Episode Transcript
[0:00:27 – 0:00:32] Erik: Welcome to Tumble Home, a Boundary Waters podcast.
[0:00:32 – 0:00:37] Erik: My name is Eric, joined in Studio K2 by my good friend Adam.
[0:00:37 – 0:00:37] Erik: Hello.
[0:00:38 – 0:00:39] Adam: Tally-ho, Eric.
[0:00:39 – 0:00:40] Erik: Tally-ho.
[0:00:41 – 0:00:44] Erik: We’ve got a bit of a Jack Bauer slash…
[0:00:46 – 0:00:48] Erik: Jason Statham situation.
[0:00:48 – 0:00:50] Erik: The clock is ticking down.
[0:00:50 – 0:00:51] Erik: Liam Neeson.
[0:00:51 – 0:00:52] Erik: Liam Neeson.
[0:00:53 – 0:00:54] Erik: Gerard Depardieu is in here.
[0:00:54 – 0:00:56] Erik: Gerard Depardieu.
[0:00:56 – 0:00:57] Adam: Cut the blue wires, Gerard.
[0:00:59 – 0:01:08] Erik: I am minutes removed from my second jab, and the clock is counting down to when I will be incapacitated to record.
[0:01:08 – 0:01:09] Erik: You mutant freak.
[0:01:10 – 0:01:11] Erik: I can feel my DNA.
[0:01:11 – 0:01:12] Adam: Welcome to the jabbies.
[0:01:12 – 0:01:13] UNKNOWN: Changing.
[0:01:14 – 0:01:15] Adam: We’re both vaccinated.
[0:01:15 – 0:01:17] Adam: We made it through a pandemic and both got the vaccine.
[0:01:17 – 0:01:18] Adam: How about that?
[0:01:18 – 0:01:19] Erik: Yeah.
[0:01:19 – 0:01:20] Erik: Pretty crazy.
[0:01:20 – 0:01:20] Adam: Feels good.
[0:01:21 – 0:01:21] Erik: Yeah.
[0:01:21 – 0:01:26] Erik: We’re sponsored as always by no responses from the patrons.
[0:01:26 – 0:01:30] Erik: So we are in fact going to be talking about Love Liza on the Patreon.
[0:01:30 – 0:01:31] Adam: Nice.
[0:01:31 – 0:01:32] Adam: All right.
[0:01:32 – 0:01:37] Erik: There’s model boats in a stagnant pond at one point.
[0:01:37 – 0:01:38] Erik: We’re calling it outdoors.
[0:01:39 – 0:01:39] UNKNOWN: Yeah.
[0:01:39 – 0:01:40] Adam: It’s a boating movie.
[0:01:40 – 0:01:41] Adam: Yeah, it’s about boating.
[0:01:41 – 0:01:43] Adam: A little huffing on the side.
[0:01:43 – 0:01:43] Erik: Mm-hmm.
[0:01:44 – 0:01:51] Erik: Also sponsored this week by the only can I could find in the liquor store with flames on it again.
[0:01:52 – 0:01:59] Erik: And the second time we’ve been sponsored by Oliphant Brewing, which I didn’t realize is from Somerset, Wisconsin.
[0:01:59 – 0:02:00] Erik: I thought they were out of the cities.
[0:02:01 – 0:02:01] Erik: But anyway…
[0:02:01 – 0:02:02] Adam: Where the heck’s Somerset?
[0:02:03 – 0:02:03] Erik: Somerset?
[0:02:03 – 0:02:04] Erik: Yeah.
[0:02:04 – 0:02:10] Erik: It’s like north of Hudson, almost right on the Minnesota border.
[0:02:10 – 0:02:10] Erik: Right on.
[0:02:10 – 0:02:19] Erik: That’s where they used to have summer fests and that Ozzy or Ozfest, I think Ozzy Osbourne was just at Summerfest back in the day.
[0:02:20 – 0:02:22] Erik: That’s where they play the musics.
[0:02:23 – 0:02:24] Adam: Sommerfest.
[0:02:24 – 0:02:24] Erik: Yeah.
[0:02:25 – 0:02:26] Adam: Not to be confused with Summerfest.
[0:02:27 – 0:02:27] Erik: Right.
[0:02:27 – 0:02:29] Adam: Where I saw Janet Jackson.
[0:02:30 – 0:02:31] Adam: live with my mother.
[0:02:31 – 0:02:33] Adam: Mom, are you listening?
[0:02:33 – 0:02:34] Adam: How old were you?
[0:02:35 – 0:02:36] Adam: It was when If was out.
[0:02:38 – 0:02:39] Adam: Early teens.
[0:02:40 – 0:02:41] Adam: Not bad.
[0:02:42 – 0:02:42] Adam: Very cool.
[0:02:42 – 0:02:44] Erik: Was it your first concert?
[0:02:44 – 0:02:45] Adam: That was my first concert.
[0:02:45 – 0:02:45] Erik: Was it?
[0:02:45 – 0:02:46] Adam: I think so.
[0:02:46 – 0:02:51] Erik: Mine was the Doobie Brothers at the Xcel Energy Center with two of my friends and their parents.
[0:02:51 – 0:02:54] Adam: That was probably the peak of Janet Jackson was the If tour.
[0:02:55 – 0:02:55] Erik: Sure.
[0:02:55 – 0:02:58] Erik: I don’t know what that is, but… That was her best album by far.
[0:02:58 – 0:02:58] Adam: Yeah.
[0:02:58 – 0:02:59] Adam: So, yeah.
[0:02:59 – 0:03:01] Adam: Mom, if you’re listening, I remember that.
[0:03:01 – 0:03:02] Adam: It was awesome.
[0:03:02 – 0:03:03] Adam: I love you, Mom.
[0:03:03 – 0:03:03] Erik: That’s nice.
[0:03:04 – 0:03:05] Erik: So, yeah.
[0:03:05 – 0:03:11] Erik: This is an Oliphant Brewing Company Somos Extremos Coffee Golden Ale.
[0:03:12 – 0:03:17] Erik: I poured the… Or I brought out the pint glasses because I want to see the color of this beer.
[0:03:18 – 0:03:19] Adam: How gold is gold?
[0:03:19 – 0:03:20] Erik: How gold is gold?
[0:03:20 – 0:03:21] Adam: All that glitter is gold.
[0:03:21 – 0:03:23] Erik: And how coffee-y is it going to be?
[0:03:31 – 0:03:32] Erik: It’s a little gold.
[0:03:32 – 0:03:33] Erik: It’s still relatively…
[0:03:33 – 0:03:34] Adam: It’s pretty coffee.
[0:03:34 – 0:03:35] Adam: Yeah?
[0:03:35 – 0:03:37] Adam: Pretty coffee.
[0:03:37 – 0:03:41] Adam: Get the pour mic going.
[0:03:46 – 0:03:47] Erik: Yeah, it is coffee.
[0:03:48 – 0:03:51] Erik: Not typically the kinds of beers we crack in the studio.
[0:03:52 – 0:03:53] Erik: This is a…
[0:03:53 – 0:03:56] Erik: It’s brewed with cafe…
[0:03:57 – 0:04:02] Erik: Feminino Peruvian coffee from Up Coffee Roasters.
[0:04:02 – 0:04:08] Erik: 6.5%, kind of surprisingly high for a golden ale, but cheers.
[0:04:10 – 0:04:10] Adam: Tally-ho.
[0:04:12 – 0:04:13] Adam: That’s two tally-hos.
[0:04:14 – 0:04:16] Erik: Yeah.
[0:04:16 – 0:04:21] Erik: Not typically the kind of beer that I would necessarily order or purchase.
[0:04:21 – 0:04:26] Adam: Yeah, really the only coffee ale I go for is the Bent Paddle coffee to you.
[0:04:27 – 0:04:27] Adam: What are you?
[0:04:28 – 0:04:29] Adam: Coffee bent?
[0:04:29 – 0:04:30] Adam: Bent coffee ale?
[0:04:31 – 0:04:32] Adam: I know the one I’m talking about.
[0:04:32 – 0:04:33] Adam: It’s the coffee one.
[0:04:33 – 0:04:34] Adam: I can’t remember what.
[0:04:34 – 0:04:35] Adam: Josh always has them.
[0:04:35 – 0:04:35] Erik: Uh-huh.
[0:04:36 – 0:04:41] Erik: Yeah, I also like, you don’t see them up in the Northwoods here very often, but for whatever reason, the Surly coffee benders.
[0:04:41 – 0:04:42] Adam: Yeah, what happened to those?
[0:04:42 – 0:04:43] Erik: They’re around.
[0:04:43 – 0:04:44] Erik: They just don’t get stocked.
[0:04:45 – 0:04:46] Adam: Yeah.
[0:04:46 – 0:04:52] Adam: It’s perfect for one in the afternoon on a beautiful spring day on the North Shore, and that’s your Ron Fairout.
[0:04:53 – 0:04:55] Adam: Ron Fairout, or fact of the day.
[0:04:55 – 0:04:58] Erik: There’s Menominee nets on the shore.
[0:04:58 – 0:04:59] Adam: Yeah, Menominee are being netted.
[0:04:59 – 0:05:00] Adam: I can guarantee you that.
[0:05:01 – 0:05:03] Adam: We got fresh fish coming in daily right now.
[0:05:04 – 0:05:05] Adam: Herring, Menominee you’re in.
[0:05:06 – 0:05:07] Adam: That only lasts for so long.
[0:05:08 – 0:05:10] Adam: Menominee, you’re being caught in the nets.
[0:05:11 – 0:05:13] Adam: That’s your Ron Scherer Outdoor Calendar fact of the day.
[0:05:15 – 0:05:18] Erik: Facts of the day and putting Ron Scherer’s name on it?
[0:05:18 – 0:05:19] Adam: He would be proud of that fact.
[0:05:20 – 0:05:21] Adam: It’s a true fact.
[0:05:21 – 0:05:23] Adam: It’s April 22, 2021.
[0:05:23 – 0:05:24] Adam: Sunset is at 7.50 p.m.?
[0:05:31 – 0:05:32] Erik: Oh, exclamation point.
[0:05:32 – 0:05:34] Adam: That sounds exactly right.
[0:05:34 – 0:05:38] Adam: I’m tuned in to the sun right now.
[0:05:38 – 0:05:39] Erik: Yes.
[0:05:40 – 0:05:47] Erik: We’re continuing our conversation on the Ham Lake Fire with a part two.
[0:05:49 – 0:05:53] Erik: Inevitably, this will be at least a three-part series.
[0:05:53 – 0:05:54] Adam: Have we ever had a three-part series before?
[0:05:56 – 0:05:56] Erik: Yeah.
[0:05:57 – 0:05:58] Erik: The Northern Lights series.
[0:05:59 – 0:06:02] Adam: That one, latrines, was only two parts.
[0:06:02 – 0:06:03] Adam: Somehow.
[0:06:03 – 0:06:09] Erik: Oh, yeah, there was one other one that was three, and it was, like, surprised that it got to that many.
[0:06:10 – 0:06:13] Adam: Yeah, it’s happened before, and we don’t want to push it.
[0:06:13 – 0:06:18] Adam: Too many two-hour episodes makes for a grumpy goose in the studio.
[0:06:18 – 0:06:20] Adam: You know those grumpy geese?
[0:06:20 – 0:06:28] Erik: Yeah, and coming up after this series is going to be the annual season opener.
[0:06:29 – 0:06:30] Erik: Where are you going?
[0:06:31 – 0:06:32] Erik: What are your plans?
[0:06:33 – 0:06:34] Erik: You bringing in anything new?
[0:06:35 – 0:06:41] Erik: You got an interesting new tactic for the 2020 open water season in the Boundary Waters?
[0:06:41 – 0:06:42] Erik: And that’s always a long one.
[0:06:43 – 0:06:52] Adam: Yeah, I’m going to do that dead bait on the bottom, like clicker bait style fishing that was discussed on last year’s season opener episode.
[0:06:52 – 0:06:53] Erik: That’s right.
[0:06:53 – 0:06:56] Adam: Never did try it last year, so I’m going to make it happen.
[0:06:57 – 0:07:00] Adam: Hopefully on Thomas on our trip coming up.
[0:07:00 – 0:07:05] Erik: I think we should focus on Thomas being the most fish-centric.
[0:07:05 – 0:07:08] Adam: Yeah, I’d say get to Thomas and set up for a full day.
[0:07:09 – 0:07:10] Adam: Maybe spend two nights on Thomas.
[0:07:11 – 0:07:12] Erik: Maybe, yeah.
[0:07:12 – 0:07:13] Erik: I’m looking forward to it.
[0:07:13 – 0:07:15] Erik: That’s a little sneak preview of what we’re up to.
[0:07:15 – 0:07:16] Erik: And we look forward to hearing from you.
[0:07:16 – 0:07:22] Erik: So if you are a recovering social media user, feel free to send us an email.
[0:07:22 – 0:07:23] Erik: What are your plans for this season?
[0:07:23 – 0:07:24] Adam: That’s good.
[0:07:24 – 0:07:27] Erik: TumbleHomeCast at gmail.com.
[0:07:27 – 0:07:28] Erik: We would love to hear from you.
[0:07:28 – 0:07:32] Erik: Otherwise, keep your eyes on all of the places that we post those questions.
[0:07:33 – 0:07:34] Erik: And yeah, it’s a fun one.
[0:07:35 – 0:07:37] Adam: You got over 400 members on the subreddit now.
[0:07:37 – 0:07:38] Erik: Oh, we didn’t shut that out last week.
[0:07:38 – 0:07:39] Erik: I mentioned it.
[0:07:39 – 0:07:43] Erik: I basically all but cajoled listeners to get on there and subscribe.
[0:07:43 – 0:07:45] Erik: And lo and behold, they all did.
[0:07:45 – 0:07:46] Erik: And now it’s like, I think it’s almost at 420.
[0:07:48 – 0:07:49] Adam: No, I’m not even fooling.
[0:07:49 – 0:07:50] Adam: I looked yesterday.
[0:07:50 – 0:07:52] Adam: It was at 420 exactly.
[0:07:52 – 0:07:52] Adam: Nice.
[0:07:53 – 0:07:53] Adam: Yep.
[0:07:54 – 0:07:57] Adam: That’s pretty amazing.
[0:07:57 – 0:07:58] Adam: That’s how many are on there.
[0:07:59 – 0:08:04] Adam: The Instagram is still going strong, despite I’m very sporadic as an Instagrammer.
[0:08:04 – 0:08:07] Erik: Despite just you showcasing the fact that you can’t catch a steelhead?
[0:08:07 – 0:08:10] Adam: Still haven’t caught a GD steelhead.
[0:08:11 – 0:08:12] Adam: I did try again today.
[0:08:12 – 0:08:12] Adam: Nothing.
[0:08:13 – 0:08:16] Adam: I got rang by a tourist asking where the agates were.
[0:08:17 – 0:08:38] Adam: right over there and right over there right next to me here maybe you should stand a little closer there uh steven uh yeah no uh i don’t know there’s a love lies a joke simmering in my brain but it’s uh it’s gone like vapor in the wind just like vapor in the wind like that kansas song
[0:08:39 – 0:08:46] Erik: Yeah, thank you for the subscriptions on the subreddit and look forward to hearing from everybody on there.
[0:08:47 – 0:08:54] Erik: And the future chip-tuned lady in red, we’ve got our in-house chip-tuned artist, Matt.
[0:08:54 – 0:08:55] Erik: Thank you, Matt.
[0:08:55 – 0:08:57] Erik: We’re looking forward to that one and future.
[0:08:57 – 0:08:59] Adam: We’re going to have to pack some turtlenecks on this trip.
[0:09:00 – 0:09:00] Erik: Probably.
[0:09:01 – 0:09:02] Erik: I mean, yeah.
[0:09:02 – 0:09:05] Erik: Well, we’ve got to practice our tandem dancing.
[0:09:05 – 0:09:08] Adam: I can’t wait to hear chiptune lady in red.
[0:09:08 – 0:09:09] Adam: Stay tuned for that.
[0:09:09 – 0:09:14] Adam: We’ve got to get the drone out somehow and just go on a legal lake where we can get drone footage.
[0:09:15 – 0:09:15] Adam: Sure.
[0:09:15 – 0:09:16] Erik: Show off our moves.
[0:09:16 – 0:09:17] Erik: Yeah, we’re going to definitely.
[0:09:17 – 0:09:20] Erik: I’m saving it for the season opener.
[0:09:21 – 0:09:34] Erik: I’ve also saved a fine bottle of scotch whiskey that was dropped off by a listener last year that was earmarked for Bear Grease, and I completely forgot about it because it was buried in the food room at Outfitting.
[0:09:34 – 0:09:36] Adam: I have to have a sleepover record.
[0:09:37 – 0:09:40] Erik: If you’re out there, you know that you dropped off the whiskey for us last year.
[0:09:40 – 0:09:41] Erik: I apologize.
[0:09:41 – 0:09:45] Erik: It didn’t go to Bear Grease, but it’s going to go to the opening of the open water season in a couple of weeks here.
[0:09:45 – 0:09:46] Adam: Maybe I’ll set up a hammock for that episode.
[0:09:47 – 0:09:47] Erik: There you go.
[0:09:48 – 0:09:49] Erik: Just throw a tent out in the yard.
[0:09:49 – 0:09:49] Adam: Yeah.
[0:09:50 – 0:09:52] Adam: That sounds nice.
[0:09:52 – 0:09:54] Adam: Got some coffee and beef over here, too, it looks like.
[0:09:54 – 0:09:55] Erik: Yeah, we do.
[0:09:55 – 0:09:59] Erik: We’ll talk about the meat snacks on a future episode.
[0:09:59 – 0:10:01] Erik: Thank you to the listener who sent us those.
[0:10:02 – 0:10:04] Erik: Nothing came in the box with the coffee, though.
[0:10:04 – 0:10:06] Erik: People are just sending us provisions now.
[0:10:07 – 0:10:07] Erik: Thank you.
[0:10:08 – 0:10:08] Erik: Thank you.
[0:10:08 – 0:10:09] Erik: Thank you.
[0:10:09 – 0:10:14] Erik: Probably realize maybe these guys need help and not just only drinking beer.
[0:10:16 – 0:10:18] Adam: Somebody needs to send us some vegetables.
[0:10:20 – 0:10:25] Adam: For one, I need a door for the new studio, and we still need some Brussels sprouts in our lives.
[0:10:25 – 0:10:25] Adam: There you go.
[0:10:26 – 0:10:28] Adam: Have you tried eating some greenery?
[0:10:29 – 0:10:29] Adam: Some roughage.
[0:10:31 – 0:10:34] Adam: I’m going to go ahead and give this beer a 6.5 out of 5.
[0:10:34 – 0:10:34] Adam: Tally-hoes!
[0:10:38 – 0:10:41] Erik: I’ll go ahead and give it five out of five.
[0:10:42 – 0:10:43] Erik: Somos extremos.
[0:10:44 – 0:10:44] Erik: I like the can artwork.
[0:10:45 – 0:10:50] Erik: I have no idea what anything means, but that’s what you get with an Oliphant brewing can.
[0:10:50 – 0:10:59] Erik: Remember the last one of those we were sponsored by, that artwork of those two weirdly drawn boys that we got done in Minneapolis after Midwest mountaineering?
[0:10:59 – 0:10:59] Erik: That’s them, huh?
[0:11:00 – 0:11:00] Adam: Oh, man.
[0:11:00 – 0:11:01] Adam: That was one of my favorite.
[0:11:01 – 0:11:03] Adam: That is my favorite can of all time.
[0:11:03 – 0:11:04] Adam: It’s us.
[0:11:04 – 0:11:04] Adam: Yeah.
[0:11:06 – 0:11:06] Erik: Yeah.
[0:11:06 – 0:11:10] Adam: That’s us when you put it over a weirdo filter slash horse boy filter.
[0:11:11 – 0:11:11] Erik: Horse boy.
[0:11:11 – 0:11:12] Erik: That’s what it was.
[0:11:12 – 0:11:14] Erik: They were a little couple of horse boys.
[0:11:14 – 0:11:17] Adam: You got any sugar cubes in this studio here, Eric?
[0:11:17 – 0:11:20] Adam: Or possibly a pail full of apples?
[0:11:21 – 0:11:22] Erik: Nah.
[0:11:22 – 0:11:23] Erik: Nah.
[0:11:23 – 0:11:25] Erik: We’re moving on.
[0:11:25 – 0:11:29] Erik: We’re in the very early stages of this wildfire.
[0:11:30 – 0:11:32] Erik: Again, gunflint burning, fire in the bonjour waters.
[0:11:32 – 0:11:35] Erik: Thank you, Carrie J. Griffith.
[0:11:36 – 0:11:38] Erik: Not T, but he is thorough.
[0:11:39 – 0:11:48] Erik: We last left, the fire had just been reported at 11.32 a.m. and was making what looked to be like a direct run at Tuscarora Lodge and Outfitters.
[0:11:50 – 0:11:52] Adam: That’s no campfire.
[0:11:52 – 0:11:53] Adam: That’s a rolling crown fire.
[0:11:55 – 0:11:55] Adam: End scene.
[0:11:56 – 0:11:56] Adam: End scene.
[0:11:56 – 0:11:57] Adam: Thank you.
[0:11:58 – 0:12:01] Erik: We didn’t have enough time to prep, but there is some great dialogue from…
[0:12:03 – 0:12:09] Erik: Some of the people involved when Stephen Posniak comes off the water that we’ll get to here in a second.
[0:12:10 – 0:12:21] Erik: But because of the previous year’s fire in the area, the Cavity Lake Fire, the Alpine and the Canadian wildfires, everybody in the area is a little jumpy.
[0:12:21 – 0:12:24] Erik: to call in potential wildfire just because they smell smoke.
[0:12:25 – 0:12:32] Erik: So, you know, some real questions right away as to whether or not this is something that’s legit.
[0:12:32 – 0:12:40] Erik: You know, you get that afternoon haze in the air and you can smell it, but it’s like a thousand miles away because the wind’s been blowing right.
[0:12:40 – 0:12:51] Erik: But by 1230, both the Gunflint Trail Fire Department and the U.S. Forest Service Ranger Station in Grand Marais were responding to what was now being recognized as a truly dangerous and real wildfire situation.
[0:12:51 – 0:13:13] Erik: uh with a daveland beaver a cl215 and a beachcraft queen air all being dispatched for air support slash uh water attack so the cl215s are the planes that can dip into lakes and pick up 1300 gallons of water at a time scoopers the old scooper where are they coming from
[0:13:15 – 0:13:18] Erik: West, like Bemidji, Grand Rapids.
[0:13:18 – 0:13:20] Adam: Got a couple scoopers over here.
[0:13:20 – 0:13:21] Adam: We can send them all the way.
[0:13:21 – 0:13:23] Erik: Yeah, I think there was one that came over from Ely.
[0:13:25 – 0:13:25] Erik: Thanks a bunch.
[0:13:27 – 0:13:45] Erik: When the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department arrived at Round Lake Road, they decided everyone needed to evacuate because of noticeable fire spotting, which occurs when high winds blow embers out in front of the actual flames and fire head and start new small fires out in front of the actual fire.
[0:13:45 – 0:13:54] Erik: And within 15 minutes, everyone at Tuscarora Lodge was out back on the Gunflint Trail, knowing a fire was raging towards their home and livelihood.
[0:13:55 – 0:14:03] Erik: So yeah, spotting is very ominous for a fire and never a good thing to see.
[0:14:04 – 0:14:09] Erik: As soon as air support arrived on the scene, the alarming nature of what was happening came into full view.
[0:14:09 – 0:14:23] Erik: Radio report, the radio report from DNR air attack supervisor Jody Leadholm, quote, we’ve got 25 to 40 acres of a torching running crown fire heading straight for Tuscarora Lodge.
[0:14:23 – 0:14:26] Erik: It’s about a quarter mile out and burning fast.
[0:14:27 – 0:14:29] Erik: There are several structures in danger.
[0:14:29 – 0:14:30] Adam: What was the wind at this point?
[0:14:31 – 0:14:32] Adam: It was still pretty windy from the night before.
[0:14:32 – 0:14:34] Erik: At least like 20 to 30.
[0:14:34 – 0:14:38] Erik: I would say anytime the wind was mentioned, it was around 30, depending on the direction.
[0:14:39 – 0:14:43] Adam: You think they had, uh, carry out access to like these radio transmissions?
[0:14:43 – 0:14:44] Erik: Oh, I’m sure.
[0:14:44 – 0:14:51] Adam: He’s like recollected from talking to the people or is this, did he get his hands on the tapes himself?
[0:14:51 – 0:14:53] Erik: I don’t know how recorded some of that stuff was.
[0:14:54 – 0:14:55] Erik: I know that there’s a lot.
[0:14:55 – 0:15:03] Erik: There’s going to be a lot of quotes right from the book because they’re basically like the investigation and like interviews where it’s like, well, I can’t.
[0:15:04 – 0:15:06] Erik: I’m not going to try to like rephrase this.
[0:15:06 – 0:15:07] Erik: This is exactly what was said.
[0:15:08 – 0:15:15] Erik: Now, when it comes into like some of the radio transmissions, I’m not sure if there are like physical records that he was able to just listen to or not.
[0:15:15 – 0:15:21] Adam: It’s like a best attempt to recreate what was transmitted.
[0:15:21 – 0:15:23] Erik: Maybe, or maybe he just interviewed Jody.
[0:15:23 – 0:15:23] Erik: I don’t know.
[0:15:24 – 0:15:39] Erik: But he directed the first C-215 on the scene to start dumping water on and around the property in danger and then requested another C-215 be sent from Brainerd and a P-3 Orion from Ely.
[0:15:39 – 0:15:46] Erik: The P-3 is meant to drop 3,000 gallons of a red flame retardant known as MUDD.
[0:15:47 – 0:15:51] Erik: and it squelches current flames, and then it keeps others from starting.
[0:15:51 – 0:15:54] Adam: This is like the opposite of the Coghlan’s fire paste.
[0:15:54 – 0:15:54] Erik: Exactly.
[0:15:54 – 0:15:55] Adam: It’s fire mud.
[0:15:56 – 0:15:56] Adam: Fire mud.
[0:15:57 – 0:15:58] Adam: Coghlan’s fire mud.
[0:16:00 – 0:16:02] Adam: Got 3,000 gallons of this thing in the belly of this beast.
[0:16:03 – 0:16:03] Erik: Yeah.
[0:16:03 – 0:16:04] Erik: Yeah.
[0:16:04 – 0:16:04] Erik: No.
[0:16:04 – 0:16:05] Erik: And it’s like it hangs around.
[0:16:06 – 0:16:11] Erik: And it was it was describing like you don’t want to be under that when it drops.
[0:16:11 – 0:16:13] Erik: You can like crush a car.
[0:16:13 – 0:16:14] Erik: Yeah.
[0:16:14 – 0:16:21] Erik: If there’s enough of it concentrated like but so they’re dumping everything that they can on and around Tuscarora.
[0:16:22 – 0:16:22] Erik: Yeah.
[0:16:23 – 0:16:43] Erik: And without getting bogged down too much into the hierarchy of incident command and the training involved, and when a fire moved from one level of resources needed to another, let’s just say that almost immediately everyone knew the current situation was lacking on resources and that the fire was upgraded to a type three incident.
[0:16:43 – 0:16:50] Erik: Five being, we talked about this last week, five being the lowest, basically an unattended campfire and one being like a national effort.
[0:16:51 – 0:16:54] Adam: Mr. Lackadoo was only rated a level three, right?
[0:16:54 – 0:16:55] Erik: Yes.
[0:16:55 – 0:17:08] Erik: So, um, the work of the two, two fifteens and the P3 with its retardant around Tuscarora was enough to slightly change the direction of the fire, but not the intensity at which it was burning.
[0:17:08 – 0:17:13] Erik: This slight adjustment was enough to spare all but one outbuilding on the property.
[0:17:14 – 0:17:23] Erik: At least at the time, that’s what they could see that it looked like everything was spared, but it eventually ended up turning out that, um, one, like a shed burned down.
[0:17:23 – 0:17:23] Erik: Um,
[0:17:24 – 0:17:24] Erik: R.I.P.
[0:17:24 – 0:17:25] Erik: shed.
[0:17:25 – 0:17:25] Erik: R.I.P.
[0:17:25 – 0:17:26] Erik: shed.
[0:17:26 – 0:17:26] Adam: You’re a good shed.
[0:17:27 – 0:17:29] Adam: I’m saying you’re the best shed.
[0:17:29 – 0:17:31] Erik: You house those shovels with pride.
[0:17:32 – 0:17:48] Erik: While in the air, the pilots noticed the fire was burning north slash northwest and saw that within six miles, the fire would run into the less than one year old burned area left from the cavity lake fire, which would act essentially as a dead end because of the lack of fuel.
[0:17:49 – 0:17:50] Erik: This was encouraging news at the time.
[0:17:51 – 0:17:53] Erik: They just needed to hope that the wind direction did not shift.
[0:17:55 – 0:18:10] Erik: So, yeah, just a few pages after I was kind of getting bogged down in the whole hierarchy, there’s a nice little quote from the book here on how everything kind of breaks down on who’s in charge, who does what, the levels.
[0:18:11 – 0:18:17] Erik: So, quote, “…wildfires like the one beginning to bloom in the Northwoods bring lots of disparate groups together for different purposes.”
[0:18:18 – 0:18:41] Erik: Because there has been organizational preparation and a long history of working together on both real and simulated emergencies, Cook County Emergency Management, the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department, the U.S. Forest Service, the DNR, and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, several private contractors, and others have a relatively good idea of who is responsible for what.
[0:18:41 – 0:18:48] Erik: Under the county plan, the Human Services Department helps feed, house, and care for evacuees and others affected by the incident.
[0:18:49 – 0:18:52] Erik: The U.S. Forest Service is the lead firefighter.
[0:18:52 – 0:19:01] Erik: The Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department is there to help fight the fire, but their most important task is to protect structures and help the Sheriff’s Office with evacuations.
[0:19:01 – 0:19:04] Erik: If the fires burn on DNR land, the DNR takes the lead.
[0:19:05 – 0:19:09] Erik: If it burns on U.S. Forest Service, like this fire, the U.S. Forest Service takes the lead.
[0:19:09 – 0:19:12] Erik: But both help each other in fire suppression efforts.
[0:19:12 – 0:19:23] Erik: And if necessary, other organizations, the BIA, nearby volunteer fire departments, border patrol, and so on, have people and equipment they can contribute to the fray.
[0:19:25 – 0:19:38] Erik: For slow events, or slow-moving fires, where everyone has a chance to notify the proper authorities and get everyone in place, on time, attending to their respective duties, the chains of command and responsibilities are clear and easy to navigate.
[0:19:38 – 0:19:50] Erik: But what almost never happens, but that almost never happens, and it was especially untrue in this fire, which in a little more than an hour had grown into a major conflagration threatening people and structures and was only getting worse.”
[0:19:52 – 0:20:21] Erik: In approximately 90 minutes from the first report of the fire, there was a growing response to the emergency, sometimes cacophonous, disjointed, and confused, but always following an approach that began to surface an organized community of public and private volunteers and professionals, most of whom knew their roles and responsibilities, and all of whom came together for the single-minded purpose of fighting a wildfire that could potentially have devastating effects on the forests and people that surrounded this part of the Gunflint Trail.
[0:20:22 – 0:20:33] Erik: Because of the wind, the heat, the low relative humidity and dry conditions, the fire was burning fast and intense, and it was shockingly early in the fire season to have this kind of a blaze this far up the Gunflint Trail.
[0:20:34 – 0:20:45] Erik: Normally, early season conditions were not conducive to wildfires, so even though the fire season had started and the response had been good, there was an understandable amount of chaos as the fight unfolded.
[0:20:47 – 0:20:58] Erik: So yeah, it’s kind of one of those things where there are a number of things in place, but there was no time immediately to do anything more than just start getting people up the trail.
[0:20:59 – 0:21:00] Adam: And there’s only so fast you can spool it up.
[0:21:01 – 0:21:01] Adam: Right.
[0:21:03 – 0:21:09] Erik: At around 1 p.m., a group from the U.S. Forest Service portaged into Ham Lake via the King’s Road.
[0:21:09 – 0:21:17] Erik: I didn’t realize that you could get to Ham Lake from King’s Road off of a couple of not really well-known trails.
[0:21:17 – 0:21:21] Erik: But a couple of people from Gunflint were familiar with those trails.
[0:21:22 – 0:21:28] Erik: And so they hiked in because Gunflint Outfitters were concerned about that group of eight and that couple from Ohio.
[0:21:29 – 0:21:42] Erik: Um, so they sent, um, some people out to try to reconnoiter with them and they met with the group of eight at the middle campsite and then moved over to Steve Posniak’s site at the West and clearly noticed that is where the fire had originated from.
[0:21:43 – 0:21:49] Erik: Um, they then helped the group of eight portage out of the Eastern most campsite to King’s road where trucks were waiting.
[0:21:50 – 0:21:53] Erik: So apparently you can walk out of that farthest east side on ham.
[0:21:53 – 0:21:54] Adam: Yeah, I had heard that.
[0:21:54 – 0:21:59] Adam: I’ve never actually pulled that off, but I definitely knew that was a possibility.
[0:22:03 – 0:22:10] Erik: The information provided by witnesses at this point all but pointed directly towards the solo camper as a key in understanding the origins of the fire.
[0:22:11 – 0:22:16] Erik: And Barry Huber of the U.S. Forest Service law enforcement knew he needed to talk to the overweight camper.
[0:22:17 – 0:22:18] Erik: Again with the overweight.
[0:22:19 – 0:22:21] Erik: This is the Huber report.
[0:22:21 – 0:22:22] Erik: The Huber report.
[0:22:23 – 0:22:29] Erik: By 2 p.m., Kurt Schierenbeck was up in a U.S. Forest Service beaver with Dean Lee assessing the fire.
[0:22:30 – 0:22:39] Erik: He reported to Grand Rapids that the fire was a rapidly growing running crown fire that was shaped like a cigar that was starting to fan out at the fire’s edge.
[0:22:40 – 0:22:46] Erik: He also reported after some calculations that since the fire had been reported, it had burned nearly 500 acres.
[0:22:46 – 0:22:49] Erik: This is less than three hours after it had started.
[0:22:50 – 0:22:54] Erik: He also noticed that Tuscarora Lodge and its structures had been spared.
[0:22:55 – 0:23:04] Erik: The fire was being fanned so intensely by the wind that it would scorch stands of trees down to blackened bark while leaving directly adjacent trees green and unharmed.
[0:23:05 – 0:23:08] Erik: So it was just like ripping through the forest, not like smoldering and spreading out.
[0:23:09 – 0:23:14] Erik: So like there was like green trees right next to black trees, which is like unheard of.
[0:23:15 – 0:23:37] Erik: it’s moving it’s moving at this point kurt had a lot to weigh in terms of how to move forward with advancing the incident to a level two designation based on the direction the fire was traveling it seemed likely the fire would run into the previous year’s cavity lake fire but if it shifted and burned straight north many structures would be threatened near seagull and saginaw lakes
[0:23:37 – 0:23:47] Erik: The other consideration at the time was that the U.S. Forest Service’s policy was not to immediately suppress naturally caused wildfires for resource benefits.
[0:23:48 – 0:23:57] Erik: But based on the weather conditions and lack of any recent thunderstorms, Kurt was almost positive the fire was human-caused, which meant an all-out response.
[0:23:58 – 0:23:59] Erik: More mud.
[0:23:59 – 0:24:00] Erik: More mud.
[0:24:00 – 0:24:04] Erik: I don’t know if that policy has changed at this point.
[0:24:05 – 0:24:13] Erik: It seemed like that kind of maybe was criticized and the Forest Service maybe switched based on the…
[0:24:14 – 0:24:17] Erik: the Pagami Creek fire, which was naturally caused.
[0:24:17 – 0:24:22] Erik: And then they let like, they kind of kept an eye on it and then watched it, but then it just got out of hand.
[0:24:23 – 0:24:27] Erik: And then that made them kind of question, well, is that the best way to do it?
[0:24:28 – 0:24:31] Erik: I didn’t end up burning any structures or anything, but it got close.
[0:24:33 – 0:24:42] Erik: Um, so yeah, sure enough, three hours into the, uh, the fire, Kurt called the district ranger and requested the incident be elevated from a level three to a level two.
[0:24:43 – 0:24:54] Erik: Um, and without exhausting your patience with the minutia of getting fire upgraded to a level two incident, let’s just say that John Stegmaier was called up from or to take over as incident commander.
[0:24:55 – 0:24:59] Erik: And he had overseen both the cavity and Alpine fires, um, previously, um,
[0:25:01 – 0:25:04] Erik: Yeah, the bureaucracy is so… Did you file your TPS report?
[0:25:05 – 0:25:05] Erik: Exactly.
[0:25:05 – 0:25:08] Erik: It’s like, you need to get this signed off by a district ranger.
[0:25:08 – 0:25:11] Erik: Well, there’s no district ranger in this office today, so we got to go and find one.
[0:25:11 – 0:25:18] Erik: They had to call around to find somebody to be like, yes, you can elevate it to a TPS level two.
[0:25:19 – 0:25:22] Adam: What’s this I hear about you having problems with your TPS reports?
[0:25:26 – 0:25:37] Erik: At around 4.30 that afternoon, Barry Huber, the U.S. Forest law enforcement agent, began questioning the group of eight U.S. Forest Service members who had been camped out on Ham Lake that previous night.
[0:25:38 – 0:25:39] Erik: This is at Gunflint Outfitters.
[0:25:40 – 0:25:42] Adam: Listen, my name is Bill Huber, and you’ve got to give me the straight dope.
[0:25:43 – 0:25:46] Erik: Well, they’re all with the U.S. Forest Service, so I imagine there’s probably a little bit.
[0:25:46 – 0:25:47] Adam: Quit screwing around.
[0:25:47 – 0:25:48] Adam: We don’t have the time.
[0:25:48 – 0:25:48] Erik: I’m sorry, Barry.
[0:25:49 – 0:25:52] Erik: According to Barry’s supplemental incident report… Yeah.
[0:25:52 – 0:25:52] UNKNOWN: Ha ha!
[0:25:54 – 0:25:55] Adam: Oh, yeah.
[0:25:55 – 0:25:56] Adam: This is golden.
[0:25:56 – 0:25:57] Erik: It’s not a TPS report.
[0:25:57 – 0:25:59] Erik: It’s a SI report.
[0:25:59 – 0:25:59] Adam: Oh, sorry.
[0:25:59 – 0:26:00] Adam: My bad.
[0:26:00 – 0:26:00] Adam: Yes.
[0:26:01 – 0:26:01] Erik: Okay.
[0:26:02 – 0:26:12] Erik: Quote, the group of eight said that they had seen a man camping overnight on a site northwest of their location and that he was at that campsite when they first saw smoke early that day.
[0:26:13 – 0:26:14] Adam: Was he a regular-sized man?
[0:26:14 – 0:26:14] Adam: No.
[0:26:14 – 0:26:15] Adam: Was he a regular human?
[0:26:15 – 0:26:16] Erik: We’re going to get there.
[0:26:17 – 0:26:24] Erik: They reported the smoke had dissipated, but then around 11 a.m., a large amount of smoke was seen coming from the area of the site in question.
[0:26:24 – 0:26:32] Erik: When asked to describe the man, three people said they had actually talked to him on Friday, and they described they had the best description.
[0:26:34 – 0:26:43] Erik: The three people that interacted with him described a white male, 50 to 60 years of age, gray hair, overweight, wearing a red flannel shirt and with an aluminum canoe.
[0:26:44 – 0:26:54] Erik: In fact, the conversation with Steve was brief but memorable enough so several from the group recalled Steve’s aluminum canoe, relative age, stature, and other details.
[0:26:55 – 0:27:04] Erik: Part of what both the two people remembering about Steve was that he was wearing headphones when they paddled past his site.
[0:27:04 – 0:27:06] Erik: One of the members said, quote,
[0:27:20 – 0:27:22] Erik: I don’t think he saw us at that point.
[0:27:22 – 0:27:23] Erik: He was wearing headphones.
[0:27:23 – 0:27:29] Erik: I didn’t pay much attention to the rest of what he was wearing as I was fixated on why someone would be wearing headphones in the wilderness.
[0:27:30 – 0:27:35] Erik: I also wondered about whether he was alone or not as I could not see any evidence of another person.
[0:27:36 – 0:27:40] Erik: I was thinking about how heavy that aluminum canoe would have been to portage by himself.
[0:27:40 – 0:27:42] Adam: He was probably listening to Janet Jackson.
[0:27:43 – 0:27:43] Adam: If?
[0:27:44 – 0:27:45] Erik: Was that the name of the album?
[0:27:45 – 0:27:47] Adam: If you were my lover.
[0:27:47 – 0:27:48] Erik: Yeah.
[0:27:50 – 0:27:51] Adam: There’s like five number one hits on this album.
[0:27:52 – 0:27:53] Erik: I guarantee that’s what he was listening to.
[0:27:55 – 0:27:55] Adam: Discman.
[0:27:55 – 0:27:58] Erik: I think it was, what, 2001?
[0:27:59 – 0:28:00] Erik: CD or tape?
[0:28:01 – 0:28:02] Adam: Oh, yeah, CD.
[0:28:02 – 0:28:04] Adam: Or maybe it was a mini-disc.
[0:28:04 – 0:28:05] Erik: Anti-skip?
[0:28:05 – 0:28:06] Adam: Yeah, for sure.
[0:28:06 – 0:28:07] Erik: Mini-disc, wow.
[0:28:07 – 0:28:08] Erik: Mini-disc.
[0:28:08 – 0:28:10] Erik: Those kind of came and went pretty fast.
[0:28:10 – 0:28:14] Adam: I remember that was like when Moby, the best Moby album was out.
[0:28:14 – 0:28:16] Adam: My buddy had it on mini-disc.
[0:28:16 – 0:28:16] Adam: Play, yeah.
[0:28:17 – 0:28:18] Adam: Absolute.
[0:28:18 – 0:28:27] Erik: At this point, there was confusion as to where Steve could be, as it was almost impossible for the group of eight to have not run into him as they exited from Ham.
[0:28:28 – 0:28:28] Erik: Oh, sorry.
[0:28:29 – 0:28:31] Erik: I don’t know why that’s not good information.
[0:28:31 – 0:28:36] Erik: They exited out through the King’s Road, but it was still odd that Tuscarora had not run into Steve before.
[0:28:37 – 0:28:42] Erik: But at 5.30 that evening, Steve did walk back up to Tuscarora.
[0:28:42 – 0:28:49] Erik: This was after they were allowed back in to kind of start, like, there was still some, like, spot fires in the area that they were, like, keeping track of.
[0:28:49 – 0:28:50] Erik: So they were back at Tuscarora.
[0:28:51 – 0:28:58] Adam: It took him from 11 until 5 to make it back to the cross-bay entry.
[0:28:59 – 0:29:00] Adam: He had an aluminum canoe.
[0:29:00 – 0:29:00] Adam: Yeah.
[0:29:01 – 0:29:03] Adam: I mean, that may have been why he stopped on the way in.
[0:29:07 – 0:29:08] Erik: It was just taking him that long.
[0:29:09 – 0:29:10] Adam: This is going to be awkward as hell.
[0:29:11 – 0:29:11] Erik: You ready for this?
[0:29:11 – 0:29:11] Erik: Yeah.
[0:29:12 – 0:29:12] Erik: Hit me.
[0:29:13 – 0:29:16] Erik: So Sue saw Steve walking up the road first.
[0:29:16 – 0:29:23] Erik: And according to her written statement, quote, he asked for his keys so that he could go back to the cross bay landing to pick up his gear.
[0:29:23 – 0:29:25] Erik: I told him that I was glad that he was safe.
[0:29:26 – 0:29:28] Erik: I asked him about his experience.
[0:29:28 – 0:29:32] Erik: He told me that the last portage was really charred and that it had been a dicey morning.
[0:29:35 – 0:29:41] Erik: Uh, when Andy, so Sue and Andy, they were the owners of Tuscarora at the time, just to bring you up to speed if you’re just checking in.
[0:29:42 – 0:29:52] Erik: Um, so when Andy heard that Steve’s gear was back at the landing, he asked, uh, one of his staff, um, Brian, who was also helping at Tuscarora to use one of their trucks to go pick Steve and his gear up.
[0:29:53 – 0:29:53] Erik: Um,
[0:29:54 – 0:29:57] Erik: And then Steve walked back to the landing.
[0:29:58 – 0:30:02] Erik: When Brian arrived at the landing, he introduced himself and greeted Steve, helping him with his gear.
[0:30:02 – 0:30:05] Erik: Brian described the meeting in his statement, quote,
[0:30:14 – 0:30:23] Erik: I began to load his equipment, and during the questions about which packs were his, he repeats the statement that he was camped on Cross Bay Lake, again without me asking.
[0:30:24 – 0:30:27] Erik: Steve returned with his gear, and Sue helped him stow it.
[0:30:27 – 0:30:29] Erik: Her statement, in part, reads,
[0:30:34 – 0:30:43] Erik: He told me that he had been camped for two nights on Cross Bay Lake and that he had come to the Cross Bay Lake slash Ham portage at around 8 a.m. and had seen the flames.
[0:30:44 – 0:30:45] Erik: He said he did not see any people.
[0:30:48 – 0:30:51] Erik: Andy’s written statement described the exchange that he had.
[0:30:51 – 0:30:52] Erik: I asked him where he was camped.
[0:30:52 – 0:30:54] Erik: He said Cross Bay Lake.
[0:30:55 – 0:30:56] Erik: I asked both nights.
[0:30:56 – 0:30:57] Erik: He said yes.
[0:30:57 – 0:30:58] Erik: I recalled.
[0:30:58 – 0:30:59] Erik: He said yes.
[0:30:59 – 0:31:00] Erik: I recall.
[0:31:01 – 0:31:07] Erik: We then moved his packs to the picnic shelter and he moved his vehicle adjacent to the picnic shelter where he could unpack his gear.
[0:31:07 – 0:31:12] Erik: He then pointed to the northwest site on Cross Bay Lake on his map and said this is where he had camped.
[0:31:13 – 0:31:19] Erik: I asked him when he had left the site in the morning, and I recall he said around 8.30 a.m.
[0:31:19 – 0:31:28] Erik: I then asked about his encounter with the fire, and I recall he said he had seen the fire on the end of Ham Lake when he was at the cross bay to Ham Lake Portage.
[0:31:29 – 0:31:35] Erik: I recall he said when he got there, he tried to put out the fire with a water container, but said he was not able to put it out.
[0:31:36 – 0:31:40] Erik: I recall I asked him what he did next, and I understood him to say he paddled away.”
[0:31:41 – 0:31:47] Erik: I recall I then asked him how he got out, and I recall to say he came out over the next portage.
[0:31:48 – 0:31:55] Erik: I then asked him how the portage was upon his exit because I was curious if it was still burning, and I recall him saying it had already burned over.
[0:31:58 – 0:31:59] Erik: So he’s clearly…
[0:32:00 – 0:32:01] Adam: So he’s full of baloney.
[0:32:01 – 0:32:02] Erik: Literally lying.
[0:32:02 – 0:32:06] Adam: Well, I mean, understandably so.
[0:32:07 – 0:32:23] Erik: Yeah, I mean, tough to say what I would do in that situation, but I… That’s the biggest question over the course of reading the book is trying to put myself in his shoes.
[0:32:25 – 0:32:31] Erik: I mean, it’s impossible for me to say for sure, but man, I think I would…
[0:32:31 – 0:32:32] Erik: I’d like to think I would have been honest.
[0:32:35 – 0:32:36] Erik: I don’t know, but if you’re standing there like…
[0:32:37 – 0:32:40] Adam: There was even a Tuscarora to get his keys from.
[0:32:41 – 0:32:43] Erik: Yeah.
[0:32:43 – 0:32:44] Adam: The audacity.
[0:32:44 – 0:32:45] Erik: Yeah, can I just get my keys?
[0:32:45 – 0:32:46] Erik: I’m going to head out.
[0:32:46 – 0:32:49] Adam: I’m just going to head on down the dusty trail.
[0:32:49 – 0:32:51] Erik: It was a dicey morning.
[0:32:51 – 0:32:52] Adam: It was a pretty dicey portage.
[0:32:54 – 0:33:02] Erik: So then around 6.30, Barry Huber and David Weitz, or Weitz, Deputy David Weitz, arrived.
[0:33:02 – 0:33:08] Erik: That’s when the Dragnet theme… And they greet…
[0:33:09 – 0:33:18] Erik: On the way, on the drive over, they actually agree that this wasn’t their guy because they had heard in his statement that he hadn’t been camping on ham.
[0:33:18 – 0:33:26] Erik: But as soon as Barry saw Steve, he knew he was the person described by the U.S. Forest Service group of eight that he’d already talked to.
[0:33:26 – 0:33:29] Adam: How many sets of headphones you got on your pack there, sir?
[0:33:29 – 0:33:31] Erik: I mean, I need to search you for headphones.
[0:33:32 – 0:33:32] Erik: What is this, a Walkman?
[0:33:34 – 0:33:34] Erik: This is from Barry.
[0:33:35 – 0:33:44] Erik: I arrived at Tuscarora to find an overweight white male, 50 to 60 years of age, gray hair, red flannel, under a green Dartmouth sweatshirt, looking tired, dirty, and disheveled.
[0:33:45 – 0:33:48] Erik: He was identified as Mr. Stephen George Posniak.
[0:33:48 – 0:33:55] Erik: He stated he had just completed a two-night camp-slash-canoe trip on Cross Bay, and he provided his permit.
[0:33:55 – 0:33:59] Erik: He stated he began Thursday, May 3rd at Cross Bay.
[0:34:00 – 0:34:27] Erik: paddled through ham over to cross bay lake where he stays for two nights he then says he returned to the same takeout as he started when about nine he sees smoke at the campsite in question goes ashore and attempts to control the fire by dumping water with a plastic bucket but with no effect he stated he wanted to report the fire but had no means of communication he leaves the fire and returns to tuscarora lodge where he had rented his canoe and equipment
[0:34:29 – 0:34:30] Erik: He said, it takes me longer than it used to.
[0:34:31 – 0:34:33] Erik: He said he had no contact with any others while he was out.
[0:34:34 – 0:34:42] Erik: He said he used a propane cook stove that he had brought with and never had a campfire, except when he lit a trash fire to burn off his paper trash.
[0:34:42 – 0:34:46] Erik: I don’t understand, if he’s lying at this point, why he would even include that.
[0:34:46 – 0:34:46] Adam: Right.
[0:34:47 – 0:34:49] Adam: And he was seen by multiple people.
[0:34:49 – 0:34:52] Erik: I mean, he’s not thinking.
[0:34:53 – 0:34:55] Erik: Like, yeah, you were saw by 10 people.
[0:34:55 – 0:34:58] Adam: 10 people, including a bunch of government employees.
[0:34:58 – 0:34:59] Erik: Yeah, and you’re wearing headphones.
[0:34:59 – 0:35:01] Erik: You’re not easy to forget.
[0:35:02 – 0:35:09] Erik: I told Posniak that I had witnesses who stated they saw him at the site where the fire started, and he again denied camping on Ham Lake.
[0:35:09 – 0:35:15] Erik: I told him he was free to go, but to call me that evening when he gets a hotel room in Grand Marais, because I need to take a photo of him.
[0:35:16 – 0:35:22] Erik: That evening, I never received a call from Posniak, and at around 8.15, Steve got into his SUV and drove away.
[0:35:25 – 0:35:33] Erik: So that’s the first story from Steve Posniak on what actually occurred.
[0:35:34 – 0:35:39] Adam: Yeah, I don’t see any way out of that of like being able to lie your way out of that situation.
[0:35:39 – 0:35:40] Adam: So what’s the point?
[0:35:40 – 0:35:44] Erik: I mean, maybe if there weren’t any witnesses, maybe.
[0:35:44 – 0:35:50] Adam: Yeah, but yeah, you were seen by a whole crew of Forest Service dudes and then a second group of two.
[0:35:50 – 0:35:52] Erik: We talked with a couple people.
[0:35:52 – 0:35:53] Adam: All right.
[0:35:54 – 0:35:59] Adam: Yeah, that’s baffling that you think you could just, I wasn’t there.
[0:35:59 – 0:36:02] Adam: I thought he was only out one night as well, and now he’s claiming he was out two nights.
[0:36:02 – 0:36:04] Adam: Was he out two nights on Hammond?
[0:36:04 – 0:36:09] Adam: It was the second morning then that he burned his newspaper.
[0:36:09 – 0:36:14] Adam: And then, yeah, I didn’t have any campfires except for to burn trash.
[0:36:14 – 0:36:15] Erik: That doesn’t make it any better, man.
[0:36:15 – 0:36:17] Erik: That makes it almost worse.
[0:36:17 – 0:36:18] Erik: Yeah, just leave the trash out of it.
[0:36:19 – 0:36:21] Adam: I was burning trash.
[0:36:22 – 0:36:22] Erik: Yeah.
[0:36:23 – 0:36:23] Adam: Wasn’t me, though.
[0:36:24 – 0:36:30] Erik: Yeah, I don’t know the whole process of, like, when you can, like, officially arrest somebody.
[0:36:31 – 0:36:34] Erik: But, like, you must have, like, buried at that point.
[0:36:34 – 0:36:35] Erik: How did they let him, like, drive away?
[0:36:36 – 0:36:36] Erik: That’s what I mean.
[0:36:36 – 0:36:39] Erik: Like, I mean, I guess to a certain extent they know where he is.
[0:36:39 – 0:36:41] Erik: Like, they can probably find him at any time.
[0:36:41 – 0:36:43] Erik: But it’s just shocking.
[0:36:43 – 0:36:44] Adam: He’s a white dude.
[0:36:44 – 0:36:45] Adam: They let him drive away.
[0:36:45 – 0:36:45] Erik: Yeah.
[0:36:46 – 0:36:48] Erik: Well, Barry Huber, like, I’m sure he knew.
[0:36:48 – 0:36:49] Erik: Huber report.
[0:36:50 – 0:36:50] Erik: You’re lying.
[0:36:50 – 0:36:51] Erik: I know you’re lying.
[0:36:53 – 0:37:00] Erik: But so with all the efforts of the air attack on the fire, they were successful in protecting the structures at Tuscarora.
[0:37:02 – 0:37:11] Erik: Even though it was only enough to slightly alter the fire’s general direction, they have been having no success at any extinguishing of the fire.
[0:37:11 – 0:37:15] Erik: And as night approached, the air attack was called off.
[0:37:16 – 0:37:34] Erik: typically as the sun sets well you can’t fly around at night what like i mean some night vision goggles not the 40s well yeah but like these are like daveland beavers and like they’re not like f-16s they’re not i mean this isn’t uh warfare
[0:37:35 – 0:37:41] Adam: They seem to be able to circle us in perpetuity while we’re camping on any given day or moment.
[0:37:41 – 0:37:43] Adam: They can’t fly at night.
[0:37:43 – 0:37:43] Erik: They can’t.
[0:37:43 – 0:37:50] Erik: I mean, it’s, I would imagine it’s probably a protocol probably based on a disaster of flying around at night.
[0:37:50 – 0:37:51] Adam: Sure.
[0:37:51 – 0:37:52] Erik: Trying to keep your eyes off fire.
[0:37:53 – 0:38:00] Erik: And typically, like, another reason that they might do this is usually fires kind of lay down at night because the winds die down.
[0:38:00 – 0:38:00] Erik: Sure.
[0:38:01 – 0:38:06] Erik: But as the sun set in the west, the day’s winds did not settle down with it.
[0:38:07 – 0:38:13] Erik: And everybody up the trail that night could sense the urgency of the situation as the winds continued to blow well into the night.
[0:38:14 – 0:38:17] Adam: Yeah, I don’t like night wind, even if there’s no fire involved.
[0:38:17 – 0:38:18] Erik: No.
[0:38:18 – 0:38:21] Erik: I hate waking up in the morning, too, and it’s like, it’s already windy.
[0:38:21 – 0:38:22] Adam: Mm-hmm.
[0:38:23 – 0:38:35] Erik: By 10 p.m. that night, John Stegmaier and his Level 2 team had been assembled at the Gunflint Ranger Station in Grand Marais, where they were being debriefed by Kurt and eventually handed over command.
[0:38:37 – 0:38:41] Erik: Directly quoting from the book here, Kurt had been in this situation before.
[0:38:42 – 0:38:47] Erik: He needed to keep briefing to no more than 30 minutes, include 10 to 15 minutes for questions.
[0:38:48 – 0:38:58] Erik: First, he told them about the current status of the fire, told them that at 2.30 p.m. the fire had burned approximately 480 acres, and now he estimated it was closer to 1,500.
[0:38:59 – 0:39:06] Erik: He described it as a running crown fire with dramatic torching and spotting out in front of the main burn, in large part because of the weather.
[0:39:07 – 0:39:14] Erik: Weather, of course, had played a huge role in the rapid fire growth, so he talked about it, including both the current and predicted forecast.
[0:39:15 – 0:39:21] Erik: Then he covered the personnel and resources, both U.S. Forest Service and all others that had been used to fight the fire thus far.
[0:39:23 – 0:39:35] Erik: Two U.S. Forest Service Type 6 engines with personnel, three Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department engines with personnel, a DNR Type 6 engine, two Type 3 dozers with operators and leadership,
[0:39:36 – 0:39:44] Erik: Sorry, seven miscellaneous U.S. Forest Service personnel, U.S. Forest Service law enforcement, Cook County law enforcement.
[0:39:44 – 0:39:56] Erik: And the planes that had been used on the first day were the two CL215s, two CL415s from Canada, a PL3 air tanker, two Beavers, and two Type 1 helicopters.
[0:39:57 – 0:39:59] Erik: He also told them what resources were on order.
[0:40:03 – 0:40:03] Erik: Okay.
[0:40:04 – 0:40:16] Erik: We’ll finish the first day here with some comments from Sue Prom, who’s a co-owner of Voyager Canoe Outfitters at the end of the Gunflint Trail.
[0:40:17 – 0:40:17] Erik: Still is.
[0:40:18 – 0:40:20] Erik: And Voyager Brewing now, no?
[0:40:20 – 0:40:21] Erik: Yes, and Voyager Brewing.
[0:40:21 – 0:40:23] Adam: That’s a good branding right there.
[0:40:23 – 0:40:24] Erik: Yep.
[0:40:24 – 0:40:35] Erik: So Supram was the co-owner of Voyager Canoe Outfitters at the end of the Gunflint Trail, was also working on late on what was perhaps the best personal account of what transpired on the first day of the fire.
[0:40:36 – 0:40:44] Erik: Before dropping off to sleep, she posted a detailed in part eyewitness report of the day’s activities on their blog.
[0:40:44 – 0:40:45] Erik: On MySpace.
[0:40:46 – 0:40:49] Erik: Who knows what it was hosted by at that point, but it was a blog.
[0:40:50 – 0:40:51] Adam: Oh, wow.
[0:40:51 – 0:40:52] Erik: Yeah.
[0:40:52 – 0:40:57] Erik: Sometimes, this is a quote from her, sometimes you just know when something bad is going to happen.
[0:40:58 – 0:41:08] Erik: I woke up with that strange sense of something amiss, and when Mike asked about the weather, that’s her husband, I said the forecast called for 20 to 30 mph winds the next two days.
[0:41:08 – 0:41:13] Erik: I knew with the already dry conditions, a couple of days of wind would only dry things out more quickly.
[0:41:14 – 0:41:20] Erik: As I drove to town, I thought to myself, I hope the winter snowfall put all those fires out from last year.
[0:41:20 – 0:41:22] Erik: I sure don’t want another fire.
[0:41:23 – 0:41:27] Erik: I remember that with the Cavity Lake fire, like it burned essentially until it snowed.
[0:41:27 – 0:41:33] Erik: And then there were even some like, well, it can kind of like burrow into the root systems and fire back up in the spring.
[0:41:33 – 0:41:33] Erik: I was like, God.
[0:41:34 – 0:41:34] Adam: Yeah.
[0:41:34 – 0:41:35] Erik: That’s…
[0:41:35 – 0:41:58] Adam: alarming and really you think like they’re like yeah ticks you know are out all winter yeah you can still get a tick when it’s 20 below and they hide like how is that possible but then there they are the ticks are back as soon as like the first warm day there they are yeah they hang out on all the they hang out on the moose they winter over moose birds
[0:41:59 – 0:42:01] Erik: Kind of like snowbirds, you know?
[0:42:01 – 0:42:02] Erik: See what I tried doing there?
[0:42:02 – 0:42:02] Erik: I did.
[0:42:03 – 0:42:04] Erik: I did, and I didn’t like it.
[0:42:05 – 0:42:06] Adam: I didn’t like it at all.
[0:42:06 – 0:42:07] Adam: It doesn’t work.
[0:42:07 – 0:42:09] Erik: It doesn’t make any sense.
[0:42:09 – 0:42:10] Erik: Back to the blog post.
[0:42:10 – 0:42:14] Erik: A few hours later, I received a call from Marilyn saying, Have you heard about the fire?
[0:42:14 – 0:42:24] Erik: Women’s or Sue’s intuition must have been working overtime today because our good friend Sue, another Sue from Tuscarora, also had a strange feeling this morning.
[0:42:25 – 0:42:32] Erik: The U.S. Forest Service, DNR, Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department, Arrowhead Electric, and Cook County Sheriff’s Office were all on scene.
[0:42:32 – 0:42:36] Erik: Hotspots and snags were everywhere and crews began work immediately.
[0:42:36 – 0:42:44] Erik: Two bulldozers dug lines around the perimeter while sawers dropped trees and cleared areas near buildings.
[0:42:45 – 0:42:51] Erik: Sprinkler systems were installed on some buildings and around the permanent perimeter by the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department.
[0:42:52 – 0:42:56] Erik: Crews would be on the scene throughout the evening to help protect the many structures at Tuscarora.
[0:42:57 – 0:43:01] Erik: Winds continued to blow from the east-southeast with gusts up to 20 mph.
[0:43:03 – 0:43:11] Erik: She continued to talk about the fire, thanking neighbors and others, and provided some snapshots of overhead planes, a burned-over section of woods, and a large smoke plume in the distance.
[0:43:12 – 0:43:17] Erik: She also described the size of the burn at approximately 1000 acres, even though it was closer to 1500.
[0:43:20 – 0:43:22] Erik: It was the end of the first day of the Ham Lake fire.
[0:43:23 – 0:43:30] Erik: Most hoped after the incoming type two team got it under control, that it would be extinguished in two, maybe three more days.
[0:43:30 – 0:43:45] Erik: What no one yet knew was that the wind was about to shift, a change in direction that would have a profound effect on the area, helping this fire grow into what would become one of the largest and most devastating forest fires in Minnesota history.
[0:43:46 – 0:43:52] Adam: So it’s still pretty close to around Tuscarora at this point, despite it being 20 mile an hour winds for a whole day at this point.
[0:43:52 – 0:43:53] Adam: Yeah, basically.
[0:43:53 – 0:43:56] Adam: And it has not even approached Seagull Lake.
[0:43:56 – 0:43:57] Erik: Nope, not yet.
[0:43:57 – 0:43:58] Adam: And it’s still blowing towards Seagull.
[0:43:59 – 0:43:59] Adam: Is that correct?
[0:44:00 – 0:44:00] Adam: Yes.
[0:44:00 – 0:44:01] Adam: It hasn’t really shifted.
[0:44:01 – 0:44:03] Erik: Southeast, south winds.
[0:44:04 – 0:44:09] Erik: So if you look at any map between Round and Seagull, it’s basically heading right towards that.
[0:44:09 – 0:44:10] Adam: Got my ripped out map here.
[0:44:11 – 0:44:16] Adam: And yeah, it’s pushing it towards Seagull, it looks like, at the end of night one.
[0:44:17 – 0:44:35] Erik: posniak nowhere to be seen he’s fled all the way in his suv down to toft i think he did stay in grand marais actually wow i don’t know though the gall we don’t um we’re not going to hear again from steve for a while we’re going to be uh i can’t believe they let him walk
[0:44:36 – 0:44:36] Erik: I can’t either.
[0:44:36 – 0:44:37] Erik: Like, that’s what I mean.
[0:44:37 – 0:44:40] Adam: I don’t know what kind of… How many government employees do you need to, like, ID somebody?
[0:44:41 – 0:44:42] Adam: That’s the guy.
[0:44:42 – 0:44:47] Erik: I don’t know what the jurisdiction on a U.S. Forest Service, like law enforcement, I imagine.
[0:44:47 – 0:44:50] Erik: He probably has the authority on the right grounds.
[0:44:50 – 0:44:54] Erik: But essentially, he’s still just, like, gathering information, you know?
[0:44:55 – 0:44:56] Erik: So…
[0:44:57 – 0:45:09] Erik: There’s really, yeah, no matter how suspicious you are of somebody, if there’s no proof, you know, if he came out and said, yeah, I started the fire, then I wonder, can like he be held right away?
[0:45:10 – 0:45:11] Adam: What is even the charge?
[0:45:11 – 0:45:12] Erik: Oh, we’ll get to that.
[0:45:13 – 0:45:14] Adam: I’m sure we will.
[0:45:14 – 0:45:14] Erik: Yeah.
[0:45:15 – 0:45:21] Adam: But yeah, that’s, you know, just wouldn’t, how many years ago is this now?
[0:45:21 – 0:45:22] Adam: You know, nothing’s changed.
[0:45:23 – 0:45:24] Erik: 15 years, almost.
[0:45:25 – 0:45:27] Adam: One guy burns a whole damn forest down.
[0:45:28 – 0:45:29] Adam: We know it was you, man.
[0:45:30 – 0:45:31] Adam: No, it wasn’t.
[0:45:31 – 0:45:31] Adam: All right, then.
[0:45:32 – 0:45:32] Adam: Have a good day, sir.
[0:45:33 – 0:45:35] Erik: Yeah, I’m not the fire starter you’re looking for.
[0:45:35 – 0:45:35] Erik: I don’t know.
[0:45:35 – 0:45:36] Adam: Okay, I guess.
[0:45:36 – 0:45:38] Adam: Yeah, just go on your way.
[0:45:38 – 0:45:41] Adam: You just picture that and plan out differently if it was somebody else.
[0:45:42 – 0:45:42] Adam: Probably.
[0:45:42 – 0:45:42] Adam: That’s all I’m saying.
[0:45:43 – 0:45:45] Erik: Do you need another coffee golden ale?
[0:45:45 – 0:45:46] Erik: Are you good?
[0:45:46 – 0:45:48] Erik: It sure wouldn’t hurt.
[0:45:48 – 0:45:49] Erik: Okay.
[0:45:49 – 0:45:51] Erik: We’ll move on to day two here.
[0:45:51 – 0:45:56] Erik: Considering our time, I’ll let you work on those while I queue up the next day.
[0:45:56 – 0:45:58] Adam: There it is.
[0:46:02 – 0:46:03] Erik: You need the season to open.
[0:46:03 – 0:46:06] Erik: I’m having to buy all these beers on my own.
[0:46:11 – 0:46:11] Erik: It’s pretty rough.
[0:46:11 – 0:46:12] Erik: You gotta buy your own beer.
[0:46:12 – 0:46:13] Adam: Wow, buying your own beer?
[0:46:14 – 0:46:17] Adam: It’s like the olden days, Eric.
[0:46:18 – 0:46:21] Erik: The old Wild West when I used to have to walk into a liquor store and pull out my own cash.
[0:46:22 – 0:46:25] Adam: Back when we were recording in a one-room apartment.
[0:46:26 – 0:46:28] Adam: That was like four studios ago.
[0:46:29 – 0:46:30] Erik: Just sitting in a vehicle.
[0:46:30 – 0:46:32] Adam: We didn’t even have microphones.
[0:46:32 – 0:46:36] Adam: We had old tin cans with a piece of tattered yarn.
[0:46:36 – 0:46:41] Erik: People would gather around from as far as the eye could see and sit cross-legged on the ground and listen to our tales.
[0:46:42 – 0:46:46] Adam: Before we even recorded them and put them on live podcasting around the fire.
[0:46:47 – 0:46:53] Erik: We used to just walk out on the old big top stage with one of those old big megaphones.
[0:46:54 – 0:46:55] Adam: You would see the old-timey…
[0:46:55 – 0:46:56] Adam: Gather round!
[0:46:59 – 0:47:02] Erik: The old timey cheerleaders used to wear?
[0:47:02 – 0:47:03] Adam: That’s a tale as old as time.
[0:47:04 – 0:47:06] Adam: Me and a set of talking candlesticks.
[0:47:08 – 0:47:09] Erik: Coghlan’s camping gear.
[0:47:09 – 0:47:10] Erik: I don’t get it.
[0:47:10 – 0:47:11] Erik: Am I right?
[0:47:14 – 0:47:20] Erik: At 2 a.m., John Stegmaier and his 40-plus years in wildfire incident command arrived at the Seagull Guard Station.
[0:47:21 – 0:47:30] Erik: And although the original prognosis of the fire and its behavior had been favorable, he noticed the distant orange glow was now growing larger and nearer.
[0:47:31 – 0:47:35] Erik: And with it, his misgivings grew about the Ham Lake fire’s potential.
[0:47:36 – 0:47:44] Erik: As Kurt made his way up the Gunflint Trail the next morning, shortly after 5 a.m., he noticed the fire had not slowed down overnight, which is atypical.
[0:47:45 – 0:47:49] Erik: And beyond that, a dramatic and dangerous change in wind direction had occurred.
[0:47:50 – 0:47:58] Erik: The winds had shifted 90 degrees and now blew from the west-southwest, which pointed the fire back towards the Gunflint Trail and out of the wilderness.
[0:48:00 – 0:48:01] Erik: A well-known seasonal camper…
[0:48:02 – 0:48:09] Erik: who would spend the summer on the Kekakabik hiking trail, locally known as the Kek Man, or the Kek Crawler.
[0:48:09 – 0:48:10] Adam: The Kek Man?
[0:48:10 – 0:48:11] Adam: I’ve never heard of that one.
[0:48:11 – 0:48:11] Erik: I’ve never had either.
[0:48:11 – 0:48:13] Erik: We always refer to him as the Kek Crawler.
[0:48:13 – 0:48:15] Adam: Yeah, I mean, Deke picked him up one time hitchhiking.
[0:48:15 – 0:48:16] Erik: I did too.
[0:48:16 – 0:48:18] Erik: He gave me a book on how to avoid jaundice.
[0:48:19 – 0:48:19] Adam: Wow.
[0:48:19 – 0:48:21] Adam: He gave me a book on how to avoid demons.
[0:48:22 – 0:48:22] Erik: Wow.
[0:48:22 – 0:48:24] Adam: Same thing, pretty much.
[0:48:24 – 0:48:26] Adam: Gondas, it’s his own kind of demon.
[0:48:26 – 0:48:30] Erik: I haven’t seen him in a number of years, but I used to see him all the time.
[0:48:30 – 0:48:31] Erik: He’d go into town for supplies.
[0:48:31 – 0:48:35] Adam: I tried to give him a beer, and he almost didn’t take the ride.
[0:48:35 – 0:48:36] Erik: Yeah, he said, nope.
[0:48:36 – 0:48:37] Adam: Anti-beer.
[0:48:37 – 0:48:38] Erik: No jaundice for me.
[0:48:39 – 0:48:42] Adam: Yeah, no hiking sponsorships for him.
[0:48:42 – 0:48:48] Erik: So they knew that there was this guy that was out there and regularly camped out on the Kakakaba hiking trail.
[0:48:49 – 0:48:53] Erik: And so they sent three U.S. Forest Service firefighters out to rescue him.
[0:48:53 – 0:49:02] Erik: And throughout the 2.5-mile hike out, they had to cover their faces with gloved hands because the heat was so intense as the front of the flames pushed in on them.
[0:49:03 – 0:49:05] Adam: Yeah, they’re hiking the Keck Trail in front of this thing.
[0:49:05 – 0:49:06] Erik: Yeah.
[0:49:06 – 0:49:07] Adam: To save the Keck Man.
[0:49:07 – 0:49:08] Erik: To save the Keck Man.
[0:49:08 – 0:49:09] Erik: Keck Man.
[0:49:09 – 0:49:12] Adam: I like Keck Man better than Keck Crawler.
[0:49:12 – 0:49:13] Erik: Yeah, Keck Man is just weird.
[0:49:13 – 0:49:15] Adam: Keck Crawler is so derogatory, you know.
[0:49:15 – 0:49:17] Adam: It is kind of derogatory.
[0:49:17 – 0:49:17] Adam: He’s a hiker.
[0:49:18 – 0:49:19] Erik: Yeah.
[0:49:19 – 0:49:22] Erik: And they couldn’t even finish the trail because it was on fire.
[0:49:22 – 0:49:25] Erik: So they had to bushwhack through a swamp to get out to the parking lot.
[0:49:25 – 0:49:25] Erik: Jesus.
[0:49:25 – 0:49:27] Erik: Yeah.
[0:49:27 – 0:49:29] Erik: At 7 a.m. Did they find him?
[0:49:29 – 0:49:44] Adam: yeah they got him out what of course he was just like what sitting there drawing doodling birds no they found him doodling birds yeah i’m just out here doodling birds well he was on his way out when they ran into him he also knew something was amiss
[0:49:45 – 0:49:48] Erik: Yeah, he said that the fire burned over him.
[0:49:48 – 0:49:52] Erik: He had to burrow into the side of a rock crevice.
[0:49:52 – 0:49:53] Adam: I’m making a face right now.
[0:49:54 – 0:49:54] Adam: Yeah.
[0:49:55 – 0:49:57] Erik: It looks like a pretty intense face.
[0:49:58 – 0:50:08] Erik: Yeah, at 7 a.m., the Seagull Guard Station, this is at the Seagull Guard Station, a morning briefing was held and outlined the day’s IAP, or Incident Action Plan.
[0:50:09 – 0:50:11] Erik: What kind of donuts do they have?
[0:50:12 – 0:50:14] Erik: Oh, I don’t know if there’s, there’s no time for donuts.
[0:50:14 – 0:50:15] Erik: Jelly filled.
[0:50:16 – 0:50:17] Erik: That would be the name of the movie.
[0:50:18 – 0:50:19] Erik: No time for donuts.
[0:50:19 – 0:50:21] Adam: No time for donuts.
[0:50:21 – 0:50:25] Adam: That’s now the name of this episode for sure.
[0:50:26 – 0:50:28] Adam: Glazed with Coughlin’s fire mud.
[0:50:28 – 0:50:34] Erik: We had a few posts on the subreddit trying to cast people in the movie.
[0:50:34 – 0:50:35] Adam: I saw, yeah.
[0:50:36 – 0:50:38] Adam: I like the different ideas for Posniak.
[0:50:39 – 0:50:40] Erik: John C. Reilly was one of them.
[0:50:40 – 0:50:42] Adam: Yeah, I like Louis C.K.
[0:50:42 – 0:50:43] Adam: as a bumbling Posniak.
[0:50:43 – 0:50:44] Erik: I feel like Louis C.K.
[0:50:44 – 0:50:45] Erik: is much better.
[0:50:46 – 0:50:49] Adam: Yeah, the awkward headphones wearing Posniak.
[0:50:50 – 0:50:52] Erik: Yeah, and Tommy Lee Jones.
[0:50:52 – 0:50:53] Adam: He’s too prestigious.
[0:50:54 – 0:50:57] Erik: Tommy Lee Jones would need to be one of the more in-charge people for sure.
[0:50:57 – 0:50:59] Erik: Hugh Bear.
[0:50:59 – 0:51:00] Adam: He’s got to be Hugh Bear.
[0:51:01 – 0:51:02] Erik: Could be.
[0:51:02 – 0:51:07] Erik: I was thinking, who’s the most quintessential detective?
[0:51:07 – 0:51:09] Erik: Because that’s more what Huber is.
[0:51:09 – 0:51:14] Erik: I feel like Tommy Lee Jones would be whoever the incident commander is in charge at the time.
[0:51:15 – 0:51:17] Adam: McLaughlin from Twin Peaks.
[0:51:18 – 0:51:19] Erik: Oh, yeah, Cooper?
[0:51:19 – 0:51:20] Adam: Yeah, Agent Cooper.
[0:51:21 – 0:51:22] Erik: That would be incredible.
[0:51:22 – 0:51:22] Adam: Yeah.
[0:51:23 – 0:51:29] Erik: Yeah, there was a few comments online as well, like, yeah, how has this never been turned into a movie?
[0:51:29 – 0:51:32] Erik: It’s got a lot of the, like, it reads like a movie.
[0:51:32 – 0:51:36] Adam: You can only have one, like, movie about a terrible fire every decade.
[0:51:36 – 0:51:38] Adam: I think they just did that one that was out in…
[0:51:39 – 0:52:04] Adam: uh arizona where all those guys all those guys got did they get turned into a movie they did turn it it was like an excellent outside magazine like in-depth long form read and then they turned that into a movie with i believe kurt russell or wow no uh brolin oh yeah was like the i ain’t got no water yeah the best firefighter ever and he like let his whole team into a pit of despair
[0:52:05 – 0:52:10] Erik: Well, and unfortunately, I think the truth of the matter in terms of why this has never been turned into a movie is…
[0:52:12 – 0:52:12] Adam: They didn’t get outflanked.
[0:52:13 – 0:52:13] Adam: Nobody died.
[0:52:13 – 0:52:15] Erik: Yeah.
[0:52:15 – 0:52:17] Erik: That’s just the way Hollywood needs that tragedy.
[0:52:18 – 0:52:18] Erik: Right.
[0:52:18 – 0:52:22] Erik: I mean, not to say that this isn’t a tragedy, but I mean, it’s not enough of one.
[0:52:23 – 0:52:25] Erik: That’s my gut feeling.
[0:52:25 – 0:52:26] Erik: I could be wrong, but…
[0:52:29 – 0:52:43] Erik: Anyway, so yeah, every day there’s an IAP that gets issued, and it goes over the overall objectives for a specific operational period from 0700 to 1900, basically a 12-hour span, and
[0:52:49 – 0:52:59] Erik: And because Kurt had worked on this fire and noticed traveling early in the morning to the incident command post at the Seagull Guard Station that the fire was growing more dangerous.
[0:53:00 – 0:53:03] Erik: The objectives at this time were specifically concerned with safety.
[0:53:03 – 0:53:05] Erik: We got some bullet points here.
[0:53:06 – 0:53:08] Erik: Provide for firefighter and public safety.
[0:53:08 – 0:53:10] Adam: What kind of font is that?
[0:53:10 – 0:53:11] Adam: It’s a very serious font.
[0:53:11 – 0:53:11] Erik: It is.
[0:53:12 – 0:53:13] Erik: It’s papyrus.
[0:53:13 – 0:53:13] Erik: Oh.
[0:53:17 – 0:53:18] Adam: The most serious of fonts.
[0:53:19 – 0:53:19] Adam: Papyrus Bold.
[0:53:20 – 0:53:21] Erik: Yeah.
[0:53:21 – 0:53:22] Erik: Have you seen that SNL skit?
[0:53:22 – 0:53:23] Erik: Yes.
[0:53:24 – 0:53:26] Erik: Ryan Gosling?
[0:53:27 – 0:53:27] Erik: Papyrus.
[0:53:28 – 0:53:28] Erik: Why?
[0:53:28 – 0:53:30] Erik: Is it Avatar font?
[0:53:30 – 0:53:31] Erik: It’s just papyrus.
[0:53:31 – 0:53:32] Adam: It’s just papyrus.
[0:53:32 – 0:53:35] Erik: How did they get away with it?
[0:53:36 – 0:53:40] Erik: Provide for firefighter and public safety is the primary objective.
[0:53:41 – 0:53:43] Erik: Protect structures around Tuscarora Lodge.
[0:53:44 – 0:53:51] Erik: Minimize damages and maximize overall benefits of wildland fire within the framework of land use objectives and resource management plans.
[0:53:52 – 0:53:56] Erik: Use safe and aggressive means to contain, then control the fire.
[0:53:56 – 0:54:04] Erik: Use MIST within the BWCA Boundary Waters boundaries, providing for safety first.
[0:54:04 – 0:54:07] Erik: And MIST stands for Minimum Impact Suppression Tactics.
[0:54:07 – 0:54:09] Adam: Wow, I love that that’s an acronym.
[0:54:10 – 0:54:13] Erik: A term and practice for which most of those assembled were familiar.
[0:54:14 – 0:54:16] Adam: That’s very bad intelligence.
[0:54:16 – 0:54:17] Adam: Very, very bad.
[0:54:18 – 0:54:18] Adam: I’m sorry.
[0:54:18 – 0:54:22] Erik: I’m assuming that’s like, yeah, you don’t get to like… Is it with a Y?
[0:54:22 – 0:54:23] Erik: What was it?
[0:54:23 – 0:54:25] Erik: If it was with a Y, it’d be the old video game.
[0:54:27 – 0:54:27] Erik: It’s with an I.
[0:54:27 – 0:54:29] Adam: This is spooky as hell.
[0:54:29 – 0:54:30] Erik: You didn’t listen.
[0:54:30 – 0:54:33] Erik: It was minimum impact suppression tactics, Adam.
[0:54:35 – 0:54:39] Adam: Minimal yeetage suppression tactics.
[0:54:39 – 0:54:40] Erik: They don’t get to cut a road in.
[0:54:41 – 0:54:42] Adam: Gonna yeet this fire.
[0:54:42 – 0:54:43] Erik: Gonna yeet this fire.
[0:54:45 – 0:54:46] Adam: It ain’t funny.
[0:54:46 – 0:54:47] Adam: Quit laughing.
[0:54:48 – 0:54:53] Adam: How long did it take them to draft those bullet points and get it approved by the Council of Six?
[0:54:54 – 0:54:56] Erik: The Council of Six.
[0:54:56 – 0:55:01] Erik: Shortly thereafter, planes were back up in the air for the first check on progression of the fire.
[0:55:01 – 0:55:02] Adam: This meeting is adjourned.
[0:55:03 – 0:55:05] Erik: And everyone involved was shocked at what they saw.
[0:55:06 – 0:55:12] Erik: To quote Jody Liedholm, when I got out there, I don’t even recognize it because the fire had grown so much overnight.
[0:55:13 – 0:55:25] Erik: He also noticed the shift that the fire had made and the dangerous direction it was heading in towards the gunflint, back towards structure and back towards people.
[0:55:26 – 0:55:31] Erik: And he also noted that the fire had grown many hundreds, if not thousands of acres.
[0:55:32 – 0:55:33] Adam: Jody in the Sky.
[0:55:33 – 0:55:40] Erik: Jody in the Sky continues, I didn’t recognize anything that we had done the day before because it had gotten so much bigger.
[0:55:41 – 0:55:47] Erik: I estimated the fire on Saturday to be 750 to 800 acres.
[0:55:47 – 0:55:51] Erik: After I mapped it out in the morning, it had grown to about 7,000.
[0:55:52 – 0:55:54] Adam: Worst of all, I didn’t even recognize myself.
[0:55:56 – 0:55:57] Adam: Jody in the Sky is out.
[0:55:59 – 0:56:00] Adam: Who’s going to play Jody in the Sky?
[0:56:03 – 0:56:05] Erik: We’ll have to think about that one.
[0:56:07 – 0:56:08] Adam: That kind of fire behavior.
[0:56:08 – 0:56:10] Adam: Francis McDormand, probably.
[0:56:10 – 0:56:12] Erik: Well, it’s actually a man.
[0:56:13 – 0:56:13] Erik: I know.
[0:56:13 – 0:56:13] Erik: I know.
[0:56:14 – 0:56:15] Adam: Okay.
[0:56:15 – 0:56:16] Adam: She’s got range.
[0:56:16 – 0:56:17] Erik: Oh, actually, I could see that.
[0:56:17 – 0:56:18] Erik: Yeah.
[0:56:18 – 0:56:18] Erik: Yeah.
[0:56:19 – 0:56:30] Erik: Oh, that jogged my memory for another good Posniak, which would be, oh God, I can’t think of his name.
[0:56:31 – 0:56:32] Erik: The dad from Fargo.
[0:56:34 – 0:56:35] Erik: William C. Macy?
[0:56:35 – 0:56:35] Erik: Yes.
[0:56:36 – 0:56:37] Erik: William H. Macy.
[0:56:38 – 0:56:39] Erik: William T. Macy.
[0:56:40 – 0:56:40] Erik: He’s from Thoreau.
[0:56:41 – 0:56:43] Adam: I think he would be a really good… Because you kind of want to…
[0:56:43 – 0:56:45] Adam: He’s too thin to be a Pozniak.
[0:56:45 – 0:56:46] Adam: You’ve got to chunk up.
[0:56:47 – 0:56:49] Adam: He’s kind of got that… Got to eat some donuts.
[0:56:49 – 0:56:56] Erik: He’s kind of got that snakey vibe where he can play a guy who is acting…
[0:56:56 – 0:56:57] Erik: Especially in the scene where he’s lying.
[0:56:58 – 0:57:00] Erik: Just reminds me of the scene where he’s like…
[0:57:01 – 0:57:09] Erik: blackening in the serial numbers on the vehicle plates so the dealer doesn’t recognize him and he’s lying to the police.
[0:57:09 – 0:57:10] Erik: Anyway.
[0:57:10 – 0:57:12] Adam: I’ll just shoot him right on over to you.
[0:57:12 – 0:57:13] Adam: I mean, fax him.
[0:57:13 – 0:57:14] Adam: Yeah, I’ll shoot him over to you.
[0:57:14 – 0:57:15] Erik: No, you can just read him.
[0:57:15 – 0:57:18] Erik: No, no, I’ll fax him.
[0:57:18 – 0:57:19] Adam: No funny business here.
[0:57:19 – 0:57:23] Erik: Jody continued, that kind of fire behavior is unheard of for that time of year.
[0:57:24 – 0:57:30] Erik: Fires usually don’t burn well in early May at night, especially way up on the Arrowhead region of Minnesota.
[0:57:30 – 0:57:33] Erik: Over the next several minutes, he provided the MIFC.
[0:57:35 – 0:57:42] Erik: I think that’s an acronym that I don’t have in front of me, but it sounds like the Minnesota Incident Fire Command?
[0:57:43 – 0:57:45] Erik: Dispatch and John Stegmaier.
[0:57:45 – 0:57:45] Erik: MIFC.
[0:57:47 – 0:58:03] Erik: Um, the relevant parts of each of the following fire categories, approximate number of acres, 7,000 and growing fast fire behavior for both the flanks and head of the fire, a crowning spotting fire, the most intense fuel.
[0:58:04 – 0:58:18] Erik: The fire had numerous fuel types to feed upon, including grass, regan, or regen, which counts as hardwood and conifer, aspen, hardwoods, conifers, and slash, so everything.
[0:58:19 – 0:58:21] Erik: Spread potential and direction.
[0:58:21 – 0:58:25] Erik: It was spreading fast, showing no signs of abatement, and it was turning north.
[0:58:26 – 0:58:29] Adam: Worst of all, Posnick had left a bag of marshmallows on the portage.
[0:58:31 – 0:58:32] Erik: Values threatened.
[0:58:32 – 0:58:35] Erik: There were people, structures, and lots of forest in its path.
[0:58:36 – 0:58:52] Erik: Other fire considerations Jody covered include containment chance, estimated time commitment for tankers, percentage of knockdown slash contained, response to control efforts, and structures threatened, none of which he related to any of his constituents was positive.
[0:58:53 – 0:59:05] Erik: More specifically, for Greg Peterson and John Stegmaier at the ICP, he covered strategic strategy slash tactic recommendations and additional resources needed.
[0:59:05 – 0:59:08] Erik: For each of the preceding relevant categories, the news was bad.
[0:59:09 – 0:59:11] Erik: There was much more fuel than he previously had thought.
[0:59:11 – 0:59:22] Erik: Not only had the fire shifted toward areas that contained more fuel, but the winter drought conditions meant snow had not bedded down the grasses and marshlands as it would have during a normal winter.
[0:59:23 – 0:59:30] Erik: The head of the fire was now nearly two miles long, making the spread potential extremely high, especially given the turbulent winds.
[0:59:31 – 0:59:37] Erik: And for both values threatened and structures threatened, the news was particularly bad.
[0:59:37 – 0:59:43] Erik: Unless the apparent path of the fire changed, the number of structures that could be burned could be catastrophic.
[0:59:44 – 0:59:50] Erik: And of course, anyone who resided in the area, particularly in the path of this crowning and spotting fire, was in danger.
[0:59:51 – 0:59:52] Erik: They needed to evacuate.
[0:59:53 – 1:00:16] Erik: um so the timing of this fire was a blessing and a curse so with it being early in the season there weren’t nearly as many seasonal residents that could be less evacuations less evacuations but that also meant that nearly none of the fire suppression sprinkler systems had been turned on or were even running um
[1:00:17 – 1:00:25] Erik: From a firefighting standpoint, it was also a curse because the personnel and equipment typically prepared to respond to fires were not up and running at full capacity.
[1:00:25 – 1:00:32] Erik: So response and help from around the state were slower than it would have been later into a fire season.
[1:00:36 – 1:00:42] Erik: Yeah, so Jody worked with Greg Peterson and John Stegmaier to come up with a general plan for the day.
[1:00:43 – 1:00:51] Erik: The mission, as Jody saw it, was to hold the fire south of the Gunflint Trail, to hopefully keep it south and west of the highway.
[1:00:51 – 1:01:00] Erik: He would also be doing individual structure protection, but he doubted, given the fire and wind, he would have any ability to do anything with the head of the fire.
[1:01:01 – 1:01:06] Erik: All we could do was try and check it the best we could and save whatever we could, recalled Jody.
[1:01:07 – 1:01:10] Erik: There were so many people down on the ground who had no idea where the fire was.
[1:01:11 – 1:01:13] Erik: They thought they were maybe at the end of the fire.
[1:01:14 – 1:01:17] Erik: And heck no, it was a mile west of them already.
[1:01:17 – 1:01:20] Erik: And it was spotting an eighth of a mile to a quarter of a mile ahead of itself.
[1:01:21 – 1:01:22] Adam: Heck no.
[1:01:22 – 1:01:27] Erik: I remember talking to my pilot and saying, if somebody gets killed today, it’s not going to surprise me.
[1:01:27 – 1:01:28] Erik: It’s chaos down there.
[1:01:32 – 1:01:42] Erik: By noon on the second day of the fire, an evacuation order for the end of the gunflint had been ordered by the sheriff and plans for a burnout were being drawn up.
[1:01:46 – 1:01:47] Erik: which is where we’re going to end.
[1:01:49 – 1:01:54] Adam: You know, one of the best ways to stop a forest fire is to bring up its past.
[1:01:55 – 1:02:02] Adam: Somebody posted a wonderful comic by Pyle on the subreddit.
[1:02:02 – 1:02:04] Erik: But that’s not fair.
[1:02:06 – 1:02:07] Erik: That’s not fair.
[1:02:07 – 1:02:08] Erik: Bring up my past?
[1:02:08 – 1:02:09] Erik: Yeah.
[1:02:09 – 1:02:27] Adam: yeah uh so there’s it’s still after the second day it’s still south of the gumblin trail hasn’t even reached seagull so this thing hasn’t even it’s still pretty much contained in the grand scheme of things well yeah i went on off the word to where it’s going
[1:02:28 – 1:02:50] Adam: considering yeah what ended up happening yeah it probably does look like it seems with the winds the way they were that uh you know i was i did not i’ve seen the map of like the day-by-day progression but i always pictured it like if you’re saying the winds are sustained at 20 and gusting that like most of the spread would have happened in the first two days but i mean really after two days it’s still south of the trail
[1:02:50 – 1:02:58] Erik: Well, considering that it burns almost 100,000 acres, and at the end of day two, it’s less than 10,000.
[1:02:58 – 1:02:59] Adam: Yeah, it’s not even, yeah.
[1:03:00 – 1:03:03] Erik: You can tell, like, we’re still, like, we still are waiting to get into.
[1:03:03 – 1:03:05] Adam: Canada hasn’t had a taste of this thing yet.
[1:03:05 – 1:03:07] Adam: Let’s just see what we can whip up.
[1:03:07 – 1:03:09] Erik: Yeah, it burned mostly in Canada.
[1:03:09 – 1:03:10] Adam: All right, Canada.
[1:03:10 – 1:03:11] Adam: Yeah.
[1:03:11 – 1:03:11] Adam: Pozniak.
[1:03:13 – 1:03:17] Erik: Yeah, so there’s not another good spot to end for a bit.
[1:03:19 – 1:03:21] Adam: I got to go on and get.
[1:03:22 – 1:03:22] Erik: Yeah, you’ve got to.
[1:03:22 – 1:03:30] Adam: I’m going out camping this weekend, car camping, but I still got to get myself prepared before I head into work tomorrow, so.
[1:03:31 – 1:03:31] Adam: Can’t go on.
[1:03:32 – 1:03:33] Adam: We’re going to make this a three-parter.
[1:03:33 – 1:03:37] Adam: Eric’s got to update his Adobe Flash player once again, it looks like.
[1:03:37 – 1:03:38] Erik: Yeah, geez.
[1:03:38 – 1:03:39] Erik: Adobe!
[1:03:39 – 1:03:40] Erik: Just leave me alone.
[1:03:40 – 1:03:41] Adam: Shut up!
[1:03:41 – 1:03:42] Adam: You’re working fine.
[1:03:42 – 1:03:47] Erik: And then I guarantee you when I go to click Remind Me Later, it will still fire up Chrome.
[1:03:47 – 1:03:47] Adam: I know.
[1:03:48 – 1:03:49] Adam: You mean now?
[1:03:49 – 1:03:49] Adam: Are you sure?
[1:03:49 – 1:03:50] Adam: I think you mean now.
[1:03:51 – 1:03:52] Adam: I think you should just do it, Eric.
[1:03:54 – 1:03:55] Adam: All right, well, we’ll leave it there.
[1:03:55 – 1:03:58] Adam: Next week on the show, we will…
[1:03:59 – 1:04:20] Adam: probably we’re gonna we’re gonna finish it next week well we’ll see we’ll make any promises your body can’t cash i always make promises that my body can’t cash be careful with fires out there um and don’t uh i saw the fire ninjas low because all the of all the rain we’ve gotten but then like the next day i got a message on the phone
[1:04:22 – 1:04:23] Adam: Special weather statement.
[1:04:24 – 1:04:24] Adam: Low humidity.
[1:04:25 – 1:04:26] Adam: Gusty winds.
[1:04:26 – 1:04:27] Erik: Red flag warning.
[1:04:27 – 1:04:28] Adam: Yeah.
[1:04:28 – 1:04:29] Adam: Don’t burn anything.
[1:04:30 – 1:04:32] Adam: There’s still no leaves on the trees.
[1:04:33 – 1:04:33] Adam: No.
[1:04:33 – 1:04:36] Adam: So, you know, you just got to be real extra careful this time of year.
[1:04:36 – 1:04:47] Erik: We’ve been going back and forth the last couple of weeks to and from the cities, and I would say the line of green as it marches from south to north is still not even really to Hinkley yet.
[1:04:48 – 1:04:52] Adam: There’s definitely some green and some The yard’s starting to green up here, it looks like.
[1:04:52 – 1:04:53] Erik: Yeah, a little bit of yard green.
[1:04:53 – 1:05:00] Adam: Got a little green in the yard for sure, but we got the first frog of the year, but we’re still a ways off from the first true leafage.
[1:05:02 – 1:05:02] Erik: Yeah, I think we are.
[1:05:03 – 1:05:09] Erik: And yeah, with that, I hope maybe some of you are out enjoying some of those open waters.
[1:05:09 – 1:05:10] Erik: There’s open water.
[1:05:10 – 1:05:14] Erik: Clearwater is imminently going to be icing out.
[1:05:14 – 1:05:15] Erik: I was up there yesterday.
[1:05:15 – 1:05:16] Erik: There’s a few sheets bouncing around.
[1:05:17 – 1:05:21] Adam: Yeah, I was still at Devil’s Track, and I don’t know if Poplar’s out yet, but I don’t know.
[1:05:21 – 1:05:26] Adam: So there’s definitely some bigger lakes that are going out, and then it snowed an inch right after that.
[1:05:26 – 1:05:26] Adam: Mm-hmm.
[1:05:27 – 1:05:29] Adam: You know how everybody feels about that nice spring snow.
[1:05:30 – 1:05:30] Adam: Yeah.
[1:05:30 – 1:05:31] Adam: They’re real amiable.
[1:05:32 – 1:05:37] Erik: Well, there’s a classic comic that you see this time of year where it’s like November, a man standing in front of a window.
[1:05:37 – 1:05:38] Erik: Hey, look, everybody, it’s snowing.
[1:05:38 – 1:05:41] Adam: I catch a snowflake in my tongue.
[1:05:41 – 1:05:42] Adam: He’s just brooding.
[1:05:42 – 1:05:44] Adam: Is somebody shooting a gun at the snow?
[1:05:44 – 1:05:44] Adam: Yeah.
[1:05:44 – 1:05:46] Adam: You can’t shoot snow.
[1:05:46 – 1:05:52] Adam: It’s literally in a state of being that you cannot, your bullets can’t comprehend.
[1:05:52 – 1:05:55] Erik: No, bullets can’t comprehend in general and definitely not snow.
[1:05:58 – 1:05:58] Adam: All right, well.
[1:05:58 – 1:06:00] Adam: Well, excellent work once again, Eric.
[1:06:02 – 1:06:03] Adam: I’m on the edge of my seat, as usual.
[1:06:04 – 1:06:14] Erik: Yeah, and next week, I mean, if this was a movie, next week’s episode would be like the third act, like the dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun, like literally driving through flames.
[1:06:15 – 1:06:23] Erik: And the whole burnout slash backburn operation gets like, that could be a whole set piece in and of itself.
[1:06:23 – 1:06:23] Erik: Backburn.
[1:06:24 – 1:06:48] Erik: like at one point they’re in this they’re in a uh a gravel pit and this big dozer trailer comes driving in and then like the only way back out is for it to back out and like at one point it almost jackknives and traps everybody in the fire pit or in the the gravel pit it’s the only way out and the fire is like coming over this hill and they didn’t order the dozers they don’t know why they’re there who ordered these dozers yeah
[1:06:49 – 1:06:51] Adam: Somebody filled out the wrong form.
[1:06:51 – 1:06:52] Erik: The wrong IAP form.
[1:06:52 – 1:06:57] Adam: I think somebody needs to go check back at HQ, get the right formage.
[1:06:58 – 1:07:00] Erik: You’re going to have to head back to HQ before we can get you out of this pit.
[1:07:00 – 1:07:02] Adam: I’m going to fax this down to St. Paul.
[1:07:03 – 1:07:03] Adam: All right.
[1:07:03 – 1:07:04] Adam: We’ll see about that.
[1:07:04 – 1:07:08] Erik: Send us more of your casting in any of these roles for the future movie.
[1:07:08 – 1:07:12] Erik: We are going to be transitioning into Tumble Home Studios to get this put together.
[1:07:13 – 1:07:16] Erik: Any executive producers out there, hit us up.
[1:07:16 – 1:07:18] Adam: I still want to play Jesse from Act 1.
[1:07:19 – 1:07:22] Adam: That’s no campfire.
[1:07:22 – 1:07:24] Adam: That’s a rolling crown fire.
[1:07:24 – 1:07:24] Adam: End scene.
[1:07:25 – 1:07:26] Erik: My God, he nailed it.
[1:07:26 – 1:07:29] Erik: Yeah, I mean, I would just play these last two episodes.
[1:07:29 – 1:07:30] Adam: I just want to be like a side character.
[1:07:30 – 1:07:33] Erik: I don’t want to be an extra.
[1:07:33 – 1:07:36] Erik: We would pull the Hitchcock and Tarantino maneuver.
[1:07:36 – 1:07:36] Erik: Yeah, absolutely.
[1:07:36 – 1:07:37] Erik: We’re kind of in it.
[1:07:37 – 1:07:38] Adam: For sure.
[1:07:38 – 1:07:42] Adam: Maybe I’ll be one of the eight guys that sees Posniak the first day.
[1:07:42 – 1:07:45] Adam: I’ll be one of the silent paddlers.
[1:07:45 – 1:07:46] Adam: Silent paddler number five.
[1:07:47 – 1:07:49] Erik: Or one of the couple from Ohio.
[1:07:49 – 1:07:51] Adam: I don’t want to be the couple from Ohio.
[1:07:51 – 1:07:52] Adam: No way.
[1:07:52 – 1:07:52] Adam: Okay, fair enough.
[1:07:53 – 1:07:53] Adam: Oh, thanks.
[1:07:54 – 1:07:55] Erik: Careful with your spring fires.
[1:07:55 – 1:07:57] Adam: Go on back to Cincinnati with your weird chili.
[1:07:59 – 1:08:00] Erik: Skyline chili.
[1:08:00 – 1:08:01] Erik: Put it on spaghetti.
[1:08:02 – 1:08:03] Adam: It’s spaghetti.
[1:08:03 – 1:08:03] Adam: All right.
[1:08:04 – 1:08:07] Adam: This has been a true gem.
[1:08:07 – 1:08:11] Adam: Can’t wait to see how this one wraps up.
[1:08:11 – 1:08:11] Adam: Anything else?
[1:08:12 – 1:08:14] Adam: Otherwise, I have got to go on and get…
[1:08:15 – 1:08:15] Erik: Happy paddling.
[1:08:16 – 1:08:17] Erik: Arrivederci.
[1:08:17 – 1:08:19] Erik: Yeah, every day is a miracle.
[1:08:19 – 1:08:25] Erik: And we’ll see you next week for the conclusion of The Ham Like Fire.
[1:08:25 – 1:08:27] Adam: Thanks for listening.
[1:08:27 – 1:08:29] Erik: Get out of here, Adobe.
