Cal Fire disavows any role in upcoming CBS drama ‘Fire Country’ starring actor from Sonoma County

Throughout the trailer for the upcoming CBS drama series, “Fire Country,” the words Cal Fire are written on fire trucks, uniforms, shirts and paperwork.

But Joe Tyler, director and 31-year veteran of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), wants Cal Fire staff to know that the department is not affiliated in any way with the television show set to premiere this fall.

The series is about a group of prison inmates helping to fight wildfires alongside Cal Fire in Northern California. The show stars 2006 El Molino High School graduate Max Thieriot and was inspired, according to CBS, by his experiences growing up in Sonoma County.

Tyler’s May 24 statement was distributed departmentwide. It said that Cal Fire, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and Cal Fire Local 2881, an affiliate of the International Association of Firefighters that represents over 7,000 current and retired Cal Fire employees, had no involvement with the series.

Moreover, Tyler criticized the show’s depiction of firefighters.

He released the statement after seeing the show’s trailer, which included a scene involving inmate firefighters getting into a fight with Cal Fire firefighters.

“This television series is a misrepresentation of the professional all-hazards fire department and resource protection agency that Cal Fire is,” Tyler wrote. “The dramatization of inmate firefighters fighting members of Cal Fire is a poor reflection of the value of our Camps Program and the incredible work and leadership of our fire captains who supervise our handcrews,” he continued.

“While we cannot prevent this television series from airing, I believe it is important for each of you to hear from me directly that the Department was not involved in its creation or support,” Tyler wrote.

According to Nick Schuler, deputy director of Cal Fire Sacramento Communications office, Cal Fire received an email several months ago from the show’s producers with questions about buying safety gear from the department, which Cal Fire declined, but beyond that the department was not consulted on anything related to the show.

Representatives of CBS did not return a message seeking comment.

The show will air Fridays at 9 p.m.