Coors And Chase Team Up To Fight Fires…With Beer

Chase Rice grew up with a dad who drank Coors Banquet, and that’s what ultimately led him to partner with the brand to raise funds to support wildfire firefighters and support their efforts.

“The (partnership) really started when I was a kid,” says this country music singer and songwriter. “My dad, who was a residential contractor, would come home, and that’s what he would drink. I remember him sitting on the front porch with him drinking Banquet.”

“Later, my mom gave me a booklet from the time I was born until the time my dad died – and he died when I was 22. In that booklet was a photo of him in Wyoming, double fisting two Coors Banquets with his cowboy hat on.”

Rice says he always knew he wanted to use that photo as an album cover, but it wasn’t until he began working on his latest album – an unnamed album that will come out later this year – that he and his team approached Coors to get permission to use the photo. “That started the conversation, and then it evolved to have me working with Coors Banquet as a partnership along side the Wildland Firefighers,” Rice says.

Coors Banquet just announced its “Protect Our Protectors” program. In an effort to raise awareness and funds for wildfire crews, Coors Banquet is selling Protect Our Protectors limited-edition, stubby bottles, which just made their debut are on shelves now, with proceeds going to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation and other local firefighter organizations across the country. The brand is also partnering with California-based apparel brand Brixton to create a limited Protect Our Protectors capsule collection available this month on shop.coors.com. Proceeds from the collection will also go back to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation.

As part of his partnership, Rice spent a day training and working with firefighters in Boise, Idaho. “People would be surprised at just how quick these fire take hold,” Rice says. “I always thought, if there’s a fire, just go in a different direction or find a different part of the woods, but the reality is the fires take hold so quickly, and it gets so dangerous in just minutes. They can take out an entire mountain range or national park.”

Rice says his training as a hotshot and as a jumper informed him better at what these firefighters risk every day. “They’re fighting Mother Nature, and Mother Nature is extremely powerful,” says Rice. “During training, they showed how fast a fire can start in less than 30 seconds. It’s only takes a matter of hours for an entire mountain range to be covered in fire.”

Rice hopes that this partnership and program spreads better awareness and encourages more people to become firefighters or to at least donate to help protect our American West. “I love helping those who serve us,” he says.

Rice says likely he will write a few songs about his experience training as a firefighter. “Usually, that’s where my songs come from – they come from real life experiences,” Rice says. “I can’t imagine that it won’t inspire me to write songs about it.”