How did we miss this? 

Evidently the top new program on primetime TV, CBS’s action-drama “Fire Country,” features Humboldt County’s own riverside city of Rio Dell!

Fast-forward to the 2:06 mark of the trailer above to see a wall of (thankfully fake) flames encroaching on the city from Bear River Ridge the bluffs northeast of town. You may also spot a couple aerial shots of the Eel River Valley and Wildwood Avenue sprinkled in there, though evidently the bulk of the series is being filmed in Vancouver.

Rio Dell City Manager Kyle Knopp also just found out about his burgh’s new stardom. He emailed the Outpost on Tuesday with a screenshot and a comment: “Here’s something kinda funny.”

Totally!

Humboldt-Del Norte Film Commissioner Cassandra Hesseltine was not immediately available to provide details, but some googling reveals that Rio Dell plays the fictional town of Edgewater, which serves as a stand-in for the Sonoma County community of Occidental. 

Co-creator and “SEAL Team” star Max Thieriot plays Bode Donovan, a prison inmate who volunteers to fight wildfires as part of California’s Conservation Camp Program. The L.A. Times describes the show as “a soap opera with pyrotechnics” and “sort of like ‘Dante’s Peak’ meets ‘Everwood.’”

Evidently the folks at CalFire aren’t among the show’s early fans. “This television series is a misrepresentation of the professional all-hazards fire department and resource protection agency that Cal Fire is,” agency Director Joe Tyler wrote in a staff email after seeing the trailer.

Is it any good? Who here has seen it? Let us know in the comments.