Emergency!
Brushfire
TV Flash files “Brushfire” as a desk essential hour — Emergency! (1972–1979) on NBC, season 1, episode 4, aired 1972-02-19, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E04: listed hour 4 of 128 in the Emergency! guide, hour 4 of 11 in season 1. It aired 1972-02-19 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Cook's Tour” (S01E03). Next is “Dealer's Wild” (S01E05).
Essential hour: “Brushfire”. Brushfire is L.A. disaster as a weekly brief. Squad 51 rolling before handheld prestige: the series selling America on paramedic programs one civic blaze at a time.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Station 51 is called up to fight an out-of-control brushfire. An elderly woman breaks her ankle, a man is injured by a horse stampede, a looter is injured in a motorcycle accident, a boy breaks his arm and loses his dog, and a firefighter is trapped and injured under a fallen tree. The out-of-control brushfire also threatens the house of a pregnant woman in labor, who cannot be moved.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Brushfire sit in the Emergency! guide?
S01E04 is listed hour 4 of 128 — hour 4 of 11 in season 1, season 1 episode 4.
When did Emergency! S01E04 air?
Brushfire aired 1972-02-19 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Where should I start?
Start with Squad 51 and Rampart as a closed loop: Gage, DeSoto, and the ER doctors. Rescue-of-the-week structure does not need a binge map.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Squad 51 rolls before medical dramas discovered handheld cameras and hallway shouting. Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe play paramedics as civic heroes while Jack Webb's shop keeps the procedures honest. The series that sold America on paramedic programs, sirens included, without turning the station house into a soap.
Squad 51 rolling is the whole assignment: L.A. County firefighter-paramedics answer rescue calls while Rampart Hospital doctors support from the ER, and NBC's Emergency! (1972–1979) keeps the procedures honest before medical dramas discovered handheld cameras and hallway shouting. Harold Jack Bloom, R.A. Cinader, and Jack Webb's Mark VII shop put Randolph Mantooth's John Gage and Kevin Tighe's Roy DeSoto in the squad with documentary-style urgency. Robert Fuller's Dr. Kelly Brackett, Julie London's Dixie McCall,…
Filed against
- Robert Fuller as Dr. Kelly Brackett
Robert Fuller's Dr. Kelly Brackett backed Emergency! before medical dramas discovered handheld cameras and hallway shouting — Squad 51 rolling, Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe as civic heroes, Jack Webb's shop keeping procedures honest.…
- Julie London as Dixie McCall
Julie London’s Dixie McCall kept Emergency! honest in the hospital — Squad 51 rolling before medical dramas discovered handheld cameras and hallway shouting, Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe as paramedics, Jack Webb’s shop keeping…
- Randolph Mantooth as Firefighter John Gage
Randolph Mantooth played Firefighter John Gage on Emergency!, 1970s Squad 51 rolling before medical dramas discovered handheld cameras and hallway shouting. Kevin Tighe as partner, Jack Webb’s shop keeping the procedures honest. TV Flash…
- Kevin Tighe as Firefighter Roy DeSoto
Kevin Tighe's Firefighter Roy DeSoto rolled Squad 51 on Emergency! before medical dramas discovered hallway shouting — paramedics as civic heroes, Jack Webb's shop keeping procedures honest, sirens as a public argument. TV Flash files him…
- Bobby Troup as Dr. Joe Early
Bobby Troup’s Dr. Joe Early rode Emergency! before medical dramas discovered hallway shouting — Squad 51, Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe as paramedics, Jack Webb’s shop keeping procedures honest, the series that sold America on…