Page 73 of Wild Fires

I never wanted to go through something like that again.

“It's kind of beautiful in a deadly way, huh?” Rodney said.

“Just don't forget the deadly part,” I reminded him.

“Says the woman who can't die,” Big Dick teased.

“I have word that Andrew and Guffy secured the flanks. Chief says this is heating up too fast and we should pull out. The head is burning quickly, and he's had an offer from a jumper team to come in and assist,” Dan explained.

“It hasn't spread enough for that, has it?” I asked.

“I don't know, but if not, they sound like it could be a real possibility.”

“Should we fall back then?” Rodney asked.

“Yes,” Dan confirmed.

The four of us started to drop back in the direction we'd come. It didn't take us long to realize that was a mistake.

The wind shifted.

“Do you see this?” I yelled to the others.

“Stay together as a team,” Dan instructed.

“What the hell is happening?” Big Dick asked. “I've never seen a fire do this before.”

“The wind is coming from the wrong direction. It's pushing the heel towards us,” Rodney noted.

“That's going to push the head right towards town. But the wind was blowing to the south,” I argued. “Where is this northwest wind coming from?”

The battle of air that we were seeing around us was not a normal environmental occurrence.

“Holy shit! It's a fire devil!” Big Dick screamed.

He and Dan turned to run, but Rodney froze.

I'd never seen or experienced a pyrogenetic tornado like this before. It was the fire devil, firenado, the ultimate fire storm. People called it different things, but the stories of those who had survived one were both rare and epic.

As I stood there in awe watching it begin to swirl and dance around us, debris started to lift then pelt us with sticks of fire and other burning debris. I was mesmerized.

Rodney screamed.

My heart nearly stopped.

“Rodney! What's wrong?”

“Something hit my oxygen tank. My monitor is showing a steady drop. I'm loosing air, Gracie.”

“Come on, we've got to get you out of here.”

“What's going on?” Dan asked.

“His tank's been hit. It’s dropping fast, Dan. He's not going to make it back out like this.”

“Rodney, you're going to have to double time it back.”

“Double time it? I can barely even see five feet in front of me. I'm so turned around that I'm not even sure which direction to go.”

---