‘Fire Country,’ the new TV show about Cal Fire, is a hit. Just not with Cal Fire, which says it will review its policies on Wednesday.
Cal Fire would like to talk to you, but first there is a little video chat from a different source.
The Cal Fire Foundation is taking a break from hosting a video chat on the new fire show “Fire Country.”
The seven-episode series is a co-production between CBS and National Geographic and will be shown on the cable network’s new digital streaming service, CBS All Access, starting Feb. 25. It is available for $5.99 a month, $14.99 for three months, and will be offered for free on demand with the purchase of a special Cal Fire subscription.
On Wednesday, Feb. 25, there will be a one-hour live video chat at www.calfire.org/live.
“We’re trying to let people in,” said Matt Zablonski, Cal Fire’s vice president for media relations. “We have four or five different chat sites we’re working with. We’re in over 100 countries so we have to be able to get the best people in to answer a lot of questions.”
For instance, how does the Cal Fire live-fire ban policy on private property work? Who is in charge of approving and implementing the policy? Why does Cal Fire care what a neighbor thinks?
The live question-and-answer session, conducted in the first person by a pair of Cal Fire officials, is part of a series of chat sessions the Cal Fire Foundation will conduct with viewers and the public. The foundation, which operates independently from Cal Fire, is a volunteer-led, 501(c)(3) nonprofit group that has been working since April to use social media to answer questions about the role and importance of fire.
The foundation is also sponsoring a national virtual fire safety event, “Fires on the Frontier” on Monday, Feb. 24, from 7 to 10 p.m., Pacific Time Central and Mountain Time (the exact time varies by country/area). It will be hosted by the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
The event, held in conjunction with “Fire