Fire Chasers - Season 1

Fire Chasers reinforces that lives are in the balance, and there's only so much we can do once the problem is already on our literal and figurative doorstep.

If you watch it when it becomes available on Friday, Sept. 8 - and you should - you may learn things that have nothing to do specifically with fire, or even California.

Between their visions of conflagration, the filmmakers capably track the stories of Cal Fire and Los Angeles County Fire trainees and veterans.

The technical aspects aside, it's the grace and courage that's consistently on display in the face of unimaginable danger that makes Fire Chasers worth the watch.

On its own the spectacle of the fires and the destruction they wreak is enough to recommend Fire Chasers. But the documentary draws most of its power from the people on the frontline.