Original upload date: Mon, 20 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT
Archive date: Wed, 01 Dec 2021 20:35:08 GMT
2000. August 5th, 1949. It's a broiling hot day across Montana. The thermometer in Helena reads 97 degrees. But it's even hotter in Mann Gulch - a funnel-shaped canyon that adjoins the Missouri River
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20 miles north of Helena. In the afternoon, a fire is reported on the south ridge of Mann Gulch and 16 smokejumpers take off from Missoula and fly 120 miles east to the jump site. One smokejumper becomes ill on the bumpy flight and remains on the plane. The remaining 15 jumpers hook onto the jump line and hurl themselves into the wrath of nature. That day, 13 young men would lose a desperate race with an unpredictable fire. This program describes the events of that fateful day over 50 years ago.
