![]() Through this show, we get to see people from two completely different walks of life,” he said, pointing out the juxtaposition of prison inmates working with blue-collar firefighters, each with their story. “For me, it’s also an opportunity to have a big platform to be able to try and bring something positive to the world that is still really divided. It also can shed some light on issues that may get overlooked, like the challenges facing Gold Star families and people dealing with PTSD, he said. Thieriot, an insanely busy actor who also signed on for a sixth season of “SEAL Team” as well as an initial 13 episodes of “Fire Country,” sees the new show as a story about redemption and second chances. We will really get to know Edgewater as a character and build that world out and understand how firefighters are heroes.” We get into our characters’ personal lives and the people who the firefighters are custodians of. It’s a show that goes home with our heroes,” Napolitano said. “This isn’t just a show about firefighting. Napolitano said she “grew up in the Shondaland camp” of well-known producer Shonda Rhimes, writing for such shows as “Grey’s Anatomy,” where deep topical research was expected for any storyline.īoth believe “Fire Country,” however, is not just a flashy action show with a lot of stunts and special effects. Napolitano notes that the show relies on expert consultants, including two firefighters assigned to the set as technical advisers to ensure they’re using the right props and techniques. “The consensus among them is they’re all very excited.” “I have many friends who are firefighters in Sonoma County, folks from all different departments, who I have spoken to throughout this entire process,” he said. Thieriot maintains that the story is based on expert input from firefighters he knows in Sonoma County. After viewing a trailer for the show last spring, Cal Fire and the union that represents its rank-and-file firefighters issued a statement disavowing any involvement with the series and criticizing its depiction of firefighters. ![]() “Fire Country” uses the Cal Fire name and dramatizes interactions between state and inmate firefighters. Nonetheless, local place names are dropped into the dialogue: Bodega Highway, Highway 101 and Glen Ellen (where Cal Fire maintains a station). They instead looked for locations in British Columbia that evoked Humboldt County, where Thieriot places his fictional Edgewater, described as “200 miles north of San Francisco.” “And yet, it’s hard to justify spending all that extra money to be there.” And it’s so unfortunate because it’s obviously a great place to film,” Thieriot said. “It’s the reality of California these days. As it turned out, cost and other roadblocks pushed the filming location north to Canada. His wife, Lexi, however, warned him that wouldn’t happen. Thieriot said he had long dreamed of filming the show in Sonoma, Lake and Napa counties, perhaps working out of a soundstage at Mare Island, to “really visually capture” the landscape of the North Coast. We’re really transporting the audience to a small town in Northern California.” “We’re not just inventing the authenticity he brings to the table, whether it’s wardrobe or music. “He has so many small-town stories, so many Northern California stories, so many firefighting stories,” Napolitano said. The personal experience Thieriot brings to the show “can’t be beat,” said Tia Napolitano, showrunner and executive producer for “Fire Country.” ![]() As the first two episodes unfold, it becomes clear that Bode, a onetime golden boy and baseball player whose life fell to pieces, has demons he doesn’t want to face. For Bode, it’s a chance to get out of a cell, earn a little money (very little, as prisoners make just $2 to $5 a day) and get time shaved off his sentence.īut to his dismay, he’s assigned to a camp in his hometown of Edgewater, a fictional Northern California village slightly bigger than, but not unlike, Occidental. California has been using prison labor to help fight wildfires since World War II. In “Fire Country,” Thieriot plays Bode Donovan, a convict recruited to serve in one of the state’s rural penal firefighting camps. And after it was all over, I was driving around, and it was just hard to digest … all over Mark West, and then to drive past and see (Cardinal) Newman (High School) and Coffey Park. “People just couldn’t imagine this ever happening. It was so surreal and unbelievable that this fire was spreading where it was,” he recalled. As it was for anyone in Napa and Sonoma counties who lived through that traumatic time, the dueling Tubbs and Nuns Canyon fires that ripped through Santa Rosa and the upper Sonoma Valley left an indelible impression on him. ![]()
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