The Burning Zone is a television drama broadcast on the UPN network as part of its 1996–97 lineup. It ran for 19 episodes. The series was rerun on SciFi Channel in the mid-to-late 1990s. The Burning Zone featured a team of American agents who could be almost instantly dispatched almost anywhere in the world to fight biological warfare and naturally occurring biohazards. The series is believed to be cashing in on the success of the New York Times bestseller The Hot Zone, which spawned biological disaster movies like Outbreak. There was a villainous organization known as "The Dawn" that was responsible for some of the threats the team faced. The members of "The Dawn" were shadowy and never fully exposed but their goals and aims were clear: To allow disease and pestilence of a biological nature restore the Earth by rendering extinct the most virulent pestilence of all—mankind.
The Burning Zone (Season 1)
Pilot (Episode 1)
Air date: 1996-09-03
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: After hibernating for 15,000 years, a malevolent virus is released from an ancient tomb in Costa Rica. A top team of specialists is assembled to research it. Infection causes blood-red eyes, a high fever and superhuman strength, and an exceptional interest in deadly diseases.
The Silent Tower (Episode 2)
Air date: 1996-09-10
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Dr. Cassian, the new team leader, sends the biocrisis team to investigate a Chicago high-rise. A mysterious rash of suicides caused by hallucinations has led to 79 deaths in the two years since its opening.
St. Michael's Nightmare (Episode 3)
Air date: 1996-09-17
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: The team travels to Philadelphia to search for the cause of violence and death that have occurred the last two years during the Festival of St. Michael, a celebration of good's victory over evil.
Arms of Fire (Episode 4)
Air date: 1996-09-24
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Cassian's biocrisis team investigates two cases of spontaneous human combustion at a poor urban high school. The team traces the cause to an unscrupulous pharmaceutical company.
Night Flight (Episode 5)
Writer: Carleton Eastlake
Air date: 1996-10-01
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: During the flight back from a small island country, Marcase, Shiroma and Hailey must fight an outbreak of hemorrhagic fever. Faced with a 5-hour flight, they must find a cure in time to land.
Lethal Injection (Episode 6)
Air date: 1996-10-15
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: A sinister government black-project uses death row inmates as guinea pigs to make contact with the afterlife. It nearly costs Marcase his life, and Cassian must find a way to shut it down.
Touch of the Dead (Episode 7)
Air date: 1996-10-29
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Cassian is infected with a bacteria that will kill him in 48 hours. While searching for an antidote, the team uncovers a government conspiracy.
Hall of the Serpent (Episode 8)
Air date: 1996-11-12
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Cassian's niece falls under the spell of a self-proclaimed healer who claims to be able to cure deadly diseases. He appears to heal people-until they defy him. The team infiltrates his compound in Mexico to rescue Cassian's niece, who has been diagnosed with leukemia.
Blood Covenant (Episode 9)
Air date: 1996-11-19
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: A doctor, angry with the US government for the death of his wife and for abandoning him in Zaire threatens to infect Orlando's main blood supply with malaria unless a billion dollars is deposited to a Swiss bank account.
Faces in the Night (Episode 10)
Writer: Carleton Eastlake
Air date: 1996-11-26
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: When Dr. Shiroma is abducted by a serial killer who only kills his victims during the full moon, the team races to discover the killer's identity before she becomes his next victim.
Midnight of the Carrier (Episode 11)
Writer: Carleton Eastlake
Air date: 1997-01-07
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: The team removes a capsule from the head of an old man. This leads to the shocking discovery of white supremacists in the CIA and occultism in the Third Reich. During the operation, security is compromised, and the team fights to save the old man's life and to protect the contents of the capsule from someone who wants it at any cost.
Critical Mass (Episode 12)
Writer: Carleton Eastlake
Air date: 1997-01-28
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Dr. Brian Taft, a neuropathologist, is enlisted by Cassian to help investigate the death of a LA fireman. After being exposed to a meteorite, the fireman grew fatal brain tumors and developed homicidal madness. Cassian fears the same may be happening to anyone exposed to this meteorite, including the scientists examining it.
Death Song (Episode 13)
Air date: 1997-02-04
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Several recovering Hodgkin's patient's bones are suddenly breaking into multiples fractures. Cassian and Taft investigate the gruesome deaths. Hailey becomes involed with a famous singer who faces the same fate.
The Last Endless Summer (Episode 14)
Air date: 1997-02-11
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: When several surfers come down with a fatal but undetectable disease that causes organ failure overnight, Cassian's team is called in to assist. A medical student, with a promising future, is also aflicted.
The Last Five Pounds are the Hardest (Episode 15)
Writer: Carleton Eastlake
Air date: 1997-02-18
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Several people across the US are found dead or in a coma. The only connection is Metabathin, a diet pill. While Taft's investigation can find nothing wrong with Metabathin, Cassian's team uncovers a stock manipulation scheme when someone from the company leaks information that causes the public to panic.
Elegy For a Dream (Episode 16)
Writer: Michael Gleason
Air date: 1997-04-29
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Taft's football-playing nephew falls victim to a flesh-eating bacterium that may cause him to lose his arm. Contaminated tattoo ink is spreading the bacterium around Chicago.
A Secret in the Neighborhood (Episode 17)
Air date: 1997-05-06
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: When a boy collapses at an amusement park with burns in his mouth and throat, chemical weapons are suspected. The team suspects a government installation has a hazardous chemical leak.
Wild Fire (Episode 18)
Air date: 1997-05-13
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: A drug-resistant Cholera breaks out in Detroit. Tainted pearls smuggled from the South Pacific are the source of contamination. Cassian's team rushes to develop a cure before it spreads to other cities. Hailey finds painful memories when he returns to his home town.
On Wings of Angels (Episode 19)
Air date: 1997-05-20
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: A secret project goes wrong when a prison escapee, who was exposed to a deadly experimental drug, kidnaps Taft and orders him to save his life or die.
