(firetruck sirens wailing) - [Geoffrey] If you've ever had a burning desire to get into show business, Chicago is the place for you.

- [Crew] And, action.

(glass shattering) (fire exploding) (people yelling) - [Director] Cut!

- [Geoffrey] NBC's top-rated series, "Chicago Fire" began filming in 2012 in this massive film studio complex called Cinespace on the city's west side.

And it's the job of these folks to make it look as convincing as possible, without hurting anyone.

- This is our burn stage.

Yes.

- What's a burn stage?

- A burn stage is where we have our fire scenes.

- Steve Chikerotis is a retired fire department deputy district chief and a producer on "Chicago Fire".

What's the scene here today?

- This is a recording studio.

where we're gonna have a man trapped in this booth, he'll be trapped here.

- Get me out!

Ah, I'm burning up!

- So this will all be on fire.

- [Geoffrey] This is all gonna be on fire.

- [Steve] It will.

- [Actor] Fire (indistinct) pull out!

- [Geoffrey] Well, why doesn't it just all burn up?

- Because everything you see is made of steel.

This is all steel, all things that won't burn, even the instruments.

- This looks like a piano, but it's just metal.

Oh yeah, look at this.

These are supposed to be like a spiral bound book, but it's made of metal, so it won't burn.

(knocking on metal) - All right, (indistinct) 12.

(upbeat music) - Over the years, we've gotten quite good at making stuff look reality based, but actually you put flame to it and once you take the flame away from it, it's not burning.

- [Geoffrey] Before filming starts, special effects wizard John Milinac and his crew set the level of each flame, one at a time, so when they're all lit at once, it looks like the room is believably ablaze.

- (indistinct) that's plenty for now, save that.

- [Geoffrey] Just in case, there are actual firefighters on set at all times.

(fire blazing) (fire extinguisher blowing) Whoops, good thing, too.

- Round of applause.

(people cheering and clapping) - So you've worked in Hollywood?

- Yes, I have.

- What's different about working in Chicago?

- I think the camaraderie of the Chicago crews.

It's really a large expanded family here.

Ready?

And one, two, three, fire!

(fire exploding) - [Geoffrey] Now, given the danger, why subject the actors and crew to real fire?

- It has a better feel for it when we can say we do it live.

Plus there's some bragging rights to say we do it real.

(actor yelling) - [Geoffrey] Interestingly, this giant space was red hot, long before it was a film studio.

- Before this campus was Cinespace Studios, it was Ryerson Steel.

There's 1.6 million square feet of space here, and it was filled with massive rolls of steel rolling through these clear span buildings.

- The factory closed after Ryerson was sold in 2007, and was converted to a studio in 2011.

But there's been a film industry in Chicago for more than a century.

(upbeat music) Selig Polyscope Company on the northwest side cranked out early silent films.

Pioneering Black filmmaker Oscar Micheaux made independent films in Chicago.

Essanay Studios in Uptown is where Charlie Chaplin earned an unheard of $1,250 a week in 1915.

He only completed one film before heading off to the West Coast in search of milder weather, and the rest of the movie industry soon followed.

- You were the only person I noticed-- - [Geoffrey] Over the years, movie making in Chicago ebbed and flowed with films like "The Blues Brothers", "Risky Business", and "Home Alone".

(Macaulay screaming) In recent years, Chicago has lured the industry back big time, with tax incentives.

As a result, major films and TV series like "Empire", "The Bear", "The Dark Knight", and more have used the city as a backdrop.

(vehicle crashing) - It brings millions and millions of dollars to the economy here in Illinois and the city of Chicago.

It employs at times thousands of union trained workers.

It also showcases the city in all its beauty.

- [Geoffrey] And for retired firefighter and TV producer Steve Chikerotis, it showcases something else too.

- The tactics that we use on the show are imitations of what the Chicago Fire Department does.

Being able to imitate such a great department as ours, which of course I believe is the greatest in the world, (Geoffrey laughing) I would not trade our team for anybody in the world.