The events described are identical to those in London's original novel. A man is travelling among the Alaskan wilderness with his dog, with temperatures at 75 degress below zero. As Orson Wells's solemn voiceover suggests, this man is perhaps unprepared for the climate. At first, things look easy, but as his toes get numb because of the temperature and the traps the nature provided, to build a fire finally becomes a matter of life and death.