The Big Burn | Fight Fire with Fire | 4
Against The Odds
Wondery
4.7 • 7.2K Ratings
🗓️ 21 October 2025
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Buffalo Soldiers evacuate women and children from Avery, Idaho by train, but they don’t get far before the fire catches up to them. Emma Pulaski receives terrible news about her husband. With the fire closing in, rangers and soldiers take radical measures to save Avery.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to Against the Odds early and ad-free right now. |
| 0:05.6 | Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. |
| 0:09.6 | A listener note, Against the Odds uses dramatizations that are based on true events. |
| 0:14.1 | Some elements, including dialogue, may be invented, but everything is based on research. |
| 0:18.7 | This episode contains scenes that depict racist attitudes and language. |
| 0:23.1 | Please be advised. |
| 0:32.9 | Sergeant John James of the Buffalo soldiers steps into the caboose of the evacuation train and holds up his hands to quiet the women and children. |
| 0:41.6 | Excuse me? I need everyone to take their seat to remain calm. There was a little delay on the bridge ahead, but we'll be moving again in a few moments. |
| 0:48.9 | James keeps his face calm, hoping to convince them the situation is under control. In reality, though, he's |
| 0:55.9 | terrified. The wooden bridge ahead spans a hundred foot deep gorge, and the bridge is on fire. |
| 1:03.2 | There's no way of knowing whether it will collapse when they're halfway across, but it's their |
| 1:08.1 | only route to safety. It's the morning of August 21st, 1910, in Idaho's |
| 1:14.4 | Cordillane National Forest. Massive wildfires are ravaging the region, and James and his |
| 1:20.2 | soldiers are evacuating the women and children from the small town of Avery. They're 10 miles |
| 1:25.3 | outside of town now. After discussing their options, James and the |
| 1:29.1 | train engineer decided to risk a run across the burning bridge. James scans the faces in the |
| 1:34.5 | caboose and wonders if his words were convincing. A woman fanning herself with a newspaper stands up. |
| 1:41.4 | Well, if there was a delay because of the bridge, there must be something wrong |
| 1:44.6 | with it, right? For a moment, James considers telling them the truth. Well, what if they panic and |
| 1:50.4 | stampede out the doors? They'll be in even more danger than they are on the train. But before he can |
| 1:56.8 | decide what to do, he feels the train jerk forward. The woman fanning herself tumbles |
| 2:02.1 | back under her seat. James hurries to his own seat and flings himself down, calling out one final |
... |
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