Many people rescued from the Creek Fire at Mammoth Pool suffered burns and broken bones, trying to escape the fire “at all costs,” according to a Fresno County official.
Fresno County EMS Director Dan Lynch said many of the rescued people had amazing stories to tell that included “heroics of family members helping family members.”
Helicopter crews began rescuing people trapped by the wildfire at Mammoth Pool, Cascadel Woods, and Minarets about 8:30 p.m. Saturday. Crews first rescued about 60 people, who were treated for injuries at Fresno Yosemite International Airport in Fresno. By the end of the night, 218 people were rescued by helicopter, Lynch said.
About 20 victims were transported to area hospitals with injuries, including severe burns, broken bones, and other cuts and scrapes.
“Listening to the stories people were sharing, we have to assume these people were trying to escape with their lives intact. They had to make decisions that put their body in peril and caused them these injuries,” Lynch said. “They talked about there being fire on both sides of them while going down the road. There was one vehicle crash. People were stuck in the middle of flames.”
Many of the people who were rescued were picked up from the airport triage area by family and friends.
More than 120 people spent the night at the coronavirus alternative care site set up at the Fresno Convention Center.
“It’s a blessing that we had it available to us,” Lynch said. “While it was initially set up to be overflow and help relieve hospitals of patients, the need changed during this very unique event in Fresno County, where the rescued individuals needed an immediate place to stay.”
Most people who were rescued had a place to stay by noon Sunday, Lynch said.
Many of them were big family groups from Southern California who visited Mammoth Pool on Labor Day weekend annually for years, Lynch said. They knew the area well, he said.
Lynch urged residents in the Fresno and Madera mountain communities to evacuate early, even if there wasn’t an order in place yet. That would free up sheriff’s deputies for other duties and allow firefighters to knock out the fire without worrying about people’s safety.
“We’re going to see a lot of fire in the next several days. This fire’s not going away,” Lynch said. “We’ll probably see more devastation, hopefully not like the Mammoth Pool victims, but we’re going to see some destruction. It’s going to take some time to get this fire under control.”
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