Firefighter Injured Battling Silverado Fire Released From Hospital After 17 Surgeries

An Orange County Fire Authority firefighter who suffered critical burns while battling the Silverado Fire last October is finally being released from the hospital. Dylan Van Iwaarden, 26, was one of two firefighters injured while battling the Silverado Fire. He was discharged Wednesday afternoon to the rehabilitation unit at UC Irvine Medical Center. He has spent 114 days at the Orange County Burn Center in Santa Ana and underwent 17 surgeries, OCFA said. At one point he was in a medically induced coma. As the 26-year-old was pushed on a gurney along the sidewalk in front of the OC Burn Center at Santa Ana’s Orange County Global Medical Center, dozens of members of his department, doctors, nurses, family and friends clapped and cheered.