A nurse melted and burnt his truck while driving through the flames to rescue victims of the Camp Fire wildfires in Paradise, California. But when Toyota learnt about his actions, they decided to give Allyn Pierce a new truck.
Pierce himself had lost his home and his workplace in the wildfires, both of which were burnt to the ground. Despite the trying circumstances, Pierce said he is grateful for his life.
“This truck literally saved my life today. My little town of Paradise was literally burning down around me and @the_pandra got me to safety where I could help others … twice,” Pierce wrote in an Instagram post with a photo of his scorched truck on Nov. 8.
Pierce nicknamed his Toyota Tundra “the Pandra.” On his Instagram account, his truck had been featured prominently in most of his photos.
The fire that erupted on Nov. 8 in northern California, dubbed the Camp Fire, has become the deadliest in California’s history. It has claimed at least 42 lives and there remain 228 people registered as missing.
The fire has burnt 117,000 acres of land and is only 30 percent contained as of Nov. 13. The video below shows the state of Paradise shared by another local fleeing the area.
Pierce manages the intensive care unit at the main hospital in Paradise—the Adventist Health Feather River. He had helped to start evacuating patients on the morning of Nov. 8 when the Camp Fire broke out.
Then, with two other colleagues, Pierce fled the area in his truck. But they soon became trapped in traffic and the three witnessed cars catching fire around them. Pierce thought he was next.
“I was like, ‘I think I’m done,’” Pierce told The New York Times. “I just kept thinking, ‘I’m going to die in melting plastic.'”
He even recorded a goodbye message to his family while his surrounds were engulfed by raging flames.
Like many residents in Paradise, they quickly hit gridlock. But unfortunately for them, they were stuck in the middle of the fire. Flames licked at the side of his truck, and as Allyn watched other cars catch fire, he thought his was next. Here was his view. pic.twitter.com/2fACEWn4tu
— Jack Nicas (@jacknicas) November 13, 2018
“Just in case this doesn’t work out, I want you to know I really tried to make it out,” Pierce recalled saying to his phone, he told the Times.
He even put on some relaxing music, Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes,” as flames began to engulf and melt the truck.
Suddenly a bulldozer appeared & knocked a burning truck next to him out of the way. There was some room to maneuver. But instead of going forward toward safety, he turned around & drove back into the heart of Paradise. Here's the aftermath of his Tacoma. (The lights still work.) pic.twitter.com/LLUU1fDfYv
— Jack Nicas (@jacknicas) November 13, 2018
Moments later, a bulldozer sped from out of nowhere and knocked away a burning vehicle that had been blocking his truck—it opened a gap large enough for the Pandra to pass through and escape.
But they did not leave—not yet. Pierce drove his truck back to the hospital where he worked.
He and two colleagues started to treat patients in a makeshift space in the hospital parking lot, according to Business Insider. Patients included fire victims and those previously in the hospital.
Pierce later helped authorities to evacuate patients to the hospital’s helipad. Everyone made it out, according to the Times.
Doctors, nurses, paramedics & police started a triage center in the hospital parking lot. They broke into the hospital for gurneys, oxygen tanks & other gear & quickly went to work, treating about two dozen people while the fire raged around them. Photo: Noah Berger/AP. pic.twitter.com/SOOZidkfOF
— Jack Nicas (@jacknicas) November 13, 2018
The hospital, however, burned to the ground.
“This is what we do,” Pierce said, according to Business Insider. “Any nurse, any healthcare worker, any cop, they were there and they all did their jobs.”
Then the hospital caught fire. The team quickly relocated the patients 100 yards away to the hospital’s helipad. Eventually authorities cleared a path to safety, so they loaded up the victims & drove out in a caravan. Everyone made it out safely.
Photo: Jim Wilson/NYT @jwnyt pic.twitter.com/9aaX6c7HSc
— Jack Nicas (@jacknicas) November 13, 2018
Pierce is now reunited with his family. He calls the episode “completely traumatic.”
His truck was burnt such that it now resembles a roasted marshmallow, with almost all the external plastic parts melted, including the mirrors and backlights.
When Pierce shared his story on Instagram, comments flooded in saying Toyota should step in to help. According to reports, Toyota has offered to send him a new truck.
Toyota released a statement, sighted by Jalopnik.com, saying:
“Our hearts go out to the victims of the devastating California wild fires. We are extremely grateful to all of the emergency crews who are working tirelessly to extinguish the fires and helping people to safety. We are especially thankful to one hero in particular, Allyn Pierce, for risking his life and Toyota Tundra to drive people to safety!”
With his “house and hospital gone,” Pierce also made a GoFundMe page for his family. “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,” Pierce wrote on Instagram.
“We will be fine, it will all work out, because it has to,” he wrote.
Reuters contributed to this article.
