California wildfire: Nurse in burning car says 'husband told me don't die, run'

A nurse has told how she escaped a burning car and thought she was "going to die" after evacuating a hospital in California's deadly wildfire.

Nichole Jolly, whose trousers caught on fire as she fled to safety, works at the Feather River Hospital in the town of Paradise.

The area has been ravaged by the flames that have killed 25 people , in what is the third-deadliest California wildfire on record.

Mrs Jolly and other nurses helped the hospital's 60 patients leave the hospital before they were told to drive to a nearby road that was safe.

She told ABC News: "So we went down the road and my car got completely engulfed in flames.

"The cab filled up with smoke.

"I called my husband and I said 'I think I'm going to die, I love you, tell the kids I love them.'

"He told me 'don't die, run'."

Mrs Jolly, who lives in Paradise Lakes in Magalia, California, added: "I hung up the phone, and I got out of the car, with the flames blowing right up the back of my pants."

"And I ran to my best friend's car right in front of me and it was melting right in front of my eyes.

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"I couldn't open the door because the plastic handle to the door was melted.

"And I banged on her window, she didn't come out, I thought she was dead in there.

"I couldn't stay there, the fire was right on me, my pants were catching on fire."

Mrs Jolly added that she ran up the road before grabbing onto the back of a fire engine.

She added that firefighters let her in before extinguishing her and putting a fire blanket over her.

Mrs Jolly also said she thought she was "going to die again".

The nurse said the vehicle was surrounded by flames but fortunately a "bulldozer came through and saved our lives, and we were able to turn around".

The fire engine then took her back to the hospital.

She added that she "didn't even know her best friend was right behind her" and made it back to the hospital as well.

Mrs Jolly said that the nurses started treating patients outside the hospital as firefighters tackled flames on the roof.

She told ABC that her husband had driven to the area to find her but turned around when his vehicle was surrounded by flames.

Mrs Jolly said: "He knew that even if I was dead he had to save the kids... he had to get to them, he got to them, he got them out of there.

"Our phones were disconnected there was no service."

She was finally able to get hold of her mother who had contacted her husband and knew where he was.

Mrs Jolly said: "I saw him by the side of the road and I just got out of the car, and I held onto him forever and I haven't let go."

It comes as footage emerged of a wildfire survivor visiting an area where people he knew were killed in the flames.

The unnamed man said his disabled friend and a woman who had stopped to put her make-up on died after becoming trapped by fire.

The stark footage shows the charred remains of people still sat in the seats of their burned cars.

The distressed cameraman says: "I'm so lucky to be alive, I went down the canyon into a creek.

"It came over me and I thought I was going to die."

California governor Jerry Brown is requesting a "major disaster declaration" from the president for the wildfires burning at both ends of the state.

His office said in a statement Sunday that the declaration would bolster ongoing emergency assistance and help residents recover from fires burning in Butte, Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

The declaration would make individuals eligible for crisis counselling, housing and unemployment help, and legal aid in granted.