As the deadly Camp Fire closed in on Paradise, Calif.-based Adventist Feather River Hospital, nurses were forced to evacuate their critically ill patients as the building burned, according to CBS News. Darrell Wilken and Nichole Jolly, both registered nurses, discuss what they remember about helping patients escape.
"We got these patients in wheelchairs ... we were pulling tubes out," Ms. Jolly told ABC News.
Workers at the hospital loaded patients into their personal vehicles and drove them away, while thousands of buildings burned in the surrounding area and cars caught fire.
Mr. Wilken told CBS that he had three patients in his car, two of whom were critically ill. Everyone in his car called their families to say goodbye as they drove away, knowing at any moment the car could ignite.
"I'm still shaking, every time I talk about it," Mr. Wilken told CBS News. "I didn't want to lose anybody. We have not just an obligation to our patients, but we have an obligation to humanity. We have to do our jobs, regardless of adverse conditions."
It took Mr. Wilken three hours to drive to safety, according to the report.
Ms. Jolly told ABC News she was in the hospital parking lot as the fire rushed toward her vehicle. She began driving away from the fire, but the flames were encroaching.
"There was sparks and flames hitting the side of my car. My car started to fill up with smoke," she told ABC. "I called my husband and I just said, 'I don't think I'm gonna make it out of this; it's coming in too fast, I don't even know where to go.'"
Ms. Jolly got out of her car, ran up a hill and hopped into the next car she found, which happened to be owned by a physician from Feather River Hospital. However, the physician's car began to fill with smoke, so Ms. Jolly got out and started running up the hill as her pants caught fire.
Then out of the darkness a fire truck pulled up, and a firefighter extinguished her pants and lifted her into the truck. Ms. Jolly managed to survive with just minor blisters to her legs.
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