PACOIMA : A Lifesaving Engine Returns to Its Station

Firefighter Russell Nakamura felt like an old friend had finally come home Thursday, the day Engine 98 returned to Pacoima, repaired, repainted and ready for duty.

“I look at it like part of the crew,” said Nakamura, one of four firefighters severely burned when a fireball overran Engine 98 in Chatsworth’s Box Canyon during the wildfires of October, 1993. “Seeing it back is a good feeling.”

Engineer Cleveland Tipton was just a little apprehensive the first time he sat in the cab Thursday at Fire Station 98, 13035 Van Nuys Blvd.

He said he had a brief flashback to the heat and sensations of the fireball that imploded the windows of Engine 98 and left him with second- and third-degree burns over parts of his body.

“That’s the spot where I thought I was going to die,” Tipton said he told himself as he sat in the cab again. But the apprehension quickly lifted, and soon Tipton was eager to use the truck in a call.

He and Nakamura are the only two from the crew still with Station 98.

Capt. Jan Bernard, who suffered burns over 40% of his body, is now with Station 77 in Sun Valley. Gary Carpenter, another firefighter caught in the blaze, has been promoted to inspector.

The four men--who were on hand for Thursday’s reunion at the Pacoima fire station--had answered a call for a brush fire in the Santa Susana Pass near Chatsworth when 50-m.p.h. winds suddenly shifted direction. They and the truck were engulfed by a wall of fire.

“It’s kind of ironic,” said Nakamura, who suffered burns over 35% of his body, including his ears and face. “We all went through that, and we all were repaired.”

As part of the $100,000 renovation of the fire engine, the original 1982 cab was replaced with a 1990 cab, and the engine was upgraded to meet current standards.

The repair cost was much lower than replacing the entire vehicle at a price of $243,000, said Alan Masumoto, a Fire Department spokesman.

Fire Engine 98 was out of service for 14 months and needed 1,300 hours of repairs to get back in service, Masumoto said.

But just having Engine 98 back is a great improvement over the 1967 vehicle that Station 98 has been using for the last year, said Capt. Don Frazeur.

“It’s terrific,” Frazeur said. “We’ve been driving a rig that’s 25 years old.”

Engine 98 has a larger cab, is less likely to break down and offers better protection from fire and the elements than the older replacement vehicle they had been using. It was that better design that saved those four lives, Frazeur said.