by Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com
Over the course of two days, production crews and actors from the FOX series, “9-1-1: Lone Star” visited the Pomona College campus to film scenes for an upcoming season 3 episode.

On Monday, scenes were shot around Marston Quad using firetrucks and paramedics, while on Tuesday, filming took place at the Bridges Auditorium, transformed to resemble a historic Texas building.

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The episode, number 11 of season 3, is scheduled to air on March 21 at 8 p.m. on FOX, according to the show’s Unit Production Manager Chris Hayden.

The show revolves around the fictional, Austin, Texas-based response team 126, and follows the company’s fire, police and emergency medical personnel. The procedural drama, created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear, is a spin-off of the series “9-1-1.”

“I can only say so much until the show has aired,” Hayden said on Tuesday. “We had a big emergency situation; you know it’s a show about firemen so every episode … there’s several emergencies. Whether they’re fires or hazmat [situations] or vehicle crashes or … anything and everything. It’s a rollercoaster.”

The show stars Rob Lowe as Owen Strand, a firefighter captain from New York and father to Tyler Kennedy “TK” Strand, played by actor Ronen Rubinstein. Lowe has played the character Owen Strand since the “9-1-1: Lone Star” pilot episode on January 19, 2020, according to IMDB. The actor was observed on set wearing a grey Velcro suit over his legs and torso.

“We’re out here because this looks like a particular part of Austin that plays in this episode. The quad here is really lovely and open and it plays really well with what we’re looking for in this episode,’ Hayden said. “We’ll probably use some visual effects … to add a different look in the background, but really the basics are right there.”

“[The show] plays as if it were in Austin, Texas, so we’re always looking for locations that could play as some part of Austin or other [parts] whether it be up in an open area where we go to Santa Clarita or Lancaster or somewhere out in Ventura,” he added.

With the show filming many of its outside scenes on Monday, Hayden said the crews had to section off parts of the campus to make sure none of the college students or faculty accidentally appeared in the background. He shared that many students and fans came out on Monday to see what was happening with the show, and to potentially meet Rob Lowe.

“We did have a lot of students standing outside the frame watching, which is fine, it’s great, I’m happy,” he said. “They seemed very happy, they had a little talk with Rob when he was between set-ups and that was very nice. I like it when actors are good to their fans and he is.”

By Tuesday, the television production did not appear to surprise students or interrupt traffic flow much on campus, as it had on Monday. In fact, many students were seen on Tuesday on the lawn of the Marston Quad having a picnic, or briskly walking by the long-armed cranes holding lighting fixtures, the FOX-labeled production trucks, and the high-powered camera equipment which occupied the outside of the music auditorium.