Convict Larry Durant escapes from an Oregon road gang, and starts a fire in a forest, which goes out of control and threatens to destroy a small mountain community. Involved are a lumber mill owner, Sam Brisbane; Martha Wagner, the widowed operator of a forest lodge; teacher, Harriet Malone, who is on a class outing; a country doctor, Doc Bennett, and a young couple, Doctors Alex and Peggy Wilson, whose shaky marriage is healed when battling the blaze brings out their better natures.