Fire with Fire

Plot

Following a grueling day of work, Long Beach, California firefighter Jeremy Coleman and his coworkers contemplate ending the day with a case of 15-year-old Scotch whisky. Jeremy enters a convenience store to buy snacks, but is interrupted by David Hagan, an Aryan Brotherhood crime boss. He accuses the store owner of refusing to sell his store which Hagan wants to further his criminal enterprise. The store owner says he buys protection from the Eastside Crips and the store is in their territory so it would not be useful for Hagan's purposes.

Hagan kills the store owner's son and then the store owner. Coleman narrowly escapes. Police detective Mike Cella, whose former partner was murdered by Hagan while they pursued him in a different case, sees an opportunity to finally bring him to justice. Hagan is detained and put into a police lineup. Hagan, sure that Coleman is behind the one-way mirror, recites Coleman's full name, address and Social Security number.

Before the trial, Coleman agrees to enter the witness protection program, and changes his last name to Douglas. He leaves the fire department and is moved to New Orleans. Although he finds it difficult to cope with the loss of his career, he finds consolation in his budding romance with Talia Durham, a Deputy United States Marshal assigned to his case. Coleman and Durham find their lives in jeopardy when two of Hagan's hitmen ambush them; though Durham is wounded, Coleman mortally wounds one man, forcing them to retreat. Hagan calls Coleman, threatening to kill everyone he loves whether he testifies or not. Coleman vows to kill Hagan first and abandons the witness protection program. Later, Hagan's attorney, Harold Gethers, arranges for him to be released from prison in the weeks leading up to the trial.