As a child Brian McCafferty watched his firefighter father die. Years later he joins his brother, Steven in the force by becoming a rookie firefighter. There is a history of conflict between the two brothers that is heated up by working together. With this background, a series of suspicious fires are set, each made to kill a specific person. After becoming frightened at a fire, Brian pulls strings to get into an investigative office and finds that he is now not putting out the arsonist's fires, but trying to track him down.

Many of the extras in the film are actual Chicago firefighters. A casting call was put out in a Department memo prior to the start of shooting. In addition, many suburban firemen participated in the funeral procession.

Lt. Steven McCaffrey:
You go. We go.

Continuity: The first victim's body doesn't land on the car after the explosion, but is there when firefighters arrive.

Written by Bruce Hornsby (as B.R. Hornsby) & John Hornsby
Performed by Bruce Hornsby & The Range (as Bruce Hornsby and The Range)
Courtesy of The RCA Records Label of BMG Music