{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Pionerd","title":"Born From the Ashes: How the 1910 Baudette Fire Created the Minnesota Forest Service","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":721,"description":"SHOW DESCRIPTION: On the evening of October 7, 1910, a terrifying hurricane of fire swept across the Rainy River basin, leveling the twin border towns of Baudette and Spooner in under two hours. Driven by a severe regional drought, miles of discarded logging slash, and a tragic political budget cut that pulled state fire rangers off duty just thirty-six days earlier, the Baudette-Spooner Fire burned over 300,000 acres and claimed over forty lives. Ranking as the third-deadliest wildfire and second-largest by acreage in Minnesota history, the catastrophe could have been far worse without a daring rescue across the international border by Canadian boxcars and riverboats. On this episode of Pionerd: The Minnesota Edition, host Robert Thomas uncovers the harrowing story of the 1910 forest fire, an inferno of systemic neglect that forged a heroic international rescue, unified rival communities, and forced an outraged state to create the Minnesota Forest Service out of the ashes.\nKEY TOPICS & HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS:\nThe Infernal Autumn & A Systemic Cut: A months-long drought, dry peat bogs, and miles of abandoned logging slash create a powder keg—just as the state exhausts its fire fund and recalls every ranger off the beat.\nThe 7:30 PM Alarm & The Steel Lifeline: Four fire fronts merge into a single roaring firestorm, forcing a frantic evacuation of typhoid patients and refugees aboard a Canadian Northern Railway train across the steel international bridge.\nHeroism on the Rainy River: From Myra Burt lifting separated infants aboard boxcars in Ontario to Siebert Hagen holding his children shoulder-deep in the river for thirty agonizing minutes as the wall of flame passed over.\nMinnesota’s 3rd Deadliest Fire & The Search in the Ashes: A devastating reckoning across 300,000 acres, the tragedy of families caught in suffocating cellars, and the volunteer search parties cutting through miles of fallen timber.\nBorn From the Ashes — The Minnesota Forest Service: How local...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/TBzQA953XT-5pUk9GpM9Lck7NRVoPLOa3qejYqJMdT4/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9kMmRi/MTE5YzRmZTQ3ZjFk/ZjQ0OWUzODdkNGVm/MmVhMC5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}