Daniel Ortega Grady is a California kid, Mexican-Irish, and a firefighteraa dream come true that began when a small boy was mesmerized by Sacramento Fire Station 2's red behemoth trucks and the men and women who drive them. His career path, however, was neither straight nor smooth. As a young Marine, Dan returns from Afghanistan a war hero, only to find his biggest battles lie still ahead in the college classroom. A stunning Austrian coed beauty nearly derails his long-term romance with his high school sweetheart, he meets Californiaas governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and brushes elbows with Senator Diane Feinstein, flirting with the idea of wealth and power as he struggles with his identity and juggles the many forces in his life toward his lifelong dream.