Anonymous

Survived wildfire by perching (...)

Survived wildfire by perching on a rock in river, fending off embers with chair

>SALEM, Ore. - The chair was green and plastic, the kind you might find in a patio set or along the edge of a creek.

>But for one night, Don Myron used it as a shield from embers of the Beachie Creek Fire, as he sheltered from raging flames on a rock in the middle of the Little North Santiam River in Oregon.

>"Everything around me was on fire," said Myron, 56, who has lived in the Elkhorn Woods community in the Little North Canyon for the past 11 years. "That chair helped save my butt."

>Myron's story is just one coming out of the Little North Canyon, one of the areas hit hardest during the Labor Day wildfires.

>Much of the Little North Canyon has been torched. Four people in the canyon have been killed. A majority of homes in the Elkhorn community area have been destroyed.

>Myron's story helps explain why. Trapped in the canyon by downed trees and flames roaring on 70 mph winds, he survived with a combination of guile and luck, finding an ideal rock in the middle of the river where he could stay until the worst of the firestorm passed.

>"If there's anybody who can survive that situation, it's my dad," said Chris Myron, Don's son. "He's smart, can think on his feet and is very resourceful."