Fire Country, 9-1-1 and more shows have publicly thanked firefighters and first responders who are still fighting the ongoing Los Angeles wildfires.
CBS released a PSA on Thursday, January 16, that featured cast members from shows such as Fire Country, The Neighborhood, Ghosts, Poppa’s House, NCIS and Elsbeth rallying for donations to support residents affected by the tragedy.
Fire Country’s Max Thieriot, Stephanie Arcila, Jules Latimer, Kevin Alejandro, Billy Burke and Diane Farr thanked responders and encouraged donations to the Red Cross.
“We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to all of the firefighters and first responders who are risking their lives and tirelessly battling the wildfires in southern California,” Thieriot, 36, said in the video. “You are true heroes.”
Amid the rapidly changing natural disaster, CBS pulled a Fire Country rerun that was to air January 10. The hit series follows inmate Bode (Thieriot) as he gets a chance to shorten his prison sentence by volunteering for the California Conservation Camp Program. Bode gets assigned to his hometown, where he reconnects with his family and former friends and continues to make attempts to redeem himself.
Kevin Alejandro as Manny Perez Sergei Bachlakov/CBS
Wildfires broke out in the Pacific Palisades on January 7 and quickly spread throughout other parts of Los Angeles. Many celebrities who live in the area have offered updates about losing their homes and personal belongings.
Thieriot, 36, who is the lead and executive producer on the project, previously spoke to Us Weekly about his experience growing up in real fire country.
“That’s probably the biggest thing that I’m always trying to do better. I have a lot of friends that do this job and so it’s always important to me to portray it in the best way possible. Obviously this is still a fictional story but that doesn’t fall short on me,” he explained in May 2024. “Obviously the bigger the world gets, the more my focus is sort of spread out across a lot of things. But it’s all about having trust in the whole team. And trusting that when everybody pitches their ideas and we all come together that we’re gonna find the best one for the series.”
Thieriot also highlighted some important causes such as the Wildland Firefighter Foundation, which provides immediate and long term assistance to fallen and injured firefighters and their families.
Max Thieriot as Bode Leone and Billy Burke as Vince Leone Eike Schroter/CBS
“Obviously, we have a big platform where we can reach a lot of people. I took a little bit of a poll from a bunch of wildland firefighters that I know. I got back the same feedback from a lot of these people who are boots on the ground firefighters and they said this was an organization that really represented the community well and were really trying to make a difference for them,” he told Us in October 2024. “Wildland firefighters — especially on the government side — really have been underpaid at a time where we really need the resources to fight these fires and need to have firefighters out there willing to make these sacrifices.”
He concluded: “There’s been a lot of people recently who have been reflecting on the job and the toll that it takes. They are asking, ‘Is this worth it for me to be doing this when I could basically make more money doing almost anything and my life is at risk?’ Those people just need to feel supported and their families need to feel supported. The money goes to help firefighters who are injured. It goes to help their families when they lose family members in the line of duty. To me, it just felt like a really important cause.”
When it comes to firefighter TV shows, there are plenty for fans to choose from — including Chicago Fire, Fire Country and 9-1-1. Dick Wolf’s Chicago Fire premiered in 2012 and gave life to the One Chicago universe with spinoffs Chicago P.D. and Chicago Med. “The challenge always is that we reflect and we edify […]
In addition to Fire Country‘s attempts to raise awareness, ABC’s 9-1-1 issued a statement on social media about how the show “is honored to tell stories about the courage of real-life first responders. We thank them for their bravery fighting the L.A. wildfires and are proud to support their efforts through Disney’s $15 million donation for immediate response and rebuilding efforts, which includes support of the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation, among other organizations.”
Check the LAFD website for local wildfire alerts and click here for resources on how to help those affected.
