Summary SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Fire Country revolves around a group of prisoners assisting the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, aka Cal Fire, via the California Conservation Camp Program. Cal Fire is a real-life fire department on the West Coast that protects millions of acres of forests.
The main protagonist of Fire Country is Bode Leone, played by Max Thieriot, who is one of the inmates looking to shorten his prison sentence by volunteering for Cal Fire. The rest of the cast includes Kevin Alejandro as Manny Perez, Jordan Calloway as Jake Crawford, Stephanie Arcila as Gabriela Perez, Jules Latimer as Eve Edwards, Diane Farr as Sharon Leone, and Billy Burke as Vince Leone.
Why The Real Cal Fire Criticized Fire Country's Accuracy According to The Los Angeles Times, the director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Joe Tyler, expressed his disdain for Fire Country's portrayal of Cal Fire in an email. Even though he had only seen the trailer for the CBS action drama series, Tyler was unhappy with how the cast and crew were going to depict the notable fire department.
The cast and crew of Fire Country were obviously disappointed with Cal Fire's response to the show. However, they acknowledged that they were making a fictional television series, not a documentary. Of course, some aspects of the fire department had to be dramatized for the sake of entertainment. Whatever the case, the show had a successful first season, and CBS renewed Fire Country for season 2 prior to the 2023 writers and actors strikes.
Cal Fire attempted to take legal measures against the television series for using its name and wanted to make it a requirement for each episode to include a disclaimer regarding its alleged inaccurate depiction of the department. However, Cal Fire's attempts were fruitless. Fire Country is still able to use the Cal Fire name and does not have to add a disclaimer during each hour.