LA Fire & Rescue Season 1 Episode 1 Review: Best Job in the World

Fans of Dick Wolf know that the man can spin fantastic tales of our nation’s best first responders. However, with LA Fire & Rescue Season 1 Episode 1, “Best Job in the World,” Wolf takes on a different side to these stories — reality.

It’s sometimes hard to make reality-based docuseries fun, exciting, and engaging. Especially if its subject matter is about the everyday.

That is what makes LA Fire & Rescue so interesting. Here is a series that is all about firefighters, paramedics, and air op first responders that feels fresh and new. 

Wolf takes the time to focus on these firefighters as individuals instead of just stations as a whole. Each station that gets focused on during this pilot episode has something unique to offer about the Los Angeles firefighting scene. 

LAX Watts – Station 16

At Station 16 we meet Captain Dan Olivas and Engineers Lomeli and Huynh who talk about the variety of calls they get in a typical day. The most significant thing to remember about Station 16 is that it is in South Central LA which is known as the “fire factory.”

These guys face many types of fires and often see multiple fire calls in a single day. What is so great about their Captain is the respect his men have for him has clearly been earned.

Multiple times throughout the episode we see Olivas not only command a situation but follow it through with his men. Some of his guys even comment that they can trust Olivas to walk the walk and have their backs at all times.

The beauty of this team is that they have strength and experience on their side — considering Olivas has been a fire captain for 24 years, 19 of those years at Station 16.

As fans of Dick Wolf, it’s easy to see that the man takes time to really get to know these guys who are putting their lives on the line. There are moments when fans of Chicago Fire will see Wolf draws from firefighting reality to create his dramas.

There is a moment when Huynh and his other engineers are dealing with a man who has been shot and the emotions really come through. These men are on the front lines trying to help the people of Los Angeles every day and yet some of the calls never leave them.

Huynh mentions that he can’t sit there and think about all the calls they’ve done because then he wouldn’t be able to do his job. He points to a corner and mentions that multiple fatalities have happened there during his tenure, and if he isn’t careful, that’s all he will think about.

West Hollywood – Station 8

Meanwhile, in West Hollywood, the vibe is entirely different. The guys at Station 8 deal with a very wide area of Los Angeles that sees quite a bit of action. 

In fact, Captain Michael Carolan co-captains Station 8 with Jason Cardenas which is an interesting dynamic that isn’t seen at every station. There are always two captains on duty and this house does all their calls with houses from LA City or Beverly Hills.

One of the most fascinating aspects of this episode is the equipment Station 8 is afforded thanks to kind donations. On one of the calls, they get to utilize what is called a Lucas Machine in order to do both lifesaving compressions and administer first aid to a patient.

It’s one of those aspects that sets this series apart from the pack and makes these everyday stories fascinating. We want to find out if this house continues to see a rise in positive outcomes because of the equipment they are afforded.

Not only that, Station 8 really gives the bulk of this episode’s human connection. We get to meet Probationary Firefighter Castellanos on the day he gets promoted to full-time firefighter.

Castellanos reminds us that the LAFD truly is a family away from home for those lucky enough to join because of the way they step up and have your back. His own health issues should have taken him out of the game, but his team had his back and worked for him so he could keep his insurance and extended his probation so that he could succeed and become a full-time member.

Palmdale – Station 37

Finally, we get to see the very intense action of Station 37 fighting a brush fire with help from Camp 9/Air Ops – Santa Clarita. Seeing these teams work together shows us that firefighting isn’t just on the ground.

Sometimes, air assistance is needed which means LAFD calls in the helicopters or air tankers to help tame fires that are likely to spread more quickly. When we think of firefighters, our minds don’t always turn to what these guys do for nature-related fires, so this aspect of the episode is a nice addition.

Considering LA spreads from the beach to downtown/office buildings to the desert it’s important to show us all the ways firefighters keep the citizens of this large city safe.

What makes this segment of the episode stand out a bit more from the rest is also how there are definitions and explanations put onscreen for any terminology that might be foreign to the layperson. This goes a long way toward keeping the flow of action the way it should be while also letting us at home know who these people are and what they do. 

If you are someone who appreciates fun facts, the box telling you how much water the air ops helicopters and tankers can hold is also quite fascinating. 

We don’t get much in the way of human stories or information about the team themselves for Station 37, but I suspect maybe we will learn more in the coming episodes. Especially considering many of these stations are about to converge for a 3-alarm warehouse fire.

 

What did you think of this episode of LA Fire & Rescue? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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LA Fire & Rescue airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on NBC.

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