‘Suffocating in the car:’ Teens returning from day on Lake Simtustus get trapped by Elk Lane Fire, rescued by firefighters

(Update: adding video, comment from teens involved)

CULVER, Ore. (KTVZ) -- A group of young people returning from a day boating on Lake Simtustus Sunday evening were caught by surprise and trapped by the fast-growing, lightning-sparked Elk Lane Fire west of Madras as they were leaving the resort, prompting a harrowing road trip, narrow escape and rescue by fire crews.

"We're driving down, it's progressively getting worse," Brody Edwards, one of the teens, recalled Monday. "There's just these huge flames on the side of us, which is like - 'I can't stop there. Someone's going to burn up or melt.'"

What started as a birthday celebration on Lake Simtustus quickly turned dangerous. A half-dozen teens leaving the lake were nearly trapped by flames from the fire that by Monday had grown to more than 2,700 acres.

Jaden McFarland said, "I was, like, super freaked out, but once you could feel the heat, I was like, this actually can be bad."

Izzy McFarland added, "It just felt like we weren't going to make it out, like the feeling of, suffocating in the car and, I just didn't like it at all."

The teens navigated the narrow and windy Elk Lane, but smoke and flames were all they could see.

Jaden said, "As we were driving up, all the flames just kind of started on the other side of the road. And then it jumped in front of us."

Edwards added, "You could feel the heat coming through. And I think that's when we all kind of start getting scared and, 'this might be a mistake.'"

Ultimately, they were forced to turn around on Elk Lane as their path became obscured by smoke.

Izaiah Middleton said, "We had the boat on the back, so we couldn't really flip. But we tried our best. So we backed up, pulled into the sagebrush, tried to flip (a U-turn). We got our front tires on the road to go the other way - and then we started spinning out, and we got stuck." 

They were saved by firefighters who surrounded their vehicle, spraying it with water. Eventually they were able to free it and travel north to Warm Springs to escape the flames.

Edwards said, "As soon as we got into four-wheel-drive and we started pulling out, it was just kind of a relief, because we knew we were probably going to be able to get out."

Izzy McFarland said, "It was just like a sense of relief and being able to breathe clean air and stuff and it not be as smoky - it was just crazy."

The teens believe they were surrounded by smoke and flames for 40 minutes, and they do regret taking Elk Lane instead of heading north to the alternative exit toward Warm Springs. Their parents say they had been trying to reach them, but were unable to, due to limited cell service.