Horrific images of wildfires sweeping California in 2010 made headlines around the world, but such scenes are an annual event, and armies of firefighters remain on hand to save threatened wilderness and communities.

Fire Wars follows the men and women of the Arrowhead Hotshots as they tackle blazes during the long hot summer of 2000 -- one of the worst wildfire seasons on record, with more than six million acres destroyed. The season erupted with a supposedly controlled burn of excess fuel at Los Alamos, New Mexico. The fire spread, consuming hundreds of homes and threatening a nuclear facility.

From their base in King's Canyon National Park, California, the Hotshots -- one of 65 specialist crews trained to deal with wildfires, which can be lethally unpredictable -- are seen in action at the Clear Creek fire that burned for almost two months and at one stage razed 20,000 acres in just three hours.

This two-part film traces the history of the war on wildfires, which dates to the devastating season of 1910, in which entire towns were destroyed and scores of firefighters died. It also examines the delicate balance of nature, where fire plays a vital role in the cycle of forest renewal.