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This nurse drove through a wall of fire to save his patients during the deadliest blaze in California history.

He turned up the radio in his truck and prepared to be burned alive.

via Josh Edelson / Getty Images

The Camp Fire in northern California has become the deadliest in the state’s history. Forty-eight people died in the blaze and a hundred are still missing. Estimates show the total damage could surpass over $200 billion dollars.


While the fire has produced countless stories of heartbreak and loss, stories of courage and human kindness are beginning to emerge as a silver lining to the tragedy.

Allyn Pierce of Paradise, California — a town reduced to ash by the fire — is a nurse and intensive care unit manager at Adventist Health. His incredible bravery in the face of death was recently chronicled on Twitter by Jack Nicas of The New York Times.

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Pierce and his co-workers evacuated patients at their hospital to save them from the oncoming fire.

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On the way to safety, Piece and two colleagues got stuck in traffic and his Ttruck was enveloped by flames.

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Pierce and his co-workers prepared to die in the fire.

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But help came from out of nowhere.

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Instead of driving to safety, Pierce and his workers returned to the hospital to find more people had arrived looking for medical attention. So they got right back to work.

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The hospital caught fire so the nurses and staff moved the patients to its helipad for safety.

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After hearing about Pierce’s courage in the face of death, Toyota bought him a new truck

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Sadly, Pierce and his family lost everything in the fire. So after hearing of his bravery, someone in nearby Chico, California set up a GoFudeMe page for his family that has raised over $20,000.

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