Posted on 07/01/2015 6:18:11 AM PDT by Dartman
A woman who gave birth alone and was stranded for days in a remote area of Northern California survived the ordeal by starting a fire that roared out of control and drew firefighters to her rescue, local media reported.
Officials with the Plumas National Forest confirmed on Tuesday that a fire broke out on Saturday at the park and that firefighters rescued a woman and a newborn baby from the burn area. They declined to discuss the cause of the fire, saying it was under investigation.
Amber Pangborn of Oroville, California, told television station KCRA that after realizing she might be going into labor, she drove along a back road to get to her parents' home for help only to get lost in a remote part of the Plumas National Forest.
"There was no cell phone service, there was nothing. And the car was out of gas," Pangborn told the station.
Alone, Pangborn gave birth early on Thursday. She and her newborn child, whom she named Marissa, were then stranded without any provisions except for three apples, a bottle of water and a can of soda, Pangborn told KCRA.
She told the station that, desperate to get help, she started a fire on Saturday in the hope of attracting attention, and the flames quickly grew.
"The fire just went whoosh and shot up the mountainside. And I was looking at Marissa ... and I was like, 'I think mommy just started a forest fire,'" Pangborn told the local TV station.
A U.S. Forest Service helicopter crew responding to the fire spotted the car containing the mother and newborn, and sent a fire truck which took the pair to another location, said Plumas National Forest spokesman Jeremy Croft.
The fire grew to a quarter acre (1,000 sq meters) and was extinguished without any injury to firefighters, the Forest Service said in a statement.
"Our thoughts and best wishes continue to be with the mother and baby," Chris French, forest supervisor for Plumas National Forest, said in a statement.
Pangborn's mother, Dianna Williams, told KCRA that she was elated her daughter and granddaughter were safe.
"The baby's beautiful and everything's wonderful," Williams told the station.
A spokeswoman for Oroville Hospital, where Pangborn was taken for treatment, said she had been discharged and declined to release any further details. Pangborn could not be reached for comment.
Well, I guess it could have got out of hand.
Where’s Daddy?
Check your math.
Actually 1/4 acre would be about 104.5’x104.5
Draw a line bisecting the right and left boundaries, then draw a line bisecting the top and bottom boundaries, the 209’x209’ acre is now in 4 parts, each 104.5’x104.5’
Still not very large as forest fires go - about the size of a building lot in most areas.
(Right-headed person's reaction). Good to hear she and her baby are ok. What a brave woman.
Glad mother and baby are OK, but why when you are in the last trimester of your pregnancy do you take off alone in a wilderness area? She is very lucky the delivery was without problems and she was found.
“... do you take off alone in a wilderness area?”
Probably just me but this story sounds a bit strange. She is in labor and drives to her parents only to get lost. Had she not been to her parents house a lot? Were her parents suppose to help her give birth (i.e. Granny to be was a midwife?). The article certainly doesn’t explain a whole lot BUT in the end.. glad the Mom and baby are fine.
Agree.
All’s well, that ends well.
Try again on the math. It’s 100 ft x 100 ft.
1/2 of length x 1/2 of width the = 1/4 of area.
Still, you’re exactly right. It couldn’t have gone “Whoosh!” and roaring up the hillside. It would have spread out of control very quickly to many acres.
Hate to say it, but Ms. Pang born is not too bright. Ready to deliver and heads out into unknown roads by her parents house, no gasoline, little food or water, no GPS or maps, no spare batteries, no basic survival kit in the car, no notification to others of her plan. FAIL! I’m sure her baby’s daddy is happy she’s ok.
>> “... the car was out of gas”
Wow - just like that - out of gas! As we used too say in the aviation business: “PPPPPP - the 5 Ps” (Prior Planning Prevents P1ss Poor Performance).
More chlorine for the gene pool, please.
I’ve been noticing for some time now, in articles talking about a woman having a baby, very often, no daddy is mentioned.
It’s not my math.
Call b.s. on this story. Maybe the facts will come out at some later date.
Check your math. A quarter acre is 104.5 ft x 104.5 feet. Still not very big as far as forest fires go.
Daddy? Oh, that is so last century, girlfriend!
This whole scenario reeks of hippy.
My bet is that the chick wanted to give birth in a nontraditional manner, and her mom had the biggest hot tub.
As my son observed, all women are crazy and pregnant women are the craziest of them all.
Much like the use of the word ‘partner’ when describing the husband or wife, it makes all couples the same.
Yes, I see now that it was from a comment to the original story. I overlooked that this morning, sorry about that.
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