David Jerome
Correspondent

Eric and Melanie Kehler, recent transplants from Chicago via Los Angeles, moved to Idyllwild about three years ago. Melanie had begun working for the Hicksville Trailer Palace in Joshua Tree. A friend invited them up to Idyllwild for the Tree Lighting Ceremony and the couple “fell in love” with the town. Melanie called in the next day to request a transfer to the new Hicksville Pines Motel in Pine Cove. A spot opened up, and by June 2019, the couple had moved up, with Eric still commuting to Los Angeles until a position opened up for him.

A fire started in the early morning hours of Monday, Oct. 12, 2020, their day off. Eric recalls, “I was asleep in the bedroom; she fell asleep on a couch watching a movie. Something woke me up. Behind me was a window onto our porch. It was all in flames.

“I ran frantically outside to look; running through the fire I suffered burns.

“I tried to use the hose; it wasn’t happening. It went up fast, like a tinderbox. I found a ladder, climbed up on an extension over our laundry room and broke through a window to get in. By that time it was completely smoke-filled; I could see fire coming in through the window. I began to search for her, going over to the window every minute to take a breath.

“Eventually I was able to find her and drag her toward the window. That’s when the firefighters showed up.”

The couple living downstairs had called 911 and gotten out with their pets.

Eric said, “They ordered me out, and I was yelling that Melanie was inside. They ‘escorted’ me away from the building. The firefighters said they had 30 seconds to a minute to get her out before the house was gone.”

Melanie describes her experience attempting to rescue her cats, Lenny and Squiggy: “I ran into the bathroom on the other side of the apartment and I grabbed Squiggy. He screamed and fell to the floor. I lost him. We lost both of them.”

Firefighter and paramedic Tyler Williams climbed the ladder, entered through the window and found Melanie, apparently lifeless. When he touched her, she took a breath and he immediately picked her up and, with the help of his partner Omar Desiderio, carried her back down the ladder.

Melanie: “Before I was airlifted, they put a tube into my lungs to get the soot and ash.”

She was airlifted to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center Burn Unit. There she was put on a ventilator. Inhalational burns are one of the most dangerous and difficult-to-treat types of fire injuries. With burns over 33% of her body, she had to be kept sedated and was in critical condition for 44 days. She suffered from what is called “ICU psychosis.” Intubated, medicated and tied to a bed, she experienced hallucinations and terror.

She and Eric were unable to communicate. Without ID, Melanie was admitted to the hospital as “Questionable Queen,” a creative alternative to “Jane Doe.” Eric could not find out if she was alive or dead. Finally, Melanie’s sister was able to call, describe her tattoos and establish her identity. Even then, because of COVID travel restrictions, her family was unable to visit.

She began a regime of surgeries. Once a week, doctors “harvested” skin from the unburned parts of her body to replace what could not be saved. It was an excruciating process. She described three processes of “lung scrapings” to remove soot and ash.

When doctors finally decided Melanie was ready to have her tube removed, Eric was there. But when he told her the cats had both died in the fire, she hyperventilated and had to be re-intubated.

Melanie still has respiratory issues. She has shortness of breath, her voice has changed and she had to learn to walk again after 44 days in bed with skins grafts. She says occupational and physical therapies were the highlights of her days in the hospital. The therapists made her laugh, played her music and took her out for her first breath of fresh air.

Her scars are still healing. Her legs are a checkerboard of harvest sites and her arms are “scaled” from the mesh that held the grafts in place. She experiences nerve pain and cognitive issues that fall into the category of CTSD — Continuous Traumatic Stress Disorder. She is still seeing a pain management doctor and therapists.

Eric, less critically injured, was taken to Desert Oasis Healthcare in Palm Springs where he was treated for wounds, stitched up and released. When he followed up with a visit to his doctor, he was referred to a surgeon for tendons he had torn that night when breaking into the burning house. But the tendons had already started to contract and the surgeon was doubtful they could be repaired. Eric asked him to try anyway.

Five of six tendons were severed. Unable to reattach them separately, the six were combined and attached as one group, a single large tendon with five branches.

“After surgery, the physical therapist looked at my arm and said he’d never seen anything like it and couldn’t treat it,” Eric said. “I got referred to a hand specialist, one of the best in the country, twice a week for five months. That got me up to maybe 85% range of motion, gradually. I was able to swing a golf club a few months ago. That was a big day.”

Melanie was released the day before Thanksgiving, and Eric rented a house for them in Palm Springs where they could be closer to doctors. Eric, with one good arm, had to help her in and out of chairs, cars and bed, and assist with bathing and toilet use.

Melanie must still wait another year for her next round of reconstructive surgery, staying out of the sun to protect her new skin.

Friends found them a new place in Idyllwild. “We weren’t sure we wanted to come back, but the community rallied for us. We felt safe here. People downtown would hug us, donations poured in, other kinds of support. Emails, phone calls, messages, people asking how they could help, bringing food.”

The couple have since adopted four cats from Living Free. Officially, the cause of the fire is still undetermined. To hear the story of the fire and rescue from the point of view of the first responders, readers can visit YouTube and search Making the Grab Riverside County Fire Department.