Presenting Outside Podcast: The Sky Is Burning

Published August 18, 2023 at 5:37 AM EDT

Looking west at the 2011 Pagami Creek Wildfire. Greg Welch took this photo approximately 15 minutes before the fire hit him and his wife, Julie. (credit: Greg Welch)

This week we’re featuring an episode of the Outside Podcast from Outside Magazine.

In August 2011, a lightning strike hit the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota, and the Pagami Creek Wildfire started. But the wildfire was in a bog, surrounded by lakes – the kind of fire you could pretty much ignore.

At least that’s what Greg and Julie Welch thought, who were on their annual camping trip.

Left: The Pagami Creek Fire in August 2011. Right: A photo of the same location one year later. (credit: Greg Welch)

But when conditions suddenly changed, the couple found themselves directly in the fire’s path. And it was moving fast.

“And all I could see was a wall of fire and it was just insane,” said Julie. “At that moment – that’s when I panicked.”

“I literally thought to myself, ‘This might be the last day, right now,’” Greg said.

Julie and Greg Welch with their dog Penelope, a couple years after the Pagami Creek Wildfire. (credit: Greg Welch)

Credits for Outside Podcast:
Producer / Editor: Peter Frick-Wright
Narrator / Sound Designer: Robbie Carver
Music: Robbie Carver
The episode was based on a story written by Frank Bures for Outside Online.