Woman gives birth, battles bees, starts fire in remote forest

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OROVILLE, Calif. — What should have been a shortcut turned into a seemingly unending nightmare when a pregnant California woman found herself stranded in the middle of a remote forest — in labor.

Amber Pangborn was driving back home from a casino in her town of Oroville last Wednesday when she realized her baby was on the way, according to the Los Angeles Times. She made a quick decision to take an unfamiliar road through the Plumas National Forest to her parents’ house — thinking it would save her some time.

“I was told about this back road,” Pangborn told CBS San Francisco. “People had shown it to me a few times but I’d never driven it myself.”

It didn’t take long for Pangborn to realize she was in trouble. She didn’t know where she was going, she didn’t have any cell service and her car ran out of gas, CBS reported. On top of all that chaos, she was in the middle of having a baby.

“I was just thinking, ‘Oh my gosh,’” she said. “I wasn’t sure if we were actually going to get out of there.”

Pangborn’s daughter — whom she named Marissa — was born around 5 a.m. Thursday. But instead of cuddling her new baby, Pangborn quickly found herself in a terrifying battle with a massive swarm of bees and mosquitos.

“The meat bees came out and were trying to get the placenta,” she said. “I was trying to get them not to sting her and I got stung trying to keep them away from the baby, but they went into the placenta.”

Pangborn couldn’t seem to catch a break. Unable to get out of the forest on her own, she had to make do with the four apples and little water she had in the car, CBS reported.

By Saturday, Pangborn’s hope was all but lost.

“I thought we were going to die,” she told the Times.

As a last-ditch effort, she started a signal fire with a lighter and hairspray to try to catch the attention of anyone who could help her and her baby. The fire quickly spread out of control.


The fire just went whoosh and shot up the mountainside. I was looking at Marissa and I was like, 'I think mommy just started a forest fire, honey.'

–Amber Pangborn


“The fire just went whoosh and shot up the mountainside,” Pangborn said. “I was looking at Marissa and I was like, ‘I think mommy just started a forest fire, honey.’”

But this is the point in this unbelievable story where Pangborn’s luck finally changed. The U.S. Forest Service detected the blaze and quickly responded. Firefighters in a helicopter discovered the mother and daughter in their car a few hours after Pangborn started the fire, and were able to take them to safety, according to CBS.

“I was just crying,” Pangborn said. “I was so glad someone had seen us and we were going to be OK.”

The quarter-acre fire is still under investigation, according to the Times.

“Our thoughts and best wishes continue to be with the mother and baby,” Forest Service supervisor Chris French told the L.A. Times. “We are very pleased with the professionalism and cool-headed decision-making of our fire response crew.”

Pangborn and baby Marissa were taken to an area hospital. Pangborn’s mother, Diana Williams, told the L.A. Times the baby was premature and needed some treatment, but that she was “doing great.” Longborn — who has three other children — has been released and looks forward to being reunited with her daughter, Williams said.

“They would have never found her if she didn’t start the fire,” Williams said. “She was worried what the wild animals would do.”

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Jessica Ivins

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