What happens
Wally, a drifter, gives a ride to a young woman named Jan on a dark mountain road. They are stopped by forest ranger Rowe, who presses Wally into service fighting a forest fire that is closing in on the nearby towns. Wally joins a small crew of men, including the state trooper Hanson and a big woodsman called Crowbar, and they head into the burning forest with a walkie-talkie and little water. As the fire cuts off their routes out, the group begins to break apart and the men struggle to find a way through the smoke and heat. Jan stays close to Wally as their strength fades, and the story follows them through the long and desperate march.
A mountain forest near a lumber town in Montana, with a washboard road, a river, and a wildfire spreading from every side.
Characters: Wally, Jan, Rowe, Hanson, Crowbar, Fat, Pindell, Dan
Listen for: The sounds of the fire growing closer through the forest, and the desperate radio calls between the searchers.
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.