Jake Crawford

**Jake Crawford** is an affable firefighter whose charm masks a guilty conscience over the death of Bode's sister Riley. In love with Gabriela, the daughter of Cal Fire captain Manny Perez, Jake's complicated history with Bode may threaten his reputation and relationship.

## Biography

### Early life

Jake moved to Edgewater when he is in fifth grade with his firefighter father and doctor mother. After learning that his father was having a kid with another woman, he set his bed on fire as a cry for help, in an attempt to bring his father back home. However, it wasn't his father who would come to put out the fire, rather it was Vince Leone.

Jake was Bode's best friend growing up but their friendship ended when Bode discovered that Jake was hooking up with Bode's sister Riley and that Jake dumped her on her birthday, which ultimately resulted in the car crash that caused her death.

### Trapped in the Buckeye

After handling a vegetation fire on Bodega Highway, Jake and Eve meet with Gabriela at Smokey's Tavern, where Jake and Gabriela get into a fight after he fails to say "I love you" back to Gabriela, who is considering giving up her diving career and moving to Edgewater. Jake heads over to Gabriela's to apologize. He realizes his mistake and says that he loves her. The following day, Jake is teased by Eve and Vince, who also advise him to grow up and cherish Gabriela. They are then called in for a vehicular accident on Buckeye Road, which has started a fire. Jake breaks the back window and climbs in through the trunk, first grabbing the baby and then saving the mother before the car explodes.

Jake and Eve head up to Harrison Ridge to get an eye on the growing fire, only to discover that it has spread into Miller Canyon. On their way back, Jake falls into a stump hole and catches fire, melting his boot, and slowing them down as they try to escape, ultimately resulting in Jake getting trapped under a small tree. With the flames closing in, Jake and Eve are relieved when a mystery inmate from Manny's crew saves them. Despite Jake now being free, the trio are cornered by the fire, forced to deploy their fire shelters, but Jake is without his after it caught fire, and so, the inmate tackles him to the ground, shielding Jake from the flames. Once the fire has passed, the inmate reveals himself to be Bode, who then punches Jake, blaming him for Riley's death.

### At odds with Eve

After learning from Vince that Bode has been in prison all this time, Jake reveals to Eve that he and Riley got together a couple of months before she died, but Eve is more curious about how it ended, but Jake simply replies that it was complicated. As for Bode and whether Jake is going to include him being punched on the incident report, Jake's unsure. Suddenly, lightning strikes just east of the canyon. Eve calls it in as she and Jake spring into action. However, their personal turmoil over Riley begins to effect their working ability as well. Once the fire is down, they load up in the truck headed for Manny's crew at the rec center, but to their surprise, Manny's crew is seemingly headed towards them until lightning hits the road, catapulting a slab of asphalt through the windshield and rendering the driver unconscious. Jake, Eve, and Vince exit the vehicle and discover that the bus is actually filled with kids from the rec center.

Jake and Eve check on the driver, who is injured from the collision and being burned by the asphalt. With the rec center still needing water, Vince goes on ahead, leaving incident command to Jake, who debates with Eve whether they should remove the asphalt or wait for the paramedics to arrive. Jake fears that if they wait, he'll die before they can arrive. Eve concedes, but warns Jake that they have to avoid peeling his skin while removing the burning hot asphalt. Fortunately, they manage to remove the asphalt without incident. Before parting ways, Jake reveals that he cheated on Riley and that she died before they could resolve their issues. He then arrives at the rec center, where he notices that the smoke is green, meaning that the fire has already begun to mix with chemicals, which could cause an explosion. So the crew holds the water while Jake grabs the CO2 extinguisher and extinguishes the flames inside the building. The crew then heads over to Smokey's Tavern to celebrate, where Jake informs Gabriela that there's a Cal Fire recruitment event next weekend and is accosted by Eve, who advises Jake to cover for Bode, which he does.

### Sharon's kidney

Jake learns that he is a match for Sharon to donate his kidney. At first, he hides this information before revealing it to Vince whilst trying to save a protester chained to a tree. After agreeing to continue forward for all the tests, he learns that he can give Sharon his kidney.

The day of the surgery has arrived. After filling out paperwork, he and Sharon head to the hospital with his mom and Vince in tow. While getting ready, he speaks with his mom about the life-threatening decision he has made and assures her that he's certain. Unfortunately, they're unable to go through with the procedure after Jake suffers a severe reaction to the anesthesia.

After this, he looks up his half-sibling who lives in Drake Country.

### Arson fires

Due to the fire he set when he was a child, Jake becomes a suspect in the arson fires. When Sharon begins to investigate, she learns that Jake had been in Drake country prior to the fire. When he is questioned about why he was in Drake Country, he avoids answers. After he is proven innocent, he tells Bode about his half-brother.

## Appearances

### Season 1

* Pilot
* The Fresh Prince of Edgewater
* Where There's Smoke...
* Work, Don't Worry
* Get Some, Be Safe
* Like Old Times
* Happy to Help
* Bad Guy
* No Good Deed
* Get Your Hopes Up
* Mama Bear
* Two Pink Lines
* You Know Your Dragon Best
* A Fair to Remember
* False Promises
* My Kinda Leader
* A Cry for Help
* Off the Rails

## Behind the scenes

* Jake Crawford is portrayed by Jordan Calloway.

## References

1. ↑ Season 1, episode 16: ***My Kinda Leader***
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Season 1, episode 2: ***The Fresh Prince of Edgewater***
3. ↑ Season 1, episode 1: ***Pilot***
4. ↑ Season 1, episode 13: ***You Know Your Dragon Best***
5. ↑ Season 1, episode 14: ***A Fair to Remember***
6. ↑ Season 1, episode 15: ***False Promises***
7. ↑ Season 1, episode 17: ***A Cry for Help***
8. ↑ Season 1, episode 16: ***My Kinda Leader***