'Tacoma FD' Series Goofs On Firefighters, But With Respect

TACOMA, WA — If you're wondering how local the new TruTV comedy series "Tacoma FD" will be, here's a taste.

"My character loves eat to eat Dungeness crabs and loves Pacific Northwest oysters," show co-creator Steve Lemme told Patch. "Oh, and [co-creator Kevin Heffernan's] farts smell like the 'aroma from Tacoma.'"

Smelly jokes aside, "Tacoma FD" has local roots. Lemme and Heffernan, members of the Broken Lizard comedy troupe famous for the cult "Super Troopers" movies, came up with the idea while performing a few years ago at the Tacoma Comedy Club.

The show revolves around a group of Tacoma firefighters who pull pranks and crack jokes in their free time. And they have a lot of free time because all the rain in the Pacific Northwest means there are no fires to fight (and yes, Lemme and Heffernan know there are actually plenty of fires here).

"It's 90 percent about the firefighters' downtime," Lemme said. "These guys are great at their jobs, we don't want Tacoma firefighters to think we're poking fun at their level of skill."

In fact, Heffernan got a lot of ideas about funny things firefighters do from his brother-in-law, a firefighter in Connecticut, and now a show consultant. For example, in one episode, the "Tacoma FD" characters use the Jaws of Life to play Jenga with big pieces of wood. Firefighters across the country actually do this.

There are also plenty of plain old goofs. In the first episode, Heffernan's character, Chief Terry McConky, sits down to discuss serious city business with a Tacoma City Councilwoman. Then she notices a mug sitting on his desk that says, "No. 1 Farter."

But the reality of firefighting hit the "Tacoma FD" creators hard recently. The show was in production last November when the massive Woolsey Fire broke a few miles from their Los Angeles studio. The cast and crew witnessed the destruction, and Heffernan's family was evacuated from their Aguora Hills home.

"Those guys have a grueling job that doesn't stop for 24 hours at a time," Lemme said.

The real Tacoma fire department is ready to watch their fictional selves, flatulence and all — and it doesn't hurt that Lemme and Heffernan are throwing a show premier party at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma on Thursday night for them.

"We wish the show well, and we hope it represents the fire service in a positive light," Tacoma fire spokesman Joe Meineke said.

You can watch the "Tacoma FD" premier on March 28 at 10:30 p.m. on TruTV, channel 568 on Click!, 705 on Comcast, and 165 on CenturyLink.