On August 5, 1949, 16 trained smokejumpers leapt from a Douglas DC-3 airplane into Mann Gulch, a rugged terrain enclosed by the Missouri River. It was supposed to be just another day in their daily job of fighting fires, but nature had different plans.
As they descended towards the fire running towards the river, unexpected winds changed its direction, sending the fire upwards at a rapid pace directly towards them. The firefighters turned and started running uphill away from the fire, but it was moving much faster than they were, even after most of the men had abandoned their heavy equipment.
While everyone was desperately running uphill, the group leader, Wagner Dodge, came up with a bizarre plan: to start another fire. This technique of creating an escape fire came intuitively to Dodge, but despite his efforts to convince the others to join him, most kept running.
Dodge managed to survive by protecting himself in the area he had burned, but 13 of the other 15 men perished that day. Expertise, while crucial, can sometimes blind us to unconventional solutions. Even in fields we feel we've mastered, we should remain open to the unusual and unexpected because reality can and often does, defy the norm.
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