This is an excellent Short documentary about an unimaginably horrific fire. Within this framework it features mini biographies on Ed Pulaski- creator of
the Pulaski axe and Gifford Pinchot. It also paints a fascinating picture of the beginning of the US Forest Service and modern firefighting and the role this fire had in shaping the management of our land and resources. I particularly loved learning about the Buffalo Soldiers. Previous to this they were only Bob Marley song lyrics. So many hero's featured here including them. If you are a woodsman, Camper, hiker, hunter or lover of all things outdoors then watch this pbs doc.
4 Reviews
Very good...which is exactly what you'd expect.
planktonrules2 September 2023
In my opinion, "The American Experience" is a great show which has produced many of the best documentaries I've ever seen. The quality is consistently very good or great and I'd place "The Big Burn" among the very good.
The story is narrated by Sam Waterston...who often narrated stories in the series. It's all about the 'big burn'...a huge and very destructive fire which hit the Idaho area in the early 20th century. It was a chance to see how the US government, particularly the Forestry Service, could deal with such calamities and the resulting blaze unfortunately took many brave men's lives.
As you'd expect, the show utilizes photos, interviews and video clips to tell the story. The result is captivating and never dull.
The story is narrated by Sam Waterston...who often narrated stories in the series. It's all about the 'big burn'...a huge and very destructive fire which hit the Idaho area in the early 20th century. It was a chance to see how the US government, particularly the Forestry Service, could deal with such calamities and the resulting blaze unfortunately took many brave men's lives.
As you'd expect, the show utilizes photos, interviews and video clips to tell the story. The result is captivating and never dull.
A must-see documentary
fdoamerica15 September 2021
A must-see documentary for those that want to know Idaho/Montana history. This great documentary takes an in-depth view of the Great Fire of 1910, the establishing of the National Forest Department, and the burning of Wallace, Idaho. Stunning was the fact that within 36 hours the fire spread throughout the forest an area the size of Connecticut. 3 million acres of forest were eventually lost.
Relevant today with all the wildfires
bettycjung2 April 2018
4/2/18. An interesting short documentary about fighting forest fires. There is interesting historical footage and the methods used are shown. This whole issue is now more important than ever considering that in recent years thousands of areas of American land have been scorched from wildfires.
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