Fire Country season 4 episode 9 ending explained: Is Tyler hurt in the Drake County fire?

Fire Country season 4 episode 9 premiered on December 19, 2025, on CBS. The episode shifts its focus to the first big fire after Manny took over as Battalion Chief. Unfortunately, things go badly for him as his decisions come under fire from the other brass on the scene. To make matters worse, Bode, Jake, and Eve are in dangerous situations on their own, further complicating things.

Disclaimer: The following article contains spoilers for Fire Country season 4 episode 9. Reader’s discretion is advised.

The episode, titled Who Owns the Dirt, kicks off with a red flag warning amid extreme dry conditions, making the entire region highly vulnerable to wildfires. It sparks the Drake County fire when a campfire spirals out of control, forming the crux of the episode.

At the core of Fire Country season 4 episode 9 are Bode and Tyler, especially after the revelation that Landon may have played a potential role in the Zabel Ridge Fire. However, with Chloe and Tyler hiding out at Sharon’s, he rushes out to help with the Drake County fire without realizing that Tyler has stowed away on the fire truck.

This forces Bode to keep him close after he finds him, assigning him to monitor the radios from a safe location in the truck. But the teenager decides to take part in the rescue effort and ventures into the fire to deliver radio batteries. In the process, he gets caught in the path of the fire and has no protective gear to save him when a tree catches fire.

Bode, however, realizes what Tyler has done and reaches the scene just before a flaming tree branch hits him, getting him out of harm’s way.

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Bode and Tyler are trapped in the middle of a raging wildfire in Fire Country season 4 episode 9

Episode 8 ended on a big note for Bode, Sharon, and the Zabel Ridge Fire, especially after Tyler revealed that Landon, his stepfather, was the arsonist. However, the authorities needed actual evidence that Landon was behind the fire. He fled after Tyler and his mother, Chloe, accused him. Thus, to keep the two of them safe, they go and stay with Sharon in Fire Country season 4 episode 9.

But Tyler has other ideas, as he doesn't want to be in Edgewater, especially with his stepfather roaming around looking for them. So he stows away in a fire truck bound to fight the Drake County fire, with Bode also in the same truck. By the time Leone realizes what has happened, the truck has already arrived at the location.

Thus, he’s forced to keep Tyler busy by making him monitor radio frequencies from the truck in Fire Country season 4 episode 9. However, the teenager has a mind of his own and ventures into the fire to deliver radio batteries to firefighters after hearing that they need help. He then accidentally ends up in the path of the fire and has no protective gear to save him, leaving him vulnerable to the blaze.

Bode then returns to the truck, realizes what Tyler has done, and rushes to find him. He arrives in time to push Tyler out of the way before a tree branch on fire could hit him. The two are now stuck in the midst of the blazing fire. But Bode uses a fire blanket to protect them both for the moment as they’re left waiting for help at the end of Fire Country season 4 episode 9.

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Jake and his half-brother, Malcolm, are stuck in an overturned rig on the burning mountain

A still from Fire Country 4 (Image via Instagram/@firecountrycbs)

Fire Country season 4 episode 9 leaves the fate of several characters up in the air, including Bode and Tyler, as well as Jake and his half-brother, Malcolm. The two have only just been reunited, although the reunion has not been going quite as well. Malcolm was rather unhappy that his half-brother never reached out earlier, especially as Jake had known about him for the last three years.

It turns out that Malcolm could have really used some familial support in the form of a brother, and that plays into his resentment of Jake in Fire Country season 4 episode 9. However, the bonding session is put on pause as the brothers head down the mountain when the fire changes direction.

This causes their rig to run off the road on the way down, flipping it and landing it upside down on the burning mountain. That’s the last viewers see of the two brothers, although Manny realizes that something has gone wrong when Jake stops responding to his radio calls.

It’s not good news, especially given the fact that the episode is the series’ mid-season finale, and thus there’s no guarantee that Jake and Malcolm are safe.

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Interested viewers can watch Fire Country season 4 episode 9 on CBS.

Edited by Riya Peter