Two lives may have been saved, thanks to a PG and E-funded wildfire detection camera recently installed in Butte County. Utility spokesman Paul Moreno says a pregnant Amber Pangborn, of Oroville, went into labor while driving on the outskirts of town and took a shortcut to get to the hospital…

click to listen to Paul Moreno

Eventually, Pangborn ran out of gas and was stranded on the side of a road in the Plumas National Forest where there was also no cell phone service. She laid out a sleeping bag in the back of the car and gave birth to a daughter….

click to listen to Paul Moreno

But Moreno says the fire quickly got out of control and was much larger than anticipated. That’s when one of three cameras installed in the forest just last month detected the blaze, which alerted dispatchers. They sent out a Forest Service helicopter, which soon after found Pangborn and her newborn. She had managed to survive after being stranded for three days.