tamara ferguson/nurse"they kept telling me you're going to be fine.nd i kept trying to convince them no you don't understand. i'm not gonna be fine. there's no way i'm going to survive this. there's fire blowing at me."as the fire was consuming homes all around them, a stranger helped heather get out of her ambulance and wheeled her up this driveway on chloe court. nurse tamara followed. eventually they ran into david hawks, paradise's fire chief. chief david hawks/paradise fire dept."there's a dog door here. one of the paramedics made access to. we unlocked the garage, moved patients into this home and sheltered them in place. i said hey if you follow directions which is to clear pine needles, that we would be safe here."what happened next was nothing short of amazing.emts and nurses became stand-in firefighters.some getting on the roof of this home clearing gutters of brush.hosing down the outer edge of the property. saving this home, all while their patients were kept safe inside.tamara ferguson/nurse "he said you do this, you do this you do this.

tamara ferguson/nurse"they kept telling me you're going to be fine.ng to convince them no you don't understand. i'm not gonna be fine. there's no way i'm going to survive this. there's fire blowing at me."as the fire was consuming homes all around them, a stranger helped heather get out of her ambulance and wheeled her up this driveway on chloe court. nurse tamara followed. eventually they ran into david hawks, paradise's fire chief. chief david hawks/paradise fire dept."there's a dog door here. one of the paramedics made access to. we unlocked the garage, moved patients into this home and sheltered them in place. i said hey if you follow directions which is to clear pine needles, that we would be safe here."what happened next was nothing short of amazing.emts and nurses became stand-in firefighters.some getting on the roof of this home clearing gutters of brush.hosing down the outer edge of the property. saving this home, all while their patients were kept safe inside.tamara ferguson/nurse "he said you do this, you do this you do this. all of us shif

tamara ferguson/nurse"they kept telling me you're going to be fine. and i kept trying to convince them no you don't understand. i'm not gonna be fine. there's no way i'm going to survive this. there's fire blowing at me."as the fire was consuming homes all around them, a stranger helped heather get out of her ambulance and wheeled her up this driveway on chloe court. nurse tamara followed. eventually they ran into david hawks, paradise's fire chief. chief david hawks/paradise fire dept."there's a dog door here. one of the paramedics made access to. we unlocked the garage, moved patients into this home and sheltered them in place. i said hey if you follow directions which is to clear pine needles, that we would be safe here."what happened next was nothing short of amazing.emts and nurses became stand-in firefighters.some getting on the roof of this home clearing gutters of brush.hosing down the outer edge of the property. saving this home, all while their patients were kept safe inside.tamara ferguson/nurse "he said you do this, you do this you do this

tamara ferguson/nurse"they kept telling me you're going to be fine.e them no you don't understand. i'm not gonna be fine. there's no way i'm going to survive this. there's fire blowing at me."as the fire was consuming homes all around them, a stranger helped heather get out of her ambulance and wheeled her up this driveway on chloe court. nurse tamara followed. eventually they ran into david hawks, paradise's fire chief. chief david hawks/paradise fire dept."there's a dog door here. one of the paramedics made access to. we unlocked the garage, moved patients into this home and sheltered them in place. i said hey if you follow directions which is to clear pine needles, that we would be safe here."what happened next was nothing short of amazing.emts and nurses became stand-in firefighters.some getting on the roof of this home clearing gutters of brush.hosing down the outer edge of the property. saving this home, all while their patients were kept safe inside.tamara ferguson/nurse "he said you do this, you do this you do this. all of us shifted our minds

. >> reporter: nurse tamara ferguson. trapped at work, she posted this terrifying video, along with a good-bye letter, writing, to all my friends and family, especially john and my kids, i love you with all my heart, i am trapped in this horrific fire and can't get out. >> any units, feather river hospital, we've got four people trapped in the basement. >> reporter: police arrived right on time, rescuing her and the others trapped in that basement. >> i'm so scared. >> reporter: this hellish nightmare began thursday, quickly gaining momentum, and now an entire town has been reduced to ashes. this fire is now the fourth most destructive in california's history. >> we lost everything. trailers, all our belongings. now we're on grinding rock, just trying to save everybody else's stuff. >> reporter: today officials announcing their worst fears, nine residents here did not make it. some of their bodies found in cars after being overtaken by flames. that number could climb given that conditions are still too unstable for firefi

. >> nurse tamara ferguson in an ambulance behind heather's making the same last phone call to her family>> they kept telling me you're going to be fine. i was trying to convince them, i'm not going to be fine. there's no way i'm going to survive this. >> as the fire was consuming homes all around them, a stranger helped heather get out of her ambulance and wheel her up this driveway. the nurse followed. eventually they ran into david, paradise's fire chief. >> a dog door, we unlocked the garage and sheltered in place. i said, hey, if you follow the directions, clear the home of pine needles, we will be save here. >> reporter: what happened next, emts and nurses became stand-in firefighters. some clearing glut ining gutte. saving this home all while their patients were kept safe inside. he said, you do this, you do this. all of us shifted our minds to what do we need to do to survival mode here. >> they did exactly what i asked them to do. >> reporter: this home survivored. so did all of the patients and medical staff inside. >> i am so happy that my home was spared so that their lives co

. >> reporter: nurse tamara ferguson was in an ambulance behind heather's making the same last phoneall to her family. >> they kept telling me, no, you're going to be fine. i kept trying to convince them, no, you don't understand. i'm not going to be fine. there's no way i'm going to survive this. there's fire blowing at me. >> reporter: as the fire was consuming homes all around they have, a stranger helped heather get out of her ambulance and wheeled her up this driveway on chloe court. nurse tamara followed. eventually they ran into david hawks, paradise's fire chief. >> there's a dog door here one of the paramedics made access to. we unlocked the garage, sheltered them in place. i said, hey, if you follow directions, which is to clear this home of pine needle, we would be safe here. >> reporter: what happened next was nothing short of amazing. emts and nurses became stand-in firefighters. some getting on the roof of this home, clearing gutters of brush, hosing down the outer edge of the property, saving this home all while their patients were kept safe inside. >> and he said, you

. >> brangham: tamara ferguson, a nurse at a nearby hospital, shared this video as the fire closed inapping staff and patients inside. in a facebook post, she wrote her goodbye to her family and friends. thankfully, local police were able to evacuate the hospital soon after, rescuing every patient and staffer, including ferguson. so far, the fire's burned more than 70,000 acres, and new evacuations were ordered today. >> this town of paradise was state officials described "catastrophic" losses, and said rescue efforts were ongoing. m>> tagnitude of the n that we're seeing is really, again, unbelievable. the fire weather conditions are e axtre we're seeing it from border to border. >> brangham: in southern california, 60 mis s an hour guom intense santa ana winds have fueled what began as two small brushfires into fast- moving flames that quickly scorched a combined 20,000 acres. the two bles, the woolsey and hill fires, are continuing to tear through forests and communities about 40 miles northwest of los aeles. they've burned around 75 homes and forced residents to flee as the flames

. >> as the camp fire bore down on paradise's feather river hospital, tamara ferguson was one of thection and helping people get out. >> people were racing around saying let's go, let's go, wheelchairs were coming. >> one of the patients heather roebuck, a mother who had just given birth to her baby by c-section. >> sheer terror. like me, i'm in the middle of surgery. do we go -- us? they just stitch me up really quickly? >> heather was separated from her husband and newborn daughter so she could be taken by ambulance. >> we hopped in an ambulance with stranger, people we didn't know, a very critical patient. another patient was in the front seat. >> but after driving about a mile, heather's ambulance caught on fire. >> and i realized that i'm not going to make it. and i just told him on the phone that i was really sorry, and that i just loved him and i wouldn't going to be there with our kids. >> at that moment, a pediatrician came to the rescue. >> and dragged me out into the street, and it's pitch-black. >> with flames now encroaching all around, that pediatrician, tamara, and the

tamara ferguson writing, to all my friends and family and especially john and my kids, i love you with all my heart. i am trapped in this horrific fire and can't get out. but police got to her just in time rescuing everyone trapped. teachers also saving lives. travis pendergrass from paradise charter middle school helped evacuate children before getting out of town himself. >> we lost everything. trailers, all our belong now we're on grinding rock just trying to save everybody else's >> southbound fr hospital all blocked by fire. >> reporter: the fire which broke out just before dawn on thursday, erupting into a massive blaze bigger than the island of manhattan in a matter of hours. the column of thick, black smoke blotting out the sun, turning day into night as the entire town of paradise scrambled to evacuate. a community of 27,000 ordered to get out. residents fleeing from the fast-moving wildfire taking only what they could carry, some with no hope for what was left behind. >> i tried calling the house and the machine didn't pick up. >> reporter: the whipping winds also a cause for