• 25. 11. 2024, 22:30

EP. 04. In this installment, we turn up the heat to examine a natural phenomenon that is both a friend, and a foe to humankind. Some 2 to 400 thousand years ago our ancestors had learned how to create and control fire….. a step vital to human development. We won’t quite be going back quite that far on this episode, but we do travel back in time to remind ourselves that dangerous and deadly fires are a fact of life, as immutable as the wind, the rain or the seasons. They can happen anywhere: a smart departmental store in the center of Brussels, a nightclub on Rhode Island where a band called Great White came to play. Their special effects pyrotechnics show caught fire alright. When it did, it killed 100 people, injuring dozens more. Whatever the time and place, firefighters are still expected to go rushing into a burning building as everyone else goes rushing out. Firefighters are required to pull heavy lengths of hose, to scale stairs while carrying giant power tools, and lift 35-foot long wooden ladders.