A Seaside Heights fire truck capable of fighting fires from the beach. (Photo: Daniel Nee)
The Seaside Heights Fire Department and the island’s Tri-Boro First Aid squad both have roles in a television pilot under development for NBC, officials said.
The NBC network pilot, which is being produced by ABC Studios, taped scenes with both agencies and at Island Beach State Park in recent weeks. Last week, the Seaside Heights borough council accepted a $20,000 payment on behalf of its fire department for their work in assisting the production team.
“They filmed in Island Beach State Park last weekend,” said Seaside Heights Borough Administrator Christopher Vaz.
Equipment from the two squads, as well as the park backdrop, will be featured in the pilot for “Emergence,” a thriller series which will star Donald Faison and Allison Tolman. The plot of the series, according to Deadline Hollywood, centers around a police chief who takes in a young child found near a mysterious accident site.
“The investigation draws her into a conspiracy larger than she ever imagined, and the child’s identity is at the center of it all,” the Deadline article explains.
The production included both apparatus and firefighters, said Mayor Anthony Vaz, who himself is a longtime volunteer with the department.
“It was a 14-hour day and they used one or two of the trucks,” he said, welcoming both the exposure as well as the extra funding for the department as summer approaches.
“The fire company definitely needed a little shot in the arm cash-wise, and this was a nice thing for them,” the mayor said.
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