Man desperately looking for his family in wildfires stops to help severely burned woman—her true identity baffles him
A person might give their all to save loved ones during an emergency. One dad rushed into the wildfires to search for his family during the Beachie Creek Wildfires. His wife, son and mother-in-law were at the family's home when the fire broke out. The man, Chris Tofte, was driving around in hopes of finding them. But then he came across a woman who had been severely burned and decided to help her. Chris was stunned by what she told him, per the family's GoFundMe page.
The Beachie Creek Fire, or the Santiam Fire broke out on August 16, 2020, per the US Department of Agriculture. It started around the Willamette National Forest and a strong windstorm on September 7 caused its rapid spread. Many communities were severely impacted by the raging wildfires and suffered loss of life and property. The power had gone out on the family's property and Chris had left to get a generator, per the GoFundMe page. By the time he was returning, the area had been engulfed in flames. Blockades had been set around to prevent people from getting in. However, Chris ran through them to get to his wife, Angie, 13-year-old son, Wyatt and mother-in-law, Peggy. Things were unrecognizable as the man drove ahead.
Eventually, he came across a woman who was severely burned and looked unidentifiable. The woman had even wrapped her clothes around her feet because the road was so hot. The clothes had burned away, too. Chris helped the woman inside his car and told her that he would have to keep going to look for his wife and son. The woman whispered, "I am your wife." The man was devastated after looking at his wife's condition and turned around to get help for her, per the Statesman Journal. The paramedics checked on her as Angie told her husband what had happened. Their house had been surrounded by flames when she woke up on September 8, 2020. She tried to get her 71-year-old mother, Wyatt and their pets out and drive them to safety.
Peggy had broken her leg a week earlier, so her daughter helped her to the car. By the time Angie got her son and pets out, the car was surrounded by flames, per GoFundMe. After repeated attempts to get Peggy out, Angie told Wyatt to run with his dog, Duke, as she stayed behind with her mother. At one point, the woman had to make the difficult decision to leave her mother behind. After getting Angie admitted to the burn unit, Chris started looking for his son Wyatt in the area. His extensive efforts to find his son didn't yield any results for two days. Finally, he got heartbreaking news that Wyatt had been found in the car with his grandmother and his dog Duke on his lap.
The teen had turned around to save his grandmother and was found in the driver's seat of the car. He tried to drive his grandmother to safety, but the road was so hot that it burned the tyres of the vehicle. On the other hand, Angie was in a critical condition because of the severe burns on her body. The couple had lost their home and all their possessions. They had to cover the woman's medical expenses, as well as the funeral expenses for Peggy and Wyatt. So their families started a GoFundMe for them and managed to raise $302,355.