In the height of Prohibition, in 1932, after suffering the loss of two firefighter friends in one fire, followed by the deaths of his wife and son in another fire, former New York City Fire Captain Jake McCann is appointed Fire Chief in the small town of Woodhill, Ohio where his twin brother Dave is a physician.

The town may be small, but the trouble and turmoil in Woodhill are not. Jake is joined by his two closest friends, Freddy Pratter and Mickey Justini, who are appointed to the fire department with Jake. Like Jake, they have their own personal demons.

Sharing an interest in horses, Jake falls in love with Laura Darvey, a woman married to a local bootlegger, who is also the operator of a protection racket. The affair causes the three friends to become tangled in a series of horrifying crimes that force them all to unexpectedly face their demons.