When Bernie the bear and his other animal cohorts make a practice of extinguishing every fire that starts in the forest, they realize that the trees are choking out open meadows and not allowing berry bushes and other foods they depend on to grow. One day, an uncontrollable fire devastates the forest, and the animals mistakenly believe their world has ended. Soon, however, new growth provides them with a bounty of food, and they realize how important fire is to the health of the forest.