AP Photo/Noah Berge,File
- 72-year-old Alan Kuhl was trapped by California's Dixie Fire last week.
- Unable to drive through the blaze, he considered killing his dog and then himself to avoid burning to death.
- Firefighters were able to rescue him and he now plans to leave California for Michigan.
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A California man trapped by the raging Dixie Fire said he was prepared to shoot his dog, then himself to avoid burning to death – but managed to escape the inferno.
During an interview in the evacuated town of Chester, 72-year-old Alan Kuhl told the Record Searchlight he "barely survived," and planned to shoot his labrador, Slim, before turning his 9-millimeter handgun on himself.
At the remote Juniper Lake Campground, Kuhl woke up in the middle of the night Thursday.
"The whole sky was red," he told the Record Searchlight. "(The fire) came so quick on me, I had no idea where it was. It came so fast; it just exploded."
He tried to escape by way of a logging road, but the blaze settled on the road and prevented his escape, he told the newspaper. Kuhl said he used a fire extinguisher to try to put out fires surrounding his car, despite being showered by embers.
Eventually, a firefighter crew rescued him and led Kuhl and Slim to safety.
The Dixie Fire is California's largest single wildfire in state history; as of Sunday, the blaze had burned more than 463,000 acres.
The three-week-old blaze continues to ravage parts of Northern California.
Kuhl told the newspaper he owes his life, and that of his dog, to those who rescued him, including crews from the Alameda County and Palm Springs fire departments.
Now, Kuhl plans to get out of California as soon as possible and move to Michigan, he told the newspaper.