The last episode we told you a story about fire.

It was a story about how much of North America has evolved to burn,

how periodic fires were part of the landscape and how people were part of that too,

because we set the fires ourselves to keep the land clear and encourage the types of plants we like.

But that story was about boring. and encouraged the types of plants we like.

But that story was about boring fires.

And the fires that have been in the news

are decidedly not boring.

We touched on why this is.

There was the big burn in 1910 that killed seven civilians and 78 firefighters and led to a policy of extreme fire suppression, which is where we got this guy.

With a ranger's hat and shovel and a pair of dungarees,

you will find him in the forest, always sniffing at the trees,

and bushes, and vegetation to grow up in the woods, all of which are flammable.

So when the fires inevitably returned, there was more and more to burn, which ultimately

has overwhelmed the fire suppression effort.

He can find a fire before it starts the flame, that's why they call him Smoky, that was how he got

his name. We told you what it was like to be inside one of these boring fires and it was pretty boring.

Easy to control, easy to outrun, but what would it be like to be inside and out of control wildfire?

That's what you're going to hear about today.

And you're going to hear about it from our friends over at the Outside Podcast.

From Outside Magazine.

The crew over at the Outside Podcast

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