It should have been an idyllic Labour Day weekend, the serenity of the High Sierra region of California providing a welcome respite from protests and a pandemic.

But about 200 people — many of them unaware that a rapidly growing wildfire was closing in on a popular campground area in the Sierra National Forest — found themselves suddenly trapped while trying to flee on Saturday night into Sunday morning.

The very forest where they had come for a holiday escape now provided kindling that helped create a firestorm, one that prompted governor Gavin Newsom of California to declare a state of emergency.

It took a treacherous rescue operation by military helicopters to evacuate them from the Mammoth Pool Reservoir area, the authorities said. Others posted videos on social media showing themselves escaping by driving through a labyrinth of fire and ash.

“We had to splash water on our hair because our hair was catching on fire,” Rylee Zukovsky said on Sunday. “I was shovelling so much water into my face that I was almost drowning myself.”

Zukovsky, 16, said she was rescued in a Chinook helicopter after taking refuge at the reservoir with her boyfriend, her mother and her mother’s boyfriend.

Her mother lives near the campground, which she helps run along with a nearby store. The store’s owner frantically tried to rescue her three dogs, said Zukovsky, who recalled diving into the reservoir when embers started to hit her.

There was little to no cellphone service, she said, explaining that it had taken 12 hours before she was rescued.

“Nobody knew helicopters were coming,” she said. “The Chinook just flew out of the smoke.”

Dozens of evacuees were packed into the helicopters. Two UH-60 Black Hawks and a CH-47 Chinook transported them to Fresno Yosemite International Airport, said Brad Alexander, a spokesman for the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.

About 20 people were injured, he said, and some were taken to hospitals.

Two people remained in very serious condition from burns, Daniel Lynch, the director of emergency medical services for Fresno cCounty, said on Sunday.

One of the burn patients, he said, was a 14-year-old girl being treated at the Valley Children’s Hospital in Madera, California. The others hurt were adults, who had injuries that included broken bones, lacerations and abrasions, he said.

New York Times News Service