This Toyota truck helped a nurse save lives in California fire

A nurse working in the town of Paradise drove his Toyota Tundra truck through one of the horrific blazes currently ripping through California to save the lives of patients trapped in a hospital.

New York Times reporter Jack Nicas unearthed the story of how Pierce, who manages the ICU at Paradise’s Adventist Health hospital, was trapped in the middle of the blaze in his Tundra, before a bulldozer knocked a burning truck in front of him out of the way.

Rather than drive to safety, Pierce quickly drove back to the hospital in order to help save patients and injured residents. Along with other first responders, they set up a triage centre in the hospital’s car park, and relocated patients to the helipad.

“This truck literally saved my life today,” Pierce later posted on Instagram, alongside a picture of his burnt truck.

“Thanks to the fire fighters, law enforcement and my fellow healthcare workers for the work we all did getting the hospital evacuated and our patients to safety,” he added.

Responding to his Instagram post, Toyota USA promised to replace his Tundra. “We are humbled you’d risk your life and Toyota Tundra to drive people to safety,” the official Toyota USA account wrote. “Don’t worry about your truck, we’re honoured to get you a new one”.

Picture: @the_pandra