Due to season 2’s shortened run, Fire Country season 1 had more deaths, including a major one happening before the series’ main timeline, influencing Fire Country season 1’s events. Various tragedies hit the community of Fire Country’s Edgewater in season 1 and 2. Whether they were perceived as heroes or villains, all deaths risked serious consequences for the first responders involved, especially when it was inmate firefighters who participated in the rescue. The effect of Fire Country’s deaths wasn’t the same, with some characters dying impacting the community at large and others affecting the most Bode and his loved ones.
Riley Leone Before Fire Country Season 1
Riley’s Death Destroyed The Leones & Their Loved Ones
Riley’s death was probably the tragedy that impacted Fire Country’s protagonists the most, with its consequences causing much hurt to the Leones beyond the loss of their youngest. While Riley died years before the beginning of Fire Country, more about it was revealed by Bode’s flashbacks and nightmares in Fire Country season 1, episode 2. Riley Leone died in a car crash as Bode accompanied her home after her birthday party, causing him insurmountable guilt in addition to the grief of losing his sister. However, Bode being the one driving the car also affected how Vince reacted to the tragedy.
Indeed, the whole reason why Bode left Edgewater in the first place was because Vince ordered him to, not wanting to see his face, deeming him at fault for Riley’s death. Sharon often described the night Riley died as the night she lost both of her children in Fire Country season 1, not knowing Vince had ordered Bode to stay away. Beyond the grief every Leone and their friends went through, Riley dying caused Bode’s disappearance from Edgewater, his guilt, and feeling never worthy because of how he and Vince left things, proving the one death affecting them the most.
Wes Brooks In Fire Country Season 1, Episode 7
Brooks Died A Hero After His Return To The Brewery Led To His Wife Being Saved
The first of Cal Fire’s patients in Fire Country to die, Wes Brooks died a hero in season 1, episode 7, managing to send help to his wife despite the carbon monoxide poisoning hindering his speech. Edgewater’s Station 42 was sent to Brooks’ brewery after a call about someone in respiratory distress. However, when Jake and Gabriela got to the brewery, they didn’t only find Wes unconscious, but multiple patients, all workers in the brewery, making them immediately think about an environmental reason for their collapse.
Wes had a chance to survive, being on one of the first ambulances out of the brewery, but returning inside the brewery to save his wife’s life doomed him. Thanks to his talks of bodies of water and mentions of his wife’s name, Jake and Gabriela were able to locate his wife. However, Wes died of complications due to carbon monoxide poisoning, making him Gabriela’s first loss as a firefighter, one she felt deeply because it could have been avoided had Wes and his wife not been squatting at the brewery.
Meg In Fire Country Season 1, Episode 9
Meg Caused The Car Crash On The Bridge & Died From Internal Bleeding
Fire Country season 1, episode 8 was an eventful episode involving a car crash on a bridge, which proved particularly heavy for Vince and Bode, given that those affected were two teenagers, just like Bode and Riley when she died. This heavily impacted the extreme choices they made, with Bode stopping Vince from getting in the car to save Sam only to go by himself and fall in the river along with the car. This prompted Gabriela to follow suit, diving into the river to save Bode’s life, which made it possible for Bode and Gabriela to find Meg.
Meg was the hit-and-run driver whose car caused Yara and Sam’s to dangle from the bridge. Gabriela and Bode were only able to find Meg because they ended up in the river, as she was too lost in the woods. Gabriela successfully diagnosed a compartment syndrome in Meg’s leg, treating it and saving her, but when she lost consciousness and Bode chose to bring Gabriela to safety before Meg, Meg died from internal bleeding. The death kickstarted an investigation that pointed to Bode being at fault, but Vince eventually convinced Meg’s parents not to pursue a case against him.
Rebecca Lee In Fire Country Season 1, Episode 15
Rebecca Died Saving Eve From A Fallen Tree
Rebecca slowly became a central character in Fire Country season 1, being briefly romantically involved with Bode while also helping Freddy with his wrongful conviction, having been a corporate lawyer before landing in prison. The inmate crews were involved in a reforestation program in Fire Country season 1, episode 15, following Eve’s command instead of Manny’s. However, a botched job from a previous crew caused one of the trees to fall, blocking Eve and risking her life.
After finally convincing Fire Country’s inmate firefighter crews to reach Eve, Bode had to coordinate Eve’s rescue, as the ground crew and the helicopter crew could not get to where they were. Shifting Eve from under the tree, the inmate firefighters saved her, and Rebecca’s contribution was fundamental as she freed Eve’s boot. However, her movements caused the tree to fall further down, sending Rebecca flying. Rebecca died en route to the hospital, due to a ruptured spleen that caused copious blood loss, a death entirely avoidable had the crew that fell the tree marked it correctly.
Cara Maisonette In Fire Country Season 2, Episode 5
Her Death Affected Jake & Genevieve And Edgewater’s Community
Cara’s centrality was already established by Fire Country season 1’s ending after she revealed to Jake that Genevieve was not her sister but her biological daughter, possibly making her Bode’s biological daughter as well given how Cara and Bode dated as teenagers. However, by Fire Country season 2, episode 5, Cara was not only dealing with how much to tell Genevieve about their meetings with Bode but also deeply committed to Jake, who wanted to ask her to marry her and already acted as a father figure for Genevieve.
Cara’s death in Fire Country season 2, episode 5 could have been avoided, as the ambulance carrying Bode and her to the hospital crashed because of the storm. The following firenado made it impossible for Diego, Cara and Bode to evacuate the ambulance, essentially dooming Cara to her death as the crash caused her an epidural hematoma. Cara spent her last moments making Bode promise to take care of Genevieve and listening to Jake’s voice on the phone, in one of Fire Country season 2’s most heartbreaking moments. Many from Edgewater’s community attended Cara’s funeral to support Jake and Genevieve.
Sheriff Fred Watkins In Fire Country Season 2, Episode 6
Watkins Was Like a Father Figure To Sharon’s Sister Mickey
While Rudy was originally accused of killing Sheriff Watkins, it was actually Mickey’s coworker Andy Kubiak who killed Watkins, after the sheriff had discovered Kubiak was dirty from someone they brought in at Fire Country season 2, episode 6’s beginning. Kubiak almost got away with his plot, as he had convinced Bode to bring him to the cabin where Rudy was hiding, but Sharon bringing the $4K over to Mickey rounded the sum they found that morning to $50K, unmasking Kubiak and making it possible for Vince, Mickey and Sharon to save Rudy and Bode in Fire Country season 2.
