The format is recognizable. It is basically Cops, without cops. Of course, the firefighters work closely with the LAPD and Sheriff’s Department, but the series does its best to minimize the presence of lawmen. In this case, viewers also see a little bit of the firefighters’ personal lives and personalities. Captain Dan Olivas maybe gets the most screentime in the first three episodes (provided for review), because of the way he enjoys joshing with his station-mates at the 16—and getting joshed right back. It is also largely the same at home, with his big, loving family, including a grown son currently at the fire academy.
Throughout the first two episodes, viewers see how rampant crime makes their jobs so much more difficult. In the opener, “Best Job in the World,” Station 16 responds to a gas station fire, where a car involved in a high-speed police chase took out a live gas pump. Then, in the second episode, “Three Alarm,” the same station must tend to a man suffering head trauma resulting from a random attack with a lead pipe.
Station 16 certainly gets plenty of work, but Station 41 in Compton out-paces them for title of LA’s busiest station. That is why they have never been assigned a “boot” (probationary officer still completing training), until now. On her first shift, she responded to twenty-six calls. Fortunately, she has a conscientious mentor in Captain Scott Woods.
Watching LA Fire & Rescue certainly gives viewers a renewed appreciation for first responders. Usually, there is one major emergency teased throughout the show, supplemented by several serious, but less potentially catastrophic (from a civic perspective) calls to illustrate the department’s everyday life saving work.
