Pamela Beach

Courage Among the Flames Pamela Beach

When fire rages through the California mountains, several people become trapped and must try to outrun the flames. Fire is a constant threat to California. The vineyards, mountains, and hills become tinder under the relentless sun. The risk is high, but people don't seem to mind...until disaster strikes. A group of children heads into the woods for an overnight hike. An elder park ranger acquaints a junior ranger with the extent of the woods. A three-person team sent out by the power company to survey some oscillating lines runs into terrible problems. A homicidal husband pushes his wife off a cliff in an attempt to kill her. The forest is filled with the vagaries of fate. Fire obeys no fate. Fire follows no map. Fire respects nothing, especially the people and property in its path. The senior assisted living facility sits astride the intentions of the conflagration. A hospital fights heroically to treat patients as flames destroy infrastructure. Horses, nervous beyond comprehension, must be loaded into trailers and hauled through the inferno if they are to be saved. A small town, with a single road to safety, panics when that road becomes impassable. Not everyone will survive the voracious appetite of the fire. Houses, barns, buildings, people, all are swept into the blood-red maw of a fire driven by hurricane-force winds. Fatal mistakes are followed by dumb luck. Who lives and who dies is impossible to guess. Hearts are broken, and joys come to those who least expect them. The fire is the only real winner. This is a story of courage and sacrifice in the face of a massive firestorm.