Woman Gives Birth In National Forest, Is Rescued From Forest Fire 3 Days Later

Stranded Woman Gives Birth In Forest

A California woman reportedly gave birth in a desolate national forest where she was stranded for three days after her car ran out of gas.

Amber Pangborn, 35, said she was driving to her parents' house Wednesday when she got lost on back roads. She pulled over in the Plumas National Forest in the Sierra Nevada because she felt contractions. Alone, she gave birth to a daughter, Marissa, around 5 a.m. on Thursday, according to SFGate.com

Pangborn was without cell phone service and survived on a meager diet of water, soda and apples in her car. She started a small fire on Saturday, she told CBS affiliate KHSL, which attracted the attention of rescuers.

The United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service confirmed that crew on a helicopter and fire engine "identified a vehicle and two persons inside, a mother and newborn baby." Pangborn could not be reached for comment.

The fire crew contacted the Butte County Emergency Service, which sent an ambulance that carried Pangborn and her baby to the Oroville Hospital. Pangborn has been discharged and Marissa was transferred to the University of California, Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. Officials there declined to comment.

The flames covered a quarter-acre and were put out by firefighters before Sunday, Plumas National Forest supervisor Chris French said in a statement.

"Our thoughts and best wishes continue to be with the mother and baby," French said. "We are very pleased with the professionalism and cool-headed decision-making of our fire response crew. Because of them, mother and baby were safely evacuated from the fire zone and the fire was safely suppressed."

The cause of the fire is under investigation, the Forest Service said, without addressing whether Pangborn ignited it. The California Fire, the state forest fire protection service, dispatched workers to help extinguish it, a spokesman said.

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