camera crew in front of wildfire

CNN Presents: Summer of Fire

The summer of 2002 brought one of the most intense fire seasons in fifty years. Drought and overgrown forests led to huge conflagrations that raged hot and wild. Three states saw their biggest fires in a century. Tackling these blazes are thousands of firefighters and personnel, confronting the flames like an enemy on the battlefield. CNN National Correspondent Bruce Burkhardt brings the audience to that battle, with an inside view from the fire line on the summer’s biggest blaze, the half-million-acre Biscuit Fire in Oregon. And our crew shadows a twenty-person Hot Shot squad for a two-week shift on some of the most challenging flames of a Summer of Fire. Summer of Fire aired June 8th and 14th of 2003.