Fire Country Season 3's Most Heartbreaking Twist Changes The CBS Procedural Forever

Several moments in Fire Country season 3’s finale foreshadowed life-changing developments, but one twist in particular set up the biggest change to the firefighting drama since season 1. The Zabel Ridge fire hit the Fire Country season 3’s characters from multiple sides, and the chaos Finn unleashed at the filling station didn’t help, stretching Edgewater's resources even more. This didn’t seem too much of an issue in Fire Country season 3, episode 19, but with Gabriela hiding from Finn, Manny helping Gabriela and Bode being ordered to rest, Fire Country season 3, episode 20 had fewer firefighters at its disposal.

The thinning of Edgewater’s resources was combated by Bode deciding not to follow orders after his grandfather Walter called him and asked him for help convincing his facility managers to evacuate the building. While Bode’s disobedience saved lives, as Walter and Bode had evacuated everyone from Buena Vista before the Zabel Ridge fire got to them, it also endangered them, as Vince and Sharon would have never gotten into the Buena Vista building if it wasn’t to save Walter in Fire Country season 3’s ending. This inevitably affected Fire Country season 3’s biggest tragedy, overshadowing another monumental twist.

Fire Country Season 3's Ending Destroys Three Rock After The Fire Camp Survived Multiple Threats

The Zabel Ridge Fire Got To Three Rock & No External Help Was Available

As Manny was looking for the emergency services for Finn and Vince and Sharon scoured the memory care facility for Walter after he got confused and lost, another tragedy hit Edgewater. Indeed, on the path of the Zabel Ridge fire, there wasn’t only the Buena Vista building, but also the Three Rock fire camp. Three Rock eventually capitulated to the flames despite Eve, Francine and Three Rock’s inmates doing their best to quell the fire, working as a hand crew who first cut line and then tried to preserve Eve’s office and the barracks through hand-delivered water on the structures.

Although every life at Three Rock was saved, the inmate firefighters and their leader all lost the fire camp because resources needed to be diverted to Buena Vista. Jake was even on his way to Three Rock when dispatch sent him to Buena Vista. The final capitulation of Three Rock to a fire getting too close to it came after multiple threats to the fire camp. Ever since Fire Country season 1, Three Rock has been threatened by something, but the fire camp has also always survived.

Sleeper’s arrival threatened Three Rock in season 1, as his feud with Bode made Sleeper even surer to bring drugs into the camp. That development didn’t close down Three Rock, but it did relieve Manny of his duties. The killing of the sheriff falsely attributed to an inmate firefighter caused Edgewater to revolt against the fire camp, with Luke Leone considering closing it to save the others, but Station 42 eventually rallied Edgewater together and saved Three Rock. Finally, Oxalta poisoning Three Rock’s well in Fire Country season 3 briefly sent its inhabitants back to prison, but they eventually returned.

How Fire Country Season 4 Can Continue Focusing On The Inmate Firefighters

Following The Three Rock Crew Where They Are Moved Could Help

Three Rock being destroyed by fire would mean that its inmate firefighters would be temporarily moved back to prison, as few fire camps could accommodate them, and slots didn’t open as easily or often. This could mean that if Fire Country season 4 wanted to continue focusing on them, it would have to follow Ames, Big Mike and the others to prison. This wasn’t something that happened in Fire Country season 3, when Oxalta was fixing its damages to Three Rock’s well.

However, a way must be found to continue focusing on the inmate firefighters. Even after Bode graduating in Fire Country season 2 changed the show forever, as he wouldn’t be part of the fire camp anymore, the firefighting drama managed to focus on the inmates’ stories through Manny’s presence at Three Rock. Manny’s wish to inspire his fellow inmate firefighters led to a focus on Birch and his getting clean to continue being part of the fire camp, focusing once again on the importance of second chances, a tenet of Fire Country’s story through its focus on inmate firefighting.

Can Fire Country Season 4 Still Bring Back Three Rock?

Rebuilding Three Rock Could Be The Season’s Big Project

Eve’s speech as she and the crew abandoned Three Rock while the flames engulfed it focused on how they were the ones who made Three Rock, not the buildings. While the sentiment was beautiful, it didn’t cancel the real problem that Three Rock’s destruction posed. If Cal Fire already considered shutting down Three Rock for much less in Fire Country season 2, a fire having destroyed it could make the end of Three Rock definitive, as rebuilding it would need resources Cal Fire might not have to spare or that they wouldn’t want to use on something so potentially controversial.

With the inmate firefighting program being just as much an integral part of Fire Country as Bode’s story, Fire Country season 4 would need to focus on finding a way to bring back Three Rock. Fire Country season 3 finally established how Eve’s place was Three Rock, and those inmate firefighters were her crew, making her one of the characters who would likely lead the fight to rebuild Three Rock. Given how much Three Rock also gave Bode and Manny, they could also join Eve and help her, making the reconstruction of Three Rock Fire Country season 4’s big project.

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