HORRIBLE MEMORIES REKINDLED GLENDALE FIREFIGHTER WAS TRAPPED, BURNED IN 1996 BLAZE.Byline: SUE DOYLE Staff Writer Ten years ago this week, the blustery blus·ter v. blus·tered, blus·ter·ing, blus·ters v.intr. 1. To blow in loud, violent gusts, as the wind during a storm. 2. a. To speak in a loudly arrogant or bullying manner. Santa Ana winds Santa Ana Winds may refer to: 1. Santa Ana wind, a local Southern California reference to Föhn winds, a meteorological phenomenon occurring as a layer of wind is forced over a mountain range -- drying the air -- which then passes over the crest and begins to move downslope -- raged the same way for Bill Jensen, who, like firefighters on the line in Cabazon, was engulfed in flames In Flames is a melodic death metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden founded in 1990. Along with Dark Tranquillity and At the Gates, they pioneered what is now known as melodic death metal. while battling a blaze. Jensen and two others on the Glendale Fire Department were protecting a hillside house Oct. 22, 1996, in a fire that scorched scorch v. scorched, scorch·ing, scorch·es v.tr. 1. To burn superficially so as to discolor or damage the texture of. See Synonyms at burn1. 2. 14,000 acres when 100-foot flames rose up like an ocean swell and swallowed them. ``Your mind goes a million different ways. You don't really feel the pain of the burn, but your life flashes in front of you,'' Jensen, 62, said Thursday. ``You think about your family. You think that this isn't how you want your life to end.'' As the force from the flames knocked Jensen to the ground, he thought was going to die. Rising to his feet, he believed he saw his wife and children and walked over to them. That mirage directed him to safety, although he suffered third-degree burns over 70 percent of his body. He spent the next 3 1/2 months living inside the Grossman Burn Center at Sherman Oaks Hospital Sherman Oaks Hopital (SOH) is an 153 bed acute care facility in Sherman Oaks, California, USA and is home of world renowned the Grossman Burn Center. SOH is owned and operated by Prime Healthcare Services, Inc. and undergoing skin grafts and rehabilitation. Each year, on the anniversary of the fire, the retired firefighter returns to the site, which is still charred and dead, in what he described as a ``moonscape moon·scape n. 1. A view or picture of the surface of the moon. 2. A desolate landscape. [moon + (land)scape. .'' Doing well these days, Jensen speaks about fire safety to children at schools. Jensen and his wife, Sue, were camping Thursday when they first learned of the Esperanza Fire near Palm Springs that killed four firefighters and critically injured another. The tragic news brought Jensen back to the day that changed his life forever. ``It can always happen, and it doesn't have to be at a big fire,'' he said. ``Things can go to pot Verb 1. go to pot - become ruined; "His business went to pot when economy soured" go to the dogs deteriorate - become worse or disintegrate; "His mind deteriorated" in a matter of seconds.'' His wife never worried as he left for work, knowing he was trained to battle blazes. But nothing could have prepared her for the day he nearly died. On Thursday, she thought of the wives of the firefighters who died. ``My heart goes out to all of them,'' she said. sue.doyle(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3746 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Retired Glendale Firefighter Bill Jensen knows the danger wind-driven flames can bring. Daily News |
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