Trapped in An Inferno

It was the third day of our camping trip (my family, my cousin, and I) when the fire had broken out. It was an unusually hot day, but not even that could have warned us about the fire.  

I woke up in the middle of the night with sweat running all over my body. It was the deafening noise of the flames and the falling trees that woke me up. Through the window, I could see sheets of flames crashing like waves in the forest around me and I ran out of my cabin. The fire had woken up everybody. Then, suddenly, the fire reached the cabins, burning them one by one. I could do nothing but stare at the destruction. Smoke hissed out of the charred rubble of the few burnt buildings, and the wind whipped ashes all around. Soon the burning bushes skipped across the road towards our cabin on the other side. The huge tunnel of flame engulfed our cabin just as we sat in our car and drove off. Behind us, the ravaging lines of flame danced around the telephone poles. Suddenly, there was a colossal explosion as all the cabins were destroyed. A few miles ahead, another fire was making its way towards us. The rivulets of fire were pouring across the hills like molten lava, sweeping up trees and feasting on houses. We were like sitting ducks. 

 

      Ten minutes later we found ourselves running through the forest with trees sprouting orange fringes on both sides. Huge burning embers fell from the clouds of acrid smoke, which choked us and made our lungs burn. A dull red glow developed as dawn approached. Tinder-dry pines were changed into vast flamethrowers, hurling the scarlet pillars of fire into the twisting smoke. The thick, grey smoke engulfed us and our chances of survival were rapidly decreasing. Sparks exploded like shooting stars from the treetops, spouting embers over an ever-increasing area. We were alarmed to see the flames licking the trees on our immediate sides. Suddenly, my cousin fell down on the ground. We tried to save him, but it was too late. His piercing screams were drowned by the fire which roared over the scene. The flaming arch of the burning trees collapsed, enveloping the last of the forest in a fiery net, as we escaped the forest. We reached the road which was full of fire engines, and I blacked out.