Severely burned San Diego Fire Captain’s family asks for help with long-term recovery

Misha DiBono
·2 min read
2
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

SAN DIEGO — Retired San Diego Fire-Rescue Captain Eddie Cardenas is fighting for his life at the UC San Diego Health Burn Center in Hillcrest.

“It’s been a little over two months since the incident happened on November 8. He’s still critical… With burn patients there’s just so many complications that come with it.” Claudia Rempel is Captain Cardenas daughter.

Rempel says he suffered burns over 40% of his body and has undergone 15 surgeries after suffering what they believe was a heart attack.

It happened while he was working on his car along the side of his home in the driveway. The car smashed into a trailer and erupted into flames; Cardenas was trapped inside.

San Diego lifeguards perform nearly 100 rescues during high surf advisory

“Once I broke a window with the fire extinguisher and saw that there was someone in the car, the dynamic of the situation changed.” Anthony Mattioni is a Marine. He was one of the first on scene.

“We were able to get the passenger door behind him open, but we weren’t able to get his door open because it was kind of fused shut, the flames were at his feet in the drivers wheel,” Mattioni continued.

Plumber rescued after being trapped in trench at South Bay mall

Retired Firefighter Scott Dickerson just happened to be in the right place at the right time. The two men worked together to put out the fire not knowing right away that Cardenas was trapped in the car.

“Once we saw that there was someone inside and we got the window open it became a sheer rescue attempt to try to keep him cool until we could get fire crews on site,” said Dickerson.

Man rescued from Sunset Cliffs

Dickerson learned weeks later that the man he helped rescue was Captain Cardenas, a legend among firefighters, known for his good will, generosity and heroism.

Dickerson said, “it’s not just a brother, it’s his resume. Who he is. I’m sure you’ve heard all the stories… Growing up training with those guys and wanting to be that guy — he’s the hero!”

If you would like to donate, the family has set up a GoFundMe account In Support of Retired SDFD Captain Edward Cardenas.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego.