were tough just dropkick the macho out the window and hug.”

Silgen’s wife, Laura, said she was surprised at the outpouring of support from the Fire Department. Visits to the hospital were nonstop and kept Silgen’s spirits high, she said.

“They would just go up to Denny and touch his hand,” Laura Silgen said. “Denny talked about the brotherhood, but in the 26 years he’s been a fireman I had no idea what it really meant--until now.”

At the Silgen home, a hospital bed is set up in the downstairs den. In addition to the arm casts, Silgen’s right leg is immobile because of a shattered ankle.

The family remained upbeat about the homecoming.

Throughout the hospital stay, there was a lot of prayer, Laura Silgen said. But things did become trying when doctors announced Silgen would have to undergo a fifth surgery in the same week, she said.

“All of us crashed a little bit, and it was the only time Denny was down,” she said.

It was also hard to think about the families of those who didn’t survive, she said.

“As soon as we knew Denny was out of critical condition, our joy was incredible,” Laura Silgen said, adding, “It’s real hard to be on the other side when you know there is so much pain out there.”

Silgen said she believes prayer enabled her husband to make it home alive. His arrival this week will make Easter special, she said.

“I have God to thank the most,” she said. “We will definitely be in church Sunday.”