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Wondery subscribers can listen to against the Odds early and ad free right now. Join Wondery in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. A Listener Note against the Odds uses dramatizations that are based on true events. Some elements, including dialogue, may be invented, but everything is based on research. This episode contains scenes that depict racist attitudes and language. Please be advised wondering Domenico Bruno jabs his shovel into the dirt floor of the forest and he yelps in pain. He looks down and he sees that he's hit a rock beneath the soil. The reverberation up the shovel stings his hands. The pain is all the worse because at this point his palms are just one big blister. Since Dom and his friend Giacomo Vietni joined this firefighting crew two weeks ago, it's been nothing but unrelenting toil. They've been working 17 hours a day building firebreaks to protect Wallace and the other mountain towns from wildfires that have been breaking out all over. Dom stops to sip some water from his canteen and splashes a bit on his raw hands. The water is lukewarm from the day's heat. Even at this hour, close to sunset, the ferocious wind feels like a blast furnace. As he screws his canteen shut, Giacomo taps him on the shoulder. Hey, give me some water. My canteen. It's empty. You need to ration your water. Yeah, but just get me some. I'm dying over here. Dom shakes his head but hands over his canteen. Giacomo really gets on his nerves sometimes. Still, he's the only friend Dom has in America. After a minute, they get back to work on their firebreak. Building a firebreak involves chopping down trees and clearing brush to deprive fires of fuel to build one crews past over the same ground in three waves. The first wave of men use axes to hack away the dense brush growing close to the ground. Then teams of sawyers come through, felling the trees with huge two handed saws. The last team drags the trees and uprooted brush aside. The final wave also digs up the soil, shoveling any burnable leaves or roots to the side and leaving only bare earth that won't burn. Despite his initial job interview where he showed off his wood chopping skills, Dom has barely swung an axe since he started with this crew. Instead, the crew boss put him and Giacomo to work digging. He told Dom that he didn't like Italians, as he pronounced it. The better paying axe and saw jobs are reserved for Americans, and each day, as the fires grow in size and strength, the fire breaks need to be wider and wider when the fires were relatively mild. A five foot break sufficed. Last week it was ten. Today, August 20th, the crew is clearing a 25 foot wide path. He feels another tug at his sleeve. It's Giacomo again. This time Dom loses his temper. No. No more water. You'll have to wait. No, look. Giacomo points to what looks like a thunderstorm, a mass of black cloud in the distance. Then Dom realizes it's not clouds, but smoke. The sight of it jolts him with fear. Any fire producing that much smoke must be massive. And a moment later, Dom sees something even more terrifying. Orange flames on the next ridge over, leaping across the crowns of the trees like rocks skipping across a pond. There may be a mile away, but they're headed right towards Dom and Giacomo's crew. The two men grab their shovels and start digging as fast as they can. Dom has no idea how much time they have until the fire arrives, but he's no longer worried about saving Wallace or the other towns. Right now, all he can think about is saving his own life. Foreign.
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From wondering I'm Mike Corey, and this is against the Odds. In the summer of 1910, a historic drought struck the Idaho panhandle, turning the Coeur d' Alene National Forest into a tinderbox. Firefighting crews, both civilian and military, found themselves battling hundreds of forest fires. And when a devastating windstorm tore through the region on August 20, many of the fires combined into a mega blaze, forming the single biggest wildfire in the history of the United States. This is Episode two, the Blow Up. Private Roy Green of the Buffalo Soldiers pauses his digging and wipes the sweat from his brow. It isn't as humid here as his native Mississippi, but he never remembers feeling such persistent heat. It's around 6pm on August 20, 1910. Almost quitting time. And Green is mighty glad for that. He and 50 of his fellow soldiers are building firebreaks in the Coeur d' Alene National Forest, just outside Avery, a town of 200 people that sits about 15 miles south of Wallace. And it's some of the most tedious backbreaking work he's ever performed, which is saying something. Greene knows that there are fires out there somewhere, but Avery doesn't seem to be under any real threat. A gray haze has settled over the forest, hindering visibility and making it hard to breathe. But so far, he hasn't seen any flames. The wind, which is blowing from the south, must be pushing the blazes away from town, which makes Greene wonder, why are they even here? His commanding officers, Lt. Lewis and Sgt. James, told the soldiers that they're building this firebreak to protect the railroad, which might be needed to evacuate people and bring in relief supplies. But Greene suspects they're really here to protect Avery's handful of rich white people, especially whoever owns the mansion that looms on a hillside overlooking the town. It's so big that he mistook it for a hotel when he first arrived. God forbid anyone lets that place burn down. Greene also suspects that he and his fellow black soldiers have been assigned this work to keep them out of sight of the white residents and separate from the hundreds of white firefighters battling blazes deeper in the mountains. But if so, that's fine by Green. The white townsfolk haven't exactly been welcoming. Greene resumes digging, but a minute later, a huge gust of wind interrupts him. He lowers his hat to protect his eyes and face. Then, above the howl of the wind, he hears a terrible crash. Green takes off running towards the sound and comes upon a grisly scene. A huge branch has broken off a tree and landed on one of his fellow soldiers. With a mighty heave, Greene and two other privates lift the branch off the injured soldier and drop it with a thud onto the ground next to him. Greene drops to his knees and examines the soldier. There's no blood, but he can tell the injury to his torso is bad. His ribcage looks punched in, like someone hit it with a sledgehammer. He turns to another private. Go find the medic and tell Sergeant James. The private runs off. Greene takes the injured soldier's hand and tells him that he'll be okay. But as the soldier lies there gasping for breath, Greene feels a surge of anger. This man could die. And for what? To protect people who don't even want their help. Greene squeezes the soldier's hand and shakes his head in disgust. Ranger Ed Pulaski turns his horse, Cherry Bell, in a circle, cocking his ear and listening. It's 7pm in a small clearing in the Coeur d' Alene National Forest south of Wallace. Normally, it would still be light out at this hour, but the acrid smoke has cast a pall on the land. The fires can't be more than a few few miles south of him. Pulaski is trying to find his crew of 45 firefighters. They were supposed to be working along Big Creek today, building a firebreak. Pulaski had gone back to town to gather more supplies, but now he's ridden along most of the creek's length and has seen no sign of them. Where could they have gone? He cups his hands around his mouth, shouting for his assistant, Percy Stewart. Hey, Percy. Percy, can you hear me? There's no answer. Fear washes over him. If he doesn't find them soon, they could be overrun by the coming fire. He spurs Cherry Bell and keeps riding. After his wife and daughter doubled back home a few hours ago, Pulaski thought he'd make better time. But the two men he'd hired to guide the pack mules kept dawdling. Finally, they stopped altogether, telling Pulaski they would not get any closer to the fires. They just cut the ropes holding the loads on their mules and then turned tail for home. Pulaski was furious. Their cowardice was putting men's lives at risk. He couldn't carry the supplies on his own, so he was forced to leave them. He hopes he and his men can return to the spot later and drag the supplies the rest of the way themselves. After the packers departed, Pulaski made better time. But he's been fighting terrible wins. A few times, they almost toppled him from his saddle. It took all of his strength to keep Cherry Bell from bolting. But what's most disconcerting is that his crew seems to have vanished into the smoky darkness. He stops and calls out again. Percy? Anyone? Edward?
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Ed.
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Over here. Pulaski spurs his horse in the direction of Percy's voice as he urges Cherry Bell into a trot. He looks down. Tools litter the ground. Axes, shovels, saws. He follows the trail of gear until he comes upon a circle of men, each sitting on the ground. One is weeping. Another is praying. Another stares up at the sky in horror. His assistant, Percy Stewart, rushes up and explains what happened when a cloud of black smoke rolled over them. The men were plunged in the darkness. It felt apocalyptic, Percy says, as if the sun had been blotted out. Many of the men panicked and threw down their tools. He's barely been able to prevent some of them from fleeing headlong into the forest. Percy points to a clearing carved out of the woods. We were working on a pretty wide fire break before. Should we hurry up and finish it? Pulaski looks around at his terrified crew. These men are in no condition to work, and even if we could finish the firebreak, I doubt it would hold in this wind. No, our only choice now is to evacuate. Percy nods. Should we make a run for the lake? It's only a few miles. Pulaski knows the lake well and even named it Lake Elsie, after his daughter. But he shakes his head. The way down to the lake, it's. It's too steep, and I doubt half these guys can swim. Well. What do we do then? I think we should make a run for Wallace. Percy's eyes go wide. He looks aghast. He points out that they're at least 10 miles away. As the crow flies through thick, mostly unburned woods, Pulaski exhales hard. He realizes that making a run to Wallace is a gamble. But what choice do they have? If they stay here, they'll surely burn to death. He tells Percy to help round up the men and get them on their feet and moving. Even a minute of delay could mean the difference between life and death. Forest ranger Bill Weigel clambers over a fallen log lying across the forest trail, then resumes, sprinting toward the homestead of his friend, Speedy Swift. Speedy begged him to go there and save his wife and child. Weigel gasps with each stride, the smoky air filling his lungs like a thousand needles. Inside his chest, flakes of ash fall like snow, coating his shoulders with specks of gray. Weigel can't believe it. Instead of running away from the fire, he's running toward it. Part of him wonders if he's too late, if the fire has already overrun Speedy's home and killed his wife and daughter. He forces that thought from his head. By the time Weigel rounds the last bend, the smoke is so thick that he can't see more than a hundred feet in front of him. Then an image comes into focus. A heap of smoldering ruins. Weigel realizes it's the remains of the Swift family barn. His heart leaps into his throat. If the barn is down, it seems impossible that the family's home has survived. But when the house comes into view, he stops in his tracks. Not only is it Standing. But there are a dozen firefighters there, several of whom he recognizes since he hired them just a few days ago. They're hauling buckets of water up from Speedy's well and using it to wet down blankets and snuff out spot fires on the roof. Weigel runs up to them, gasping. What are y' all doing here? You're supposed to be out with John Bell's crew. The man turning the crank on the well answers without looking up. We deserted. We're waiting out the fire here in the clearing. Weigel is stunned at how matter of fact he is. Doesn't he have any sense of duty? But there's no time for an ethical debate. What about the woman and the child that live here? Where are they? They're in the creek over there. They're rapid, wrapped up in wet blankets. We'll protect them. Through the smoky haze, Weigel sees two gray bumps above the surface of the creek. It's the heads of Speedy's wife and daughter, covered in blankets. Weigel takes a moment to think. Should he grab them? He'd be taking them from a clearing and a place where there's water into a stretch of forest that's right in the path of the fire. They'd also slow him down. But then again, given that these men abandoned their duty to fight the fires. And can he really trust them to save Speedy's wife and child? Finally, he makes up his mind. He grabs the firefighter at the well and he stares him down. Now you listen to me. If a single hair gets singed on that woman or child's head, I'll hunt you down to the ends of this earth. You understand? The firefighter sputters yes, swearing on his mother's soul. With that settled, Weigel grabs the bucket from the well and takes a long drink. Then he turns and starts sprinting back towards Speedy and his horse. He's now in an all out race to get to Wallace and evacuate the town. The best candidates aren't scrolling job boards all day. They're busy being great at what they do. So how do successful businesses connect with top talent? They use Indeed. 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Ed Pulaski coughs as he creeps along in the dark. Dark. It's getting harder to breathe amid the smoke. The fire behind them is so close now, he can feel its blistering heat and hear its menacing roar. He's leading his 45 men down a narrow ravine full of stones and dead branches, trying to get them out of the forest and to safety. On either side, steep walls climb toward the forest above. Pines rooted in the walls would be prime fuel for the inferno, so the men are moving as as quickly, as quickly as they can. But it's slow going, making their way through the thick underbrush. Pulaski is on foot now. He gave up his horse, Cherry Bell to another man, a stocky Texas Ranger with asthma who was wheezing in all of the smoke. Pulaski Pauses for a moment to make sure everyone is accounted for. Sound off the next man in line. His assistant, Percy Stewart, takes up the call. 1. Then it keeps going down the line. 2, 3, 4, 5. Each man in the line will keep yelling until they get to the number 45. That's who's bringing up the rear. Pulaski can HEAR the number 19 called out, but beyond that, the men's voices are drowned out by the rumble of the approaching fire. He hopes they pass the word back up that everyone is there. While they wait, a gust of wind sweeps down the ravine, showering them with orange glowing embers. Pulaski ducks his head and closes his eyes. He opens them and stamps out a nearby spot fire with his boot. Then Pulaski hears Cherry Bell bucking and rearing. He whips his head around and he sees that her tail is on fire. He darts forward, dodging her legs, while the horse thrashes, nearly tossing the Texas Ranger. Pulaski snuffs out the fire with his hat, and finally Cherry Bell settles down. Just then, word gets back to Pulaski. All 45 of his men are accounted for. But before they can start moving again, someone shouts and they look up. The same shower of embers that torched the horse's tail has started a new blaze high in the tree canopy overlooking the ravine. The fire is literally on top of them. Pulaski curses. If this new fire spreads ahead of them, it could easily cut them off. He glances at the steep walls of the ravine. Maybe they can scale them, circumvent this new fire and keep pressing toward Wallace. But no, the walls look too steep. Only a few of his men could make it up. That leaves only one option. They've got to find somewhere to shelter. Pulaski knows there's an old mining tunnel close by. The problem is, it's not very big. Maybe 30ft long. While that's better than nothing, it's not much protection from a raging fire. He thinks harder, then stops in his tracks. He remembers there's a second mining tunnel past the first one. It's deeper and will offer much more protection. But it's farther down the ravine, at least another half mile. Pulaski decides he'll go ahead to find the tunnel to make sure the way is clear. The ground is too uneven to ride Cherry Bell, so he'll go on foot. But first he pulls a burlap gunny sack from his saddlebag. Then he turns to Percy and explains about the tunnels. Keep everyone here and keep them low to the ground so they can Breathe. If the fire gets too close, though, get everyone in that first tunnel. I'm gonna go see if I can find the other one. He douses the gunny sack with the last water from his canteen, then wraps it around his head like a protective shawl and darts down the ravine. Domenico Bruno jams the heel of his boot onto a shovel blade, loosening a clump of earth. Then he flings it over the leaf litter. It's 8:30pm and he's shoveling as fast as he can, even though he can barely see. Night has fallen, but any moonlight is blocked by the hellish smoke that surrounds him on all sides. His crew has got to finish this firebreak or the blaze will overrun them. Around him, a dozen men wield their own shovels. They all dig in a frantic scramble. One of them mutters that the flames are probably no more than a half mile away. Sweat stings Dom's eyes, but when he tries to wipe his brow with his shirt sleeve, it does no good. He's sweating so much that his clothes are sopping wet. He hears his friend Giacomo Viettoni yell to him, we're almost done. Let's hurry. I am hurrying. Suddenly, Dom hears something zip past him in the dark. What was it? A deer. He wipes the sweat from his eyes again and looks around, but he doesn't see anything. Then he hears something else go racing past him, bigger this time. A bear. Are the animals fleeing the fire? Someone grabs him. It's Giacomo. He yells above the din from the fire. The others. They're retreating. Run. Dom finally understands those weren't animals darting past him, but his fellow firefighters. They're ditching their tools and running for their lives. And without their help, there's no chance they'll complete the firebreak. They need to get out while they still can. Their supervisor told them that if they needed to evacuate, they should retreat to the homestead of a man named Beauchamp. There's supposed to be a clearing around it. Dom doesn't know where the homestead is, but he figured he'd just follow the other men to find it. He didn't count on them fleeing and leaving him behind in the dark. Dom drops his shovel. Okay, come on, let's follow. Stay close. Giacomo takes off running in the direction of the other men. Dom follows close on his heels. The two men are exhausted after a full day of digging, but with the fire bearing down, they run harder than they ever have in their lives. Ed Pulaski scrambles forward in a low crouch, using his hands as much as his Eyes to feel his way forward through the ravine. Even this close to the ground, there's so much smoke that he's struggling to breathe and. And despite the gunny sack wrapped around his mouth, his throat feels raw from coughing. The wind is blowing harder than ever. And just as he feared, the fire in the canopy is starting to eat its way down the trees. It can't be more than 50ft above him. The light from the flames pierces the smoke and the darkness, casting an eerie red glow that illuminates his way. Above him, burning branches splinter off from trees, crackling and spitting as they hit the ground. It's a miracle one hasn't crushed him yet. He knows that the mining tunnel he's looking for is roughly half a mile from where he left his men. But after 20 minutes of fighting his way forward, he still hasn't found it. He fears he's missed it in the dark, but decides to press on. Then he comes across a massive boulder in the middle of the ravine and groans. He recognizes this boulder. He's hiked here with his daughter Elsie, and she loves to climb it. And he knows the boulder is past the tunnel he's looking for, which means it's behind him. He doubles back and starts retracing his steps. He knows it's on the right hand side. He decides to move from the flatter bottom of the ravine to a few feet up the slope, so he won't walk past it this time. Sure enough, he finds the tunnel entrance a few minutes later. It was hidden behind some fallen branches. Pulaski yanks them aside and ducks in. He immediately feels relief from the heat. The air must be 20 degrees cooler in here. There's far less smoke, too. He can even hear a trickle of water running past his feet. There must be an underground spring nearby. Not much water, but enough for his men to wet their lips. It's the best option for shelter that they have. He wets the gunny sack with the trickling spring water, drapes it over his head, and hurries back out to the burning forest. He's got 45 men out there, and he's determined to get every last one of them into this tunnel alive. Ranger Bill Weigel stumbles his way downhill toward Wallace, stopping every so often to bellow above the roar. Speedy. Speedy. Where? After leaving Speedy's home, Weigel tried taking a shortcut back to where he tied his horse, cutting directly downhill instead of following the looping trail. But now he's deeply regretting his choice. The fire seems to be chasing him. Propelled and fueled by the fierce winds, Weigel fears that if he stops even for a moment, it'll overtake him. He can't see more than 15 yards in front of him through the smoke. He's getting more dizzy and disoriented every minute, and glowing embers are pelting him like stinging sleet. All he knows for sure is that he's going downhill. He trips on something and bangs his knee. He turns back to see what caught his foot. To his confusion, he sees the remains of some old, rusty mining equipment. Why would this be lying in the middle of the forest? But then, just beyond the equipment, he sees the outline of a building. He recognizes it as a grinding mill, part of an old mining operation. If he's right, that means he must be a good mile off from where he thought he was. The mill's roof is already on fire. But Weigel makes a quick decision. If he's that far off his intended path, there's no way he'll reach his horse before the fire catches up to him. But he knows there's a mining tunnel inside the mill that could protect him. He takes off running for the mill. Inside, Weigel gropes his way toward the back, where the tunnel is carved into the hillside. It's not much, but it's better than being exposed in the forest. It's nearly pitch black inside the mill, but he pats his hands along the wall until he finds the tunnel. He ducks down and crawls in. It's shallower than he remembered, only about 15ft deep, but he feels immediate relief. Inside, there's cool, breathable air, which he gulps down greedily. Maybe he can ride out the whole burn here. But just as he's feeling hopeful, he hears a sickening groan from the mill. He pokes his head out of the tunnel entrance. What was pitch black before is now bathed in orange light as the fire eats through the mill's wal. Seconds later, timbers and flaming beams collapse across the tunnel's entrance. He's trapped, and the temperature is rising.
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Bill Weingel takes takes a deep breath and lets the ringing in his ears die down. He's safe for the moment, but he knows he can't stay in this tunnel or it will become his tomb. Already the air in the tunnel is growing noticeably warmer. The burning wreckage has essentially transformed the tunnel into a kiln. A kiln that he's trapped inside. He's also struggling to breathe. The fire is burning so hot that it's sucking up all the oxygen. If he can't find a way through the fallen beams that are blocking the tunnel entrance, he'll either suffocate or roast to death. He crawls to within a few yards of the entrance, removes his coat and wraps it around his face for protection. Then he rises to a crouch and he takes a deep breath. With the force of a football nose tackle, he hurls his big frame against the burning, burning beams. There's a crunch and a shower of sparks, but Weigel hasn't broken through. He throws himself against the barrier twice more and finally a few boards snap. He scurries through the gap and into the collapsed shell of the mill. He pulls the coat from his eyes to see flames dancing all around him. But ahead of him there appears to be a clear path through the burning wreckage. Weigel drops to his knees and crawls forward. The floorboards beneath beneath him are so hot that they scorch his hands, but he ignores the pain and keeps crawling. At last he slips out of the mill. To his horror, he sees that the fire surrounds him on all sides. 80 foot trees are ablaze from their roots to their crowns. I'm in hell, he thinks. He struggles to his feet, but immediately regrets it. The smoke sears his lungs. He drops back to his and scrambles 20 yards into a small clearing. Like a dog, he paws at the dirt to make a depression in the ground. He grabs a pointed rock and digs harder. When the hole is large enough, about a foot wide and a foot deep, he plunges his face into it to keep clear of the smoke. He has no illusions that he's safe here. Every bit of exposed skin on his body will probably burn. But right now, this old fireman's trick of burying his face in the dirt is his only hope of survival. Domenico Bruno and Giacomo Viettoni tumble into the clearing at the Beauchamp homestead and stop to catch their breath. They made it. The two men share a relieved embrace. Dom is shocked at the speed of the fire. For more than a half hour, it nipped at their heels no more than a minute behind them as they ran. Dom looks around for the other firefighters, but there's no sign of them. Hello? Can anyone hear me? Dom's exhilaration starts to fade as he studies their surroundings more closely. Based on his boss's description of the homestead, he expected to find a proper clearing hundreds of feet across, with no trees or any burnable material. But this homestead, said, is barely cleared at all. Several towering pine trees are scattered about the clearing, and pockets of dangerous brush are piled up everywhere. The fire is coming. Dom can hear the roar intensifying behind them. And this clearing is not the refuge they'd been promised. He looks at Giacomo. Where should we hide? What should we do? I don't know. Come on, let's look. They search the clearing until they finally spot a creek and see their crew members lying in the water. Dom feels a surge of hope. The water will save them. But the others have already taken the deepest spots. When Dom and Giacomo splash in and try to submerge themselves, they're still half exposed. Even so, they wet their clothes and get as much of their bodies into the water as they can. Dom closes his eyes and feels Giacomo's hand groping for his. He grasps it tight. Then the fire arrives. Despite his terror, Dom can't help but peek at it. It's like a scene from Dante or a Renaissance painting of the Apocalypse. Giant roaring flames, 100ft tall on all sides. The noise is fearsome, louder than a thundering waterfall. Gusts of wind continue to rake them as well, fanning the flames even higher. The heat roasts Dom's exposed skin. Dom watches in hor horror as a flaming pine tree bends in the wind, then snaps in two like a matchstick. It lands with a terrible crunch, right on top of two firefighters lying in the creek. He stares in shock, hardly believing his own eyes. He just watched two men die. A moment later, he sees a figure splash out of the creek. A bearded man he doesn't recognize. The man starts yelling, no, I ain't getting squashed like a bug out here. I'm heading for my root cell. It must be the homestead owner, Mr. Beauchamp. Dom watches the man sprint across the grass, then yanks Giacomo's hand. We have to follow him. Hurry. Let's go. Dom wants to follow Beauchamp to the root cellar before anyone else does. Maybe there he and Giacomo will finally be safe. Emma Pulaski flips the page of her 8 year old daughter's storybook and continues reading aloud. She's perched on the edge of Elsie's bed. They're on the final page of the final chapter of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and how she would feel with all their simple sorrows and find a pleasure in all their simple joys, remembering her own child life and the happy summer days. Emma closes the book. At last Elsie's asleep. Emma reaches out and gently strokes her daughter's head. It's 9:15pm well past 8 year old Elsie's bedtime, but the girls struggle to fall asleep tonight. The winds outside are shaking the house so badly that Emma fears they'll blow it off its foundation. Elsie was frightened, frightened, so Emma distracted her with a book. Now Emma tries to reassure herself. Ed built this whole house. The walls, the doors, the roof. He even built the furniture inside. It's all solid. Surely it can withstand these high winds. Emma wishes she could sleep too. She has a piercing headache and she'd like nothing more than to curl up next to her daughter and drift off for the night. Or perhaps even longer, until the rains come in September and stamp out the fires completely. The stress of the past month has been relentless, constantly scanning the horizon, fearing an inferno will come roaring down the mountain and destroy everything that she loves. And even if the town does stay safe, Ed is out there in the middle of the danger. One unlucky shift of the wind and he could be she shivers. She refuses to finish the thought. Emma knows she shouldn't lie down. She promised Ed she'd be ready to evacuate. She should pack some things now. But the stress of saying goodbye to Ed and comforting her daughter on top of her headache is just too much. Emma lies down next to Elsie just to rest her eyes for a little bit. A knock at the door startles Emma awake. She can't imagine who it would be this late. The knocking grows more insistent. She fumbles her way out of the bedroom to the front door. It's her neighbor, Mary Henderson. Emma hasn't seen her since last week when she ran into her in front of the insurance office. Mary is frantic. Emma, we've got to evacuate. Grab Elsie. Come on Mary, calm down. Ed told me we should wait for Bill Weigel. Say no one's seen Bill Weigel since this afternoon. He left to go check on the fire and he didn't come back. He's probably dead. No, I'm sure Bill's fine. And Ed's arranger himself, he said we shouldn't leave until we can see the fire from here in town. Without a word, Mary's finger darts to her left. Emma is confused. She ducks her head out from the door frame. What she sees makes her jaw drop in terror. There on the ridge of above town is a wall of orange flames. If you like, against the odds, you can binge all episodes early and ad free right now by joining Wondery in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music.
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And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey@wondery.com.
- [41:35]
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Survey this is the second episode of our four part series the Big Burn. A quick note about our scenes. In most cases we can't exactly know what was said, but everything is based on historical research. If you'd like to learn more about this event, we recommend the books the Big Burn by Timothy Egan, Year of the Fires by Stephen Pine and When the Mountains roared by the U.S. forest Service. I'm your host, Mike Corey. Sam Keane wrote this episode. Our editor is Steve Fenasey. Sound design by Joe Richardson. Audio engineer is Sergio Enriquez. Original theme music Scott Velasquez and 2K for Freeze N Sync Fact checking by Alyssa Jung Perry Produced by Emily Frost Managing producer is Desi Blaylock. Senior Managing producer is Callum Plews. Senior producer is Andy Herman. Executive producers are Jenny Lauer, Beckman, Stephanie, Jens Marshall, Louie and Aaron o'. Flaherty. For Wondery.
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