Is 'Fire Country' Based on a True Story?

The CBS series Fire Country follows the story of Bode Donavan (played by show co-creator Max Thieriot), who is fresh off of five years in prison and enrolled in a work-release program. As part of the program, Donavan works alongside firefighters to battle blazes across Northern California.

Thieriot told Collider that he didn't plan on starring in the series, but one thing led to another and soon he couldn't imagine any other scenario. "In the beginning, my intentions were to try to create this world and pitch it, and then have them make a show, best case scenario," he said. "And then, the more into it I got and the deeper I got, and the more time I spent with it, the more I became attached to it."

Fortunately for him, audiences became attached to the show, too: According to Deadline, Fire Country started pulling in 10 million-plus viewers per episode in March. If there's one thing all fans of the series have asked themselves at one point or another, it's whether or not the CBS show is based on a true story.

Is Fire Country based on a true story?

While the characters and plot of Fire Country aren't based on real people and events, the show is very loosely inspired by a real program called CalFire, which allows imprisoned men and women to earn early parole by working as firefighters.

Related: Is Yellowjackets Based on a True Story?

“Because of growing up in Northern California, it was normal, everyday life for me, seeing conservation camp crews work alongside the highway and on the fire lines driving around,” Thieriot told Variety. “Then I realized folks that aren’t from up there, specifically, didn’t really know this was a thing a few years ago.”

His Northern California roots (he grew up in a town called Occidental) and exposure to both wildfires and the men and women who fight them was one impetus for Thieriot's show. But the way the CalFire program works in Fire Country is not actually how it operates in real life—the series has taken creative liberties.

That Fire Country isn't totally true-to-life makes sense, given that it's more a story about family dynamics and interpersonal relationships than it is the inner-workings of CalFire.

Related: The Terrifying True Story Behind The Watcher

“...unfortunately, the world and our country is still fairly divided," Thieriot told Variety. "My biggest goal and hope that people will take away from this show is you get to see two different groups of people—these inmate firefighters and your blue-collar rural firefighters—come together with one goal, one purpose."

“I hope that people will just subliminally take some of that away, and maybe just not judge people in general.”

What is CalFire?

The real-life California program that serves as the inspiration for Fire Country is still up and running. The program protects 31 million acres of forest and land in the state of California and allows imprisoned people to work alongside expertly trained firefighters to combat fires as needed.

As noted by Smithsonian Magazine, imprisoned people have fought fires in California since World War II. Those who join the program train for two weeks before they are expected to begin fighting blazes, and they earn somewhere between $2.90 and $5 a day doing so. Incarcerated individuals have typically made up one-third of the total number of firefighters in the state.

Unfortunately, the real-life CalFire program seems to be less than thrilled with the series. In May 2022, CalFire Chief Joe Tyler released the following statement: “This television series is a misrepresentation of the professional all-hazards fire department and resource protection agency that CalFire is. The dramatization of inmate firefighters fighting members of CalFire is a poor reflection of the value of our Camps Program and the incredible work and leadership of our Fire Captains who supervise our hand crews.”

Fire Country airs on CBS on Fridays at 9 p.m. ET. The Season 1 finale will air on May 19, 2023.

Next, All About the Milestone 25th Season of Law & Order: SVU