Dr. Molly Deane with Harbor-UCLA Medical said it best on Thursday, after a compressed natural gas tank exploded on a big rig in Wilmington, critically injuring two firefighters and hurting seven others.
“Frankly, it’s remarkable that none of them were more severely injured,” she said.
On Saturday, the Los Angeles Fire Department shared a positive update about each of the injured firefighters.
In a post to X, formerly known as Twitter, Captain Erik Scott said one of the critically injured firefighters was discharged from the hospital on Friday night. The other critically injured victim, who Scott called the “most injured,” from the incident, successfully had his ventilator removed Saturday morning.
“He is awake, alert and talking,” Scott said. “Next steps will be to introduce food as tolerated.”
As for the other seven injured firefighters, they’re all discharged and will continue with various medical appointments as needed. Scott said they all remain off duty due to their injuries.
Dramatic video obtained by KTLA captured Thursday’s destructive explosion. In the video, firefighters are seen covered by fire and heavy smoke as the tanker blows up seemingly out of nowhere.
