Unknown Broadcast | The Red Forest: Wildfire Survival, a Fugitive Killer and the Road to Missoula

Radio-drama transcript, edited from an automatic transcription. Minor transcription errors may remain; not checked word for word against the audio. Separate host introductions, closing announcements and advertising omitted.

Tired of the everyday grind? Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Want to get away from it all? We offer you... Escape! Escape! Designed to free you from the four walls of today for a half hour of high adventure. You are alone in a giant forest, seeking a way of escape. While around you, gaining with your every step, the relentless enemy of which is fire is closing in from every side until there will be only one way out. and that way is death.

So listen now as Escape brings you Anthony Ellis' exciting story, The Red Forest. The trail had led from a lumbered town along a washboard road and into the forests. I'm no woodsman, but in the daylight I found the place. and then I started back to the car but something was different maybe the tall shadows there wasn't a trail anymore only streams where there hadn't been before trees that were the same but weren't and sounds sounds that when you were a kid on a hike were fun and now they scared you I'd thrown my last cigarette away three, four hours before.

And that's when the fire had started. And it was then that I started to run. Run. It was nearly dark when I found the road. I'd come to it about a half a mile below where I'd parked my car. A half hour later, on the outskirts of a little town, my headlights picked up a girl standing by the side of the road. She carried a cheap paper suitcase and she was summing a ride.

Can I get a ride, mister? Sure. Put your case in the back. Oh, yeah. Not many cars on the road tonight. No. Been walking, Wong? Uh-huh. On my way to Missoula. My last ride dropped me a mile or so back. Yeah? You live around here? No. I don't guess you'd be going as far as Missoula. Sure. Gee, that's swell. I got a job there starting tomorrow. Kind of broke, if you know what I mean.

Buses cost money. I know what you mean. Hey, your face. What? You've been hurt. You're all scratched up. Oh, I... I was hunting. I got lost just the other side of town. If, uh... You want to take a nap, it's okay. We got about a hundred miles to go. Thanks. Gee, it's nice out here. Kind of lonely. Not much of a road. Smells good. I wonder what that is over there. What?

Well, bright like. See? Could almost be Seattle from a long ways off. I had a boyfriend who used to take me driving at night. And when we came back, he could see a glow. Just like that. Oh. I knew what it was. That glow in the sky. It was on our right. And as the road twisted through the trees, it fell behind us. And then to our left. And then circled until it was straight ahead again.

The girl had fallen asleep very quickly. I saw her face in the light from the dash. thin, pretty, and peaceful. It was about 15 minutes after I'd picked her up that I saw the lights on the road and then closer the figures waving. Hey, are we there already? I just got to sleep. No, there's something wrong. There's a cop coming this way. What's the trouble? Plenty. We want you, mister. Wait. You want me?

Fire. Bad one. We got to have every man we can find. We can use her, too. Oh, well, look, I'd like to. Roe. Okay. Roe's the forest ranger. He'll explain. Look, I'm sorry, but I'm on my way to Missoula. Not tonight, you're not. I've got authority to do this, mister. I'm sorry, but we need you. But I haven't got the time. You couldn't get much farther anyway. The road's cut off. The mountain's gone up like a torch.

If it spreads, there's three towns going to go, too. Come on, I got some clothes and boots for you. Hey, what about me? I gotta get to Missoula. I got a job in the morning. Sorry, sister, you got a job serving coffee here. You cops. Five dollars a day. A day? Or longer. It depends. Let's go. There was nothing else to do, so I got into the clothes the ranger gave me and then stood around and waited.

I wasn't tired anymore. Just scared. scared of going into that forest again. The wind came up a bit and with it, the smell. Smell of burning. Smell of death. A long way off, but closer than the glow had been we could see flickering against the sky. And it was in a lot of places. And then suddenly it was too warm and too quiet. All right, you guys. The telephone's burned out. I've made contact with a short wave.

Said you. Mister, what's your name? Pindell. Pindell. Ever use one of these? What a walkie-talkie? Yeah, sure. I was in the signal corps. Okay, you'll carry it. Now listen. This is bad. It's real bad. The fire's got behind us. We can't get any more men through here for several hours. They've got to come around from the other side. That's 30 miles. What's the use then? Let's get out. Crowbar. Yeah? I'm putting you in charge.

You know what to do. Get in as close as you can to the river and set a backfire. Sure. I've got to stick here with the transmitter. What's happening? Sure, you stay here with a pretty girl, or we go and get fried. Shut up, man. Hanson, you'll have to go with them. Three's not enough. Sure. Well, the cop's gonna do some work. You better take along some food and canteens. Now step on it.

Hi. Got a couple of sandwiches I made up here. Thanks. This sure is something, isn't it? Yeah. You scared? Scared? Why? Your face is white. You scared? I'm from the city. I know what you mean. Those trees give me the willies, too. Dark. Yeah, sure, that's it. You'll be all right. Listen, kid. If, uh... If anything happens, you take my car. Here are the keys. What do you mean? Well, if I don't come back, Oh.

Keep the car. Here's the registration. You kidding? You're coming back. Yeah. Yeah. So long. Hey. My name's Jan. What's yours? Wally. You be careful, Wally. We went into the forest Men with spades Men against fire and terror There was the man they called Fat 300 pounds of ungainly body Topped by a tiny and almost disgustingly childlike face There was Crowbar A big dark man quiet and filled with the knowledge of the woods.

Hanson, the state trooper, thin and wiry, his natty, cocky shirt stained with sweat and dirt. And me. We'd gone about a mile when we first heard it. It came in gusts with the wind high above us. Wait a minute. Shut up. Let's get out of here. About three miles, I think. It's coming fast. We're about that far from the river, aren't we? Yeah. Yeah, listen, you guys. If it's crossed the river, we're sunk.

Let's get out. Hey, Wally. Yeah. Get Roe. Tell him it's coming this way pretty fast. Look, look. Sparks up there. Look, see? Sure, Pat. Sparks, fire. Hello. You chicken. Pendell calling Roe. Pendell calling Roe. Over. Roe. This is Roe. Over. We're still about three miles from the river. We can hear it. Over. You can't backfire now. The wind's changed. You better come back. Over. Right. He says go back. That's okay with me, boy.

Come on. Hey, listen to that. I wanted to run again. That same feeling I'd known before. the fear all around us closing in and down. There was no sky above, only blackness tinged with red, pressing and behind the living forest running overtaking and passing us. When we reached the road again the sound was steady but I had a strange feeling of relief when I saw the forest ranger and the girl Jan.

It was like coming home. I think it was then that I stopped being afraid. Come on, Roe, we can't do no good now. We've got to try and join up with the others. What do you mean? The fire's on three sides of us. That means we head southeast. Oh, can't we take the road back? No, it's cut off. There's 200 men trying to keep a path open for us. We've got to make five miles and in a hurry.

Bad as that? It's worse. If we don't get there in time and they can't make a fire break, we're going to be smacked in the middle and there's not going to be any way out. We will return to escape in just a moment. Lightning may strike more than once in the same place, but it can't begin to compete with man when it comes to starting forest fires. For one fire caused by lightning, supposedly rational humans cause nine by trifling carelessness with matches, cigarettes, and bonfires.

We need our forests for timber, to conserve our water supply, to add beauty to our lives. Let's not burn them up. And now, back to Escape. We didn't carry anything but canteens. It was hot. And because it was hot, it made you thirsty even when you didn't need water. The going was rough and we could only head in what we thought was the general direction of safety. It was at the ridge that we lost the first man.

Wind's changing again, Crowbar. Which way? You can't tell. It's haywire with this fire. Do we go straight ahead? Might as well. Wait a minute. You see that ridge? Yeah. I'm going up there. Shouldn't take more than ten minutes. I'll be able to get a better look. Give me the flash, I'll signal to you. I don't know. We haven't got much of a start. The fire's behind us and a lot faster. Better than walking toward it.

Remember, it's on three sides. Okay, make it fast, Cobra. Sure, good luck. Thanks. What do we do, just sit and wait? That's right. But listen, you're the Ranger. Why don't you go? What do you send Cobra for? He's fought fires before he knows. He's a better man to climb up there. He's faster than me. Yeah, I'll bet. Hi. Are you okay, kid? Sure, Wally. It's fine. I guess I'm not used to walking, though.

These high heels don't help. Well, you take it easy. My feet feel like they did once at a dance I went to. Some big lunk climbed all over me. I guess you won't have that job in Missoula, huh? If I get out of this, that's all I care about. Yeah, it's tough. Hey, Wally. I'm scared. Give me your hand, will you? She held on tight to my hand. It wasn't the darkness that frightened her now.

There wasn't darkness anymore, but a yellowish-red light that came from everywhere. It was another kind of fear, fear of something you could see, hear, and with every minute feel more and more. We waited there ten minutes, 11 12 and then you hear something? yeah seem to come from over there from the ridge maybe? maybe listen you think something got Crowbar a lion or something? I'll go up no what do you mean no? no time we waited too long well he may be hurt I know that but it'll take you longer than it took Crowbar to get there come on no you couldn't find him in the dark Who says he's hurt anyway?

We'll move on. He'll catch up. I say we go after him. Not me. All right, put it to a vote. Hurry up, Hanson. We go on. Bap? Let's get out of here. And I say go on. That leaves you, miss. I'm staying with Wally. All right. We'll go with you. We never saw Crowbar again. Maybe a lion got him. Maybe he got lost. we never saw him again. The ranger went ahead finding trails somehow keeping us moving.

We began to climb and after a while we were on another ridge and for the first time we could see the fire. It stretched out for miles like a huge red sea and it was all around us. Oh, gee, Wally. Yeah, I know, kid. I know. Will it hurt much? I don't know. Take a breather. I'm going to try the walkie-talkie again. He's not scared, is he? I guess not. Is that because he's a ranger or because he's very brave?

Jan? You're a funny girl. No, I'm not. Hey. What? Sure. Why did you want me to do that? I don't know. You're a nice fella. I'll miss you. Listen, Jan. I want to tell you something. What? If we get out, Well, maybe... Yeah. Look, I'm all right. I mean, maybe we could have fun together. I know. Well, I did something wrong once. I killed a man. Why? He framed me. He got me put away for something I didn't do.

We were driving in the east and ran over a woman. He was at the wheel, but he ran off and left me. Well, you didn't do it. That's what I say, but I'd been drinking and went to sleep. When I woke up, I was behind the wheel. He'd put me there. And that's how the cops found me. I got five years. Oh. I was married. I lost my wife. My job. My friends.

And I swore I'd get my pal. And I did. He knew I was after him and he ran. But I caught up with him. I don't care. Don't you? I don't know why I told you that. Maybe because if we do get out... Sure. I know. I know. It's okay. Come on, Vindell. The ranger's moving off. It was the state trooper, Hanson. I worried how much he'd heard. But there wasn't time to worry about it then.

Ro thought he'd seen a break in the fire and we headed for it When we got down in the trees again, I began to Get a feeling that I'd been there before It was nothing I could recognize, but Just a feeling A couple of hundred yards along, I knew why Hold up, there's a shack Looks like someone's living there Better have a look The door's open Hey. It's a man. Give me a hand here.

Sure. He's been shot. Yeah. A few hours ago from the looks of it. You think the man who did this might have started it? What do you mean? A fire. Started a few miles north of here. We figured somebody got careless with a match. But maybe it was the killer running away. I'd like to get the fellow who did that. Maybe I will. Me too. Well, we can't do anything here. Come on.

From there on, nobody talked. It was hard enough to lift your feet. Jan was nearly through. I have carried her. If Ro knew where he was leading us, he didn't say. We followed. And knew that sooner or later we'd stop because we were too tired to go on. Fat was the first. Listen, fellas, wait, wait a minute. You've got to go on. There's still a chance. All right. Just for a minute.

No, please, rest. No, please, one minute, that's all. Get up. No, I can't. I can't. Okay, you stay here. No, no, no. Well, then come on. I can't. Well, I'm sorry. Catch up to us. Stay on the train. Come on, Chad. We're going to leave him. We have to. No! Don't leave me! The pedals aren't coming! Please, please, this way! Can we help him? We're almost dead ourselves. I can't! The pedals ain't coming!

My baby is coming! Please! I don't know whether it was because none of us liked him or because we knew that we couldn't do anything. funny how you can lose a man and know he's gonna die and you put him out of your mind perhaps we wanted to live so badly we figured the fire would take time out from us to attend to fat hansen was next i'm finished no you're not yeah just a little farther to go we can still get through no No, you go ahead.

Save the girl. I'm sorry, Hanson. I wish we could stay. No, no, go on. Maybe I can catch up. But I got to rest. You, Wally, do me a favor. What? I lost my gun somewhere. You know what I mean. It'll be quicker that way. You, you got one? Yeah. Thanks. One bullet fired, eh? That's what I wanted to know. Okay, Pindell. I've had enough rest. I can keep up with you now.

I feel a little safer with this on me. All right, go ahead. I'll walk behind you. He knew. He knew what I'd done. But I didn't care now. It wasn't important anymore. Right now, all I wanted to do was get Jan out of this. What was that? He was behind us. He sounded like Hanson. Come on. Come on, but watch that ravine. He must have fallen. We got to help him. There's no time.

We got to. Oh, he didn't help that. Why him? I don't know. Please. All right. All right, stay here. Hanson! Hanson! Down here! Keep calling! Here! Open it this way! This way! Okay! My leg! Hey, can you get up? It's broken, I guess. Hanson, you know about me, don't you? Yeah, yeah, I know. I heard you telling the girl. She won't say anything. No, I guess not. The fellow had a commentary, Hanson.

I wouldn't know. I'm a cop. Yeah. It's getting hot. Here, put your arm over my shoulder. Oh, you can't get me up there. Well, I can try. Come on. Oh, good. We can't make it. I'll get Roe. I'll come back. No, there's no time. Go on. Get out of here. Go on. I've got your gun. Nobody will ever know. That's not sorry. Get out of here. Somehow I made it up the trail again.

I thought I heard a shot. Or maybe it was a burning tree going down. Jan was waiting for me. We caught up with Ro and went on until the trees began to thin out and we heard the shots of men. But I don't remember anything else because I passed out for a long time. When I woke up, Jan was sitting by my bed. And it was cool again. Hi. Jan. Jan, did they get Hanson out?

No. No. Listen, Jan, about what I told you back there You know, the man I killed Yeah Well, I'm not sorry I mean, it was all right about him But not Hanson, Crowbar, and Fat That was my fault, you know Yeah Well, I want you to call the cops No Now, listen, I've been dreaming about it It's no good Now, be a good kid and call the cops I don't have to They're outside in the corridor.

What do you mean? Rose sent for them. You told what you did while you were unconscious. I told... Oh, that's good. That's good. I'm glad. You want me to hang around? Well, that's up to you, I guess. I guess it is. I'll hang around.