When a chemical explosion rattled San Francisco Airport in 1989, Dean Violet had no idea that he’d end up as a lung transplant recipient.

Now Napa County Fire Assistant Chief at Dry Creek-Lokoya Volunteer Fire Department, Violet was working as a paramedic in San Mateo County when the blast rang out. Working aboard an ambulance on the scene, he was exposed to aluminum and titanium oxides peppering the air.

Violet’s lungs would never recover, even though he said he was ready for light duty just three weeks after the incident.

“It was hard to catch my breath. (Doctors) said it was pneumonia and it got worse,” he said, adding that his condition initially yielded several inconclusive medical test results.

But thanks to the efforts of Kaiser Permanente’s Dr. Noman Absar — who sent Violet’s lung biopsy to the Mayo Clinic for further testing — Violet eventually got a diagnosis of Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis, a rare lung condition.

Affecting fewer than 10,000 Americans, PAP occurs when the body generates high numbers of antibodies which prevent the lungs from ridding themselves of unhealthy tissues, according to the Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis Foundation.

Today, Violet is healthy and gaining strength after nearly a year away from home, much of it spent at the intensive care unit of UC San Francisco Medical Center.

The lifelong Napa County resident left the hospital 57 pounds lighter, but with a new set of lungs, thanks to a young and anonymous Santa Cruz organ donor.

“It’s like night and day,” Violet said. “When I went into the surgery, I was completely dependent on a ventilator.”

Violet’s mother, Lynn, said the family’s hopes were dashed three times when prospective donor organs were deemed unsuitable because of their size, blood type and other factors.

“We had gone through this for a whole year and it was getting worse and worse. ... His doctors and therapists knew he was literally running out of time. But when they got the lungs, (Violet) sent out a text message that said, “Lungs lungs lungs! They’re taking me in at one in the morning,” she said, holding back tears.

“We are so thankful to the donor and the donor’s family,” she said, adding that she hopes to raise awareness about how people can become organ donors when they receive or renew their driver’s license.

Today, Violet is feeling stronger, and although he will not fight fires again or perform duties as a paramedic, he participates in fire response training at Dry Creek-Lokoya Volunteer Fire Department, where he has logged countless hours over the past decade. Violet also continues his work as a sales representative for Sea Grave, a Clintonville, Wis. company which manufactures fire trucks.

In the meantime, Violet said his Kaiser health insurance shelled out a whopping $4.1 million to cover his surgery at UCSF. Fellow firefighters, paramedics, family members and Sea Grave employees also pitched in to help by organizing a Sept. 13 benefit on Violet’s behalf. The Calistoga Fire Department joined Sea Grave in donating a $2,000 gift package for the silent auction, he said.

Fortunately for Violet, his medications — which would cost $19,000 each month without the benefit of health insurance — are also covered. Following an impressive drug regimen which keeps his body from rejecting his new lungs, Violet downs 21 pills each morning, followed by five in the afternoon and 21 more each evening in addition to two self-administered shots every day.

Not letting the regimen slow him down, Violet is back to work, helping Napa County Fire Chief Gary Green run the volunteer station. If you ask Green, colleagues’ concern about Violet during his hospital stay were evident even in the most stoic firefighters.

“We all thought we were going to lose him. ... (But) we had high hopes and we visited him and tried to keep his spirits up. We hoped for the best,” Green said, adding that Violet is known as a “highly qualified, intelligent and caring firefighter.”

Although Violet’s active firefighting and paramedic days are over, Green said he will tap Violet’s firefighting expertise and leadership abilities to train and support firefighters. Violet, who decided to become a firefighter and paramedic when he was a teen, said he’s just happy to be back.

“I’m trying to live my life to the fullest,” he said. “Don’t take for granted each day that you’re here.”

“He has stayed pretty positive and has had a good attitude about the whole thing,” said his niece, Saira Violet, who took turns with Violet’s mother and father, Bill, to care for him after the surgery.

For his part, Violet — who graduated from Vintage High School in 1980 — said when he got out of the hospital, getting home was the number one thing on his mind.

“I could not wait to sleep in my Tempur-Pedic mattress and my recliner,” he said, adding that he and his family are grateful for the thoughts and prayers from friends and family throughout his recovery.

“We want to thank so many people for their prayers and their support,” Lynn Violet said. “The doctors are calling him the miracle man.”