SALEM, Ore. _ Managers of the Breitenbush hot springs resort deep in the Oregon wilderness were not particularly worried about the Lionshead fire, which for more than two weeks had been simmering behind a mountain 20 miles away.
Then on Sept. 7, sudden and highly unusual winds _ driven by a shift in the jet stream _ propelled flames through the drought-parched Willamette National Forest toward the historic retreat.
That night, with an eerie orange glow breathing behind a forested ridge a few miles away, almost all 150 guests and workers evacuated, along with the volunteer fire department, whose members thought it too dangerous to remain.
Two summer residents in their 60s, Daniel Dundon, who had fought wildfires before, and Tim McDevitt, who had not, decided to stay and take on the blaze themselves.
The fire, which had grown to 20,000 acres, arrived the next day before dawn, spitting embers, toppling trees, exploding propane tanks, torching the sanctuary structure and burning a dozen guesthouses.
Dashing among wooden buildings, Dundon and McDevitt used garden hoses and sprinklers to soak the sides of the lodge and a commercial kitchen. They stomped on embers and shoveled dirt on firebrands.
Fire Chief Jacob Pollack, who ran the department from Port Townsend, Washington, 250 miles north, planned to try reaching them through the back side of the advancing wildfire.
But for now _ as acrid smoke made morning seem like night _ they were on their own.
