The deadliest wildfire in California that recently took place was extremely devastating and cost thousand of people their homes, but it also brought out the courageous and brave side of people when they try help and save others. Allyn Pierce from Paradise, California is one of them.
Pierce, a nurse who manages the ICU at the local Adventist Health Feather River Hospital, quickly evacuated patients from the hospital as the fire was setting in around them last Thursday.
Two colleagues joined him in his truck as they raced for safety. Unfortunately, they were trapped in a severe traffic congestion.
They watched as the flames had gotten to the other cars and his car started to melt as well.
Parts of his truck had melted.
and damaged.
He tried to hand his coat against his car window to block the extreme heat—but it was futile. Thinking that he might not survive, he turned on a song to calm himself down and recorded a quick voice message for his family.
Suddenly, a bulldozer appeared and knocked a burning truck next to him out of the way, automatically clearing his path.
But instead of moving forward and towards safety, he turned around and went back to the hospital.
Realizing that there were still a few injured residents that needed medical help, Pierce and other staff who were present at the moment, began to set up a triage center in the hospital’s parking lot.
Doctors, nurses, paramedics and police officers broke into the hospital for gurneys, oxygen tanks and other equipment and supplies, treating more than twenty patients while the fire was raging around them.
When the hospital caught fire, the team quickly relocated everyone to the hospital’s helipad, located about a hundred yards away. When authorities cleared a path for them, they loaded everyone into a caravan and left. Everyone managed to escape safely.
Pierce said, “We’re terrible at burning to death, but we’re amazing at taking care of people.” He stressed that everything was a massive group effort. “This is what we do. Any nurse, any healthcare worker, any cop, they were there and they did their job,” he said.
Pierce’s heroic story was unfolded by Twitter user and New York Times reporter, Jack Nicas, via the social media site.
Inspired by his bravery, Toyota USA replied to his thread, “We are humbled you’d risk your life and Toyota Tundra to drive people to safety. Don’t worry about your truck, we’re honored to get you a new one!”
This was how Pierce’s truck looked like before the incident:
and here was the damage afterwards:
Source: Jack Nicas/Twitter, 9GAG
