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She added, "I just have to go on, that's all I could think of. I just have to drive because if I do not do it, nobody will come here to save me. "
Erin McLaughlin and her 81-year-old neighbor, Elisabeth Mesones, left their home in Magalia, north of Paradise, Thursday morning. But after only a few minutes on a road known as Skyway, they encountered a traffic jam. The sky was darkening, the smoke was thickening and they could see small fires around them. But they could not move.
Trapped outside Paradise, McLaughlin, 58, saw several other motorists order a Pepsi truck as shelter, which they subsequently decided not to adopt. The situation deteriorated and propane tanks exploded on all sides.
"The next thing we're told is, 'Get out of your car and drive,'" said McLaughlin.
About 75 motorists rushed to the parking lot of a nearby Chinese restaurant. For the next six hours they camped there.
"Everything was on fire around you," she said. "It was the scariest thing I've ever seen."
The fire never reached them before they could escape. But a visit to paradise Sunday revealed that the fire had finally arrived. The restaurant had burned.
The evacuations also resulted in moments of heroism.
Mr. Pierce, the registered nurse, did not leave Paradise immediately after the release of his truck. He instead returned to the main hospital, Adventist Health Feather River, where he manages the intensive care unit. He and some colleagues started treating the injured neighbors. When the hospital caught fire, they transported patients and equipment to a hundred meters away in the helipad of the hospital. Finally, everyone was successful.
But now, even with his family safe, Pierce said his near-death experience would stay with him. "It's completely traumatic," he said. "When I close my eyes at night, I see fire."
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