The Southland Firestorm: A Special Report : The Firefighters : On The Fire Line : THE INJURED : ‘It Was Basically Raining Fire. Embers Were Everywhere.’

It was a firefighter’s worst nightmare.

As a wall of flames shot into the sky in Las Flores Canyon on Tuesday afternoon, a four-man crew stood firm at the home they sought to protect, aimed their hose at the raging blaze and watched in horror as only a trickle of water came out.

The storm of fire appeared to relish the moment.

In seconds, the flames shot up the canyon and overtook the firefighters from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

“We got caught in a firestorm,” Capt. Al McBride, 43, explained from a wheelchair at Sherman Oaks Community Hospital, where he was treated for second-degree burns. “The heat was tremendous.”

“It was basically raining fire,” added firefighter John Mattas, 24. “Embers were everywhere.”

McBride and Mattas made it to the cab of the fire engine. Barry Biermann, 28, and Shawn Kit, 25, took cover in the house they had tried to defend. All four suffered burns and smoke inhalation.

After the fire had swept through the area, the firefighters were airlifted to the burn center at the hospital. Four burn victims from the city of Los Angeles Fire Department are at the same facility, where they underwent surgery Thursday for injuries suffered in the Altadena fire.

“They were extremely lucky,” Dr. Michel Brones said of the state firefighters. McBride had second-degree burns on his back and shoulders; the other three had less severe first-degree burns.

This was not a local fire for McBride and his crew. All are based in Butte County in Northern California. They had no idea who lived in the home they sought to save.

Their dramatic stand, however, did not go unnoticed. The house escaped serious damage and the resident sent along a note.

“Your efforts are appreciated,” it said.

The day after their harrowing ordeal, still stinging from the burns, the entire crew said they wanted to return to Malibu to fight the fire.

“It’s frustrating when you’re sitting in a hospital bed,” Kit said, “and you see your fellow crews continue on with the effort.”

Kit, a former lifeguard in Hawaii and a U.S. Marine who served in the Gulf War, said he knew injury was a possibility when he signed up for the job last year.

“Life is short,” he said. “In my job, I’m making a difference, helping people every single day.”