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Nurse Drove His Melting Truck Through The California Wildfires To Save People

Nurse Drove His Melting Truck Through The California Wildfires To Save People

He told the New York Times that he thought he was going to ‘die in melting plastic’.

Jess Hardiman

Jess Hardiman

Amid the tragedy of the Californian wildfires, we've heard many inspirational tales of the heroes behind the flames - including one nurse, Allyn Pierce, whose car was burnt out after he had to drive through them.

Referring the nurse Allyn Pierce as a 'hero', New York Times reporter Jack Nicas tweeted:

Nicas reports that Pierce manages the ICU at Adventist Health, the hospital in Paradise where he had to help speedily evacuate patients on Thursday morning as the Camp Fire set in.

Paradise, which has a population of just 27,000, has been struck badly by the fires, with Captain Scott McLean of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection saying: "Pretty much the community of Paradise is destroyed. It's that kind of devastation."

Pierce jumped into his truck with two colleagues and drove off to find safety - only to hit a traffic jam along with everyone else trying to flee the area.

Pierce apparently held his jacket against the window to create a makeshift guard from the heat, and put on 'In Your Eyes' by Peter Gabriel to calm himself down as the flames pounded against the car.

He recorded a farewell message to his family, saying: "Just in case this doesn't work out, I want you to know I really tried to make it out."

He told the New York Times that he thought he was going to 'die in melting plastic'.

A bulldozer then suddenly appeared and knocked over the truck that was burning next to him, pushing it out of the way and giving him room to move forward.

Except Pierce didn't move forward towards safety, instead he drove back 'into the heart of Paradise', where he returned to the hospital to find residents were also there looking for medical help.

Along with other nurses, doctors, paramedics and police officers, Pierce helped set up a temporary triage centre in the hospital's parking lot, where they treated two dozen people as the wildfires continued to burn around them.

The hospital then caught fire, which meant the team had to relocate 100 yards away to the hospital's helipad. Eventually, authorities were able to clear a path so that everyone could be loaded into a caravan and make it to safety.

Pierce insists that he's not a hero, saying that the whole operation was a massive group effort.

"This is what we do," he told Nicas.

"Any nurse, any healthcare worker, any cop, they were there and they all did their jobs."

Pierce has posted on Instagram to say that Toyota has offered to replace his car, telling him: "We're 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."

He has since also written on Facebook to say that his house has 'gone', and he doesn't know about the future of his job given that the hospital has been damaged as well.

Announcing someone had set a GoFundMe page for his family, he wrote: "I struggled posting this, but with my house gone and my hospital... I don't know where my job sits. I'm gonna swallow my pride and post this GoFundMe that a kind person in Chico set up for us. This is the only legit GoFundMe that is set up for us.

"Seperately, there is a Plum Fund that has been set up by friends, but I can't remember the name so I'll update. This is only for those that want to donate. We will be fine, it will all work out, because if has to."

CNN reports the death toll for the fires has risen to 56, after eight sets of remains were discovered.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: World News, News, Inspirational, US News