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It was little surprise that there would be a fire following such a massive storm. With such an enormous amount of lightning strikes in the forested area, I understood why there would be a fire now. Still, it did my heart no comfort when I saw it. At this point, it appeared fairly far away, but that was changing quickly. The wind had picked up again and was blowing steadily in our direction. I watched with growing anxiety as The flames licked their long tongues up the bark of one tree, caught the breeze, and jumped to the next piece of wood.
The fire wasn't just moving quickly either. No, it was spreading! The trees here grew together in a dense manner to the point that their branches often intertwined with one another. That provided easy access for the fire to grow far and wide, and extremely fast! Our little party of storm survivors was standing on a grassy knoll on the edge of camp watching the fire unfold. No one had spoken, but I knew that it was imperative that we take action immediately. A fire of that size and ferocity, coupled with a strong wind and dense forest meant it could move much faster than we could!
“Okay guys, we've seen enough,” I said calmly. “It's time to get moving.”
The brutality of the storm we had just endured, coupled with the discouraging sight of the fire seemed to be sapping everyone's energy.
“Hey!” I spoke out again, with more urgency this time. “We need to leave. Now!”
The others around me heeded my calls, albeit begrudgingly, and we all began to make our way out of the campground.
“I have a camper parked just a short distance down the trail,” Pete said to me. “I can fit everyone inside and we can all drive out of here together.”
“That sounds like a good plan,” I said. “It would probably be best if we all stay together for the time being anyway. What do the rest of you think?”
The others nodded their approval and we followed the trail, with Pete pointing the way. It wasn't far to where Pete's camper was parked but I was anxious to get there. I kept turning my head back towards the camp and the forest fire that was coming our way. The trees around me obscured my line of sight but I could already discern a faint orange glow in the night sky. The fire was coming on fast!
After a few minutes, we reached the camper's location and discovered with horror the true extent of the damage from the rain storm. Not one, but two massive trees had fallen onto the camper! It had fallen over onto its side, and the hull of the vehicle had caved in from the weight of the trees. To make matters worse, a number of trees had fallen across our main road towards town! The camper would have been useless either way.
“No!!” A frustrated and despairing Pete cried out. “What do we do now??”
We all stood in dumb silence for a moment, pondering our plight. But an ominous sound reached all our ears and we turned back behind us. A loud crackling noise was coming from the forest. The sound of logs being split by intense heat. There was more than an orange glow visible to us now. I could plainly make out flecks of fire pushing their way through the branches as if they were eager to reach and engulf us.
“The river!” Sarah shouted out. “It's less than a mile away from us. It's our only hope!”
No other words needed to be spoken. In unison, we all turned and bolted into the woods in the direction of the river!