Science of Survival: The Sky is Burning
b'There are between eight and ten thousand wildfires in the United States each year, but most quietly burn out, and we never hear about them. The\\xa0Pagami\\xa0Creek\\xa0Wildfire in Minnesota\\u2019s Boundary Waters Canoe Area was supposed to be like that. It was tiny and stuck in a bog that was surrounded by lakes. It was the kind of fire you could ignore. Computer models predicted that it would just sit there. But those models didn\\u2019t account for a rare convergence of atmospheric events had prepped the forest for an unprecedented burn. And Greg and Julie Welch were camping right in its path. In the first of four episodes investigating American wildfires, we tell the Welch\\u2019s extraordinary story and look at the factors that lead to this unexpected blaze.'