I would like to share what happened this weekend at Wash 12. A truly horifying event and a situation where I saw a side of my wife I have never seen before and hope to never see again.

Friday morning about 7:30 my wife and I had just gotten up and were making coffee and about to head outside to see who else was out and about in camp. We then heard an explosion so strong that our motorhome felt as if it was up on two wheels, what followed after that I will never forget, screaming like I have never heard before. My wife is an RN of 19 years and ran out the door of our motorhome and I followed. We rounded our motorhome and entered the neighboring camp and I saw something I hope to never see again. A trailer was blown open like a tin can, thick black smoke billowing from the door and a woman was standing there in front of it, her hair was burned off, most of her clothes were burned off, the pieces of clothing that were still on her were on fire. Her skin was charred and just hanging off of her in curled up sheets. Standing next to the woman was one of their dogs with all of its hair burned off and was literally still smoking. The explosion blew the woman out the side door of the trailer but her husband who was still in bed at the time was still inside. Moments later he emerged out the door.

The camp was in complete hysteria, people were screaming, nobody knew what to do first, every just kept screaming "call 911", but nothing was getting done, everyone was just in shock.

My wife Laurie just went into action and took over the situation. The woman was the worst off, the husband had some burns but he was in bed and the covers he had on shielded most of him from the flames. Laurie directed people to wet down sheets, not wool blankets like some were about to, and began to calm the woman and talk her through what was happening. Her remaining clothes were cut off and she was wrapped in the wet sheets. My wife told some others what to do with the husband while she tended to the woman. 911 had been called and fire and medics were in route.

About 5 minutes later Laurie yelled at someone to call 911 again and to give her the phone. The dispatcher connected her with the Brawley fire department who were in route along with BLM medics. She told the fire department the woman's vitals and that it was apparent that the woman's lungs were burned from breathing in the flames and that her lungs were failing, her blood oxygen level was dropping. If she had to wait for the police and fire department to arrive before making a decision about Lifeflight it might be too late. The woman needed to be intubated or she was going to die. The fire department agreed with Laurie and dispatched the helicopter before any authorities had arrived on scene, which allowed the helicopter to arrive much earlier than what normally occurs when the first on scene responders make the decision to call for a chopper.

The helicopter landed and the flight nurses rushed her inside the chopper. They stayed on scene to put her under anesthesia and intubated her before lifting off.

The BLM supervisor on scene came up to us after the chopper was gone and said thank you for saving the womans life. If the helicopter had arrived 10 minutes later her airway would have closed from the swelling of her burnt lungs.

My wife never left that womans side and directed others to tend to the husband per her instructions. Even when the fire department, emts and blm arrived my wife didnt hand over her patient, and it was pretty clear that they were ok with that. Linda kept saying........"Laurie dont leave me, please dont leave me".

Linda and her husband were both airlifted to Yuma and then on to a San Diego burn unit. Her husband should be out of the hospital soon but Linda needs any and all prayers. As of this morning she was in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator while they hope that her lungs will heal so she can survive. After that she will have do deal with the burns. She has third degree burns on her hands and arms and second degree on her face and most of her upper body.

I love my wife dearly and have always been very proud of what she does for a living. When we both rounded the corner and saw Linda standing their screaming I stopped, in shock at what I was seeing, my wife never looked back and just kept running towards her. She took an oath when she became a nurse, when bad things happen like this she says that she just goes into autopilot mode and dives right in to the situation.

This Thanksgiving we were all thankful that my wife was there and I know Linda and her will be lifelong friends. We all exchanged contact info with Linda's family members and I will keep you posted.

On a side note, this trailer was a SportTrailer that had been modified by the owner so that it could be slept in. They added heat, ac, shower, electric etc. I know many people go this route and if so please be careful and always check your work and inspect it regularly. While they slept something malfunctioned and the trailer filled with LP. Linda said she smelled gas but thought it was from outside, and then she turned on the switch to the coffee maker.

Lastly, the couples second dog is missing. After the blast, people said it was scene running into the dunes. Many people searched all day for the dog but we never found it. It was Jack Russel Terrier, if anyone has any information if one was found in the dunes over the weekend please let me know.

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My wife (pink sweatshirt) tending to Linda as they keep her protected from the chopper rotor wash

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One of two choppers that landed in Wash 12

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The roof was blown open as well as both sides. The entire trailer was no longer a box but rather a tube shape after the blast. All of the steel in the roof and walls was curved out from the force.

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Holy wow man! Glad you guys were there to help. VERY glad your wife was there.

Hope everything goes well with the couple

God Bless your wife and her quick and calm thinking. I hope that all is well with this family and they all have a speedy recovery. WOW!!!!!!!!

my thoughts and prayers go out to Linda and her husband as of right now! I also hope their dog can be found and returned to them safely

your wife is an amazing woman

Thank God Laurie was there.

That is a wonderful woman you have there, TNTDUNER. You must be so proud of her
She is definitely a hero in every sense of the word and I'm sure she's modest and says it's just what she does.

Please keep us posted on Linda's recovery if you can and give your wife a big hug for me. She is definitely an awesome woman.

God Bless your wife and prayers to those that were injured. Married to an RN myself I am truly amazed of her capabilities.

so sad, and so lucky your wife was there TNT, i also hope you never have to see this again...

Thanxs for the full story your wife is a good person and has truely been a blessing to this family in their time of need. My thoughts and prayers go out to this family...

prayers are with the two duners in need!! Way to go Laurie. You are AWESOME.

Your wife is awesome. Regardless of if that is her job or not, most people, even nurses, don't go into action like that. What a remarkable woman. I'm camping by you from now on, then I know I'll be OK if one of us gets hurt.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family. May God bless them with a speedy recovery.

An amazing story. You're wife is an amazing person. Thanks to your wife for being willing to help others in theire worst nightmare.

WOW Great Story. Hope the outcome is good

Hero indeed. Very well done by your wife!!! I have seen that switch turn in a few of my friends who are medics and it is an amazing thing, a very humbling experience indeed.


So glad she was there for the victims!!!

Prayers to the family...... Walt, what can I say Laurie is a wonderful person and she did not panic, GREAT JOB LAURIE!

Wow...! Thank god your wife was there. I'm a bit speechless right now after reading that story, she was definitely a lifesaver.

horrifying yet amazing story.
Hats off to your wife big time.
We pray for a full recovery of all those touched by this sad incident..

Walt, it was nice you meet you and Laurie on Friday. I had no idea that I was shaking the hand of a hero.

(On a side note, I am glad everything came out all right just before our introduction! )

My Hats off to HER!!!!!!!! WOW Thank God she was there!!

Great Job LAURIE!!

wow what a story, grats to your wife for being on scene, you should be very proud of her..

hoping a speedy recovery for the injured family, and hope they find the dog

Wow, your wife is a badass superhero. I hope Linda pulls through..............

Wow man your wife is amazing she is a real hero even know she will she say she isn't . I know she will say she would do it all over again and she was just doing her job but she is a real HERO and let her know that. I'm sure your family and that other family will be life long friends.

I hope that Family has a speedy recovery!
And finds there dog....

Great job Laurie. I say Duner of the Year if not Decade. Prayers to the family.

Prayers go out to Linda and her husband for a speedy recovery and hope someone found their dog. You should be proud of your wife.

Wow...what a story. Thank the Lord she was there to utilize her skills to save a fellow duner. Thank you for sharing this with us. What a wonderful group of people we have here.

Hats off to your wife Walt and hopefully a speedy recovery to the family. We saw someone switch from party animal to paramedic after a boating accident. Pretty amazing!

Must have been a very chaotic scene. Very strong woman you have there. Very proud of Laurie... Awesome.

I hope the two in the trailer heal quickly.

WOW...

Pray for full recovery.

Amazing what the right training can do to help a in a situation like that.

Laurie is amazing - good thing you went to the washes brother.

My prayers to this family and what an awesome display of skill from the nurse. This story has hit me hard and I will have new smoke and gas detectors before the next trip!

This is a heart wrenching story! It brings tears to my eyes when I hear amazing stories about extrordinary people doing extrordinary things. Laurie thanks for being there!!!

Glad your wife was able to spring into action and keep her wits. She is a true hero...

The first thing that came to my mind was that you said that you never camp in the washes but this one time a year. So you end up right next to this couple that will need help...and she's able to determine that the lifeflight is needed or the lady wont make it...sounds like a guardian angel to me.

I got a little choked up reading that.

Definate DOTM.

DOTM

TALK ABOUT GOD PLACING YOU IN THE RIGHT PLACE. TRUELY THE WOMANS GAURIAN ANGEL. D.O.T.Y.

Amazing story! God Bless your wife, definetely a hero! Our prayers for the family and a quick recovery!

dotm/ year for sure hero for life

Thank you all for the kind words. I did not tell my wife that I made this post as she is a very humble person and like all people who help / save people for a living refers to something like this as just doing what she was trained to do. She probably would have preferred that her good deed had gone unmentioned but I just couldn't let that happen. Her phone has started ringing with calls from friends from Glamis thanking her and she wanted me to say thank you for all of your kind words and that we are very blessed to have such a large extended family of friends.

Lourie, fantastic job!! All that know you have seen that you would do anything for anyone. This is one time I am glad to say you decided not to camp with us. Walt, your a very lucky man to have such a wonderful wife.
Prayers go out for the family saved.

What an amazing story and what an amazing woman your wife is. Talk about Thanksgiving blessings.

May God Bless the family, friends and caregivers to Linda and her husband.

Truly an amazing story of a true hero. Laurie, without question is a blessing to our group and all the other people that know her or have met her at one time or another. To all the people that do not know her, she is an amazing woman. She is the type of person that you just want to be around with...you can't really describe it but you just know in your heart that she is good through and through.

Laurie, I could not be more honored to be your friend.

Bill

Amazing story!

duner of the year!

I can only hope that your post will motivate others to get Basic First Aid/CPR training. The scary thing is how many people who die or are injured more, due to the fact that nobody around has ANY training and either stand there and do nothing, or do the wrong thing, like your mention of the wool blankets.

Granted having your own RN nearby is a major plus, but in activities such as duning, we need a lot more people with even basic training. It’s cheap and can be done in a few hours.

My motivation to write this is from the fact that I was flying a helicopter that crashed from a mechanical failure, I broke my back in three places and had internal injuries, of the ten or so people present on the job site, I was the only one with medical training.

Great post TNT.

We were actually one of the camps that were right by this whole thing. We heard a giant boom and then their were two helicopters landing by our camp.

Good thing your wife was there. She is definitely a hero.

I hope they both recover well.

WOW. How scary. I hope the couple involved makes a full recovery. I can't even imagine waking up to that ...

Awesome job Laurie!

And ditto to what VegasFlyer said. EVERYONE should get basic CPR/First Aid training ... you never know whose life you may save!

I agree....Duner of the Year nominee right here.

Walt-
Your story had me more than a little choked up-thank God this is where you camped and that Laurie was able to realize how bad off this woman was and that minutes would make the difference in her living or dying. I would also hope you keep us updated on her and let us know if there is anything we can do (as a group or individually) for her and her family.

Wow!! What a horrific thing to happen! Your wife is awesome for stepping up and doing what she did! Prayers go to the family.

definitely a horrible situation but truly a blessing that you and your wife were camped nearby to assist! Best wishes for a speedy recovery to the family and your wife is definitely a first class hero!!!! What an amazing woman She has my vote for Duner of the Year