Responding to emergencies, running into burning buildings and rescuing the injured — firefighters are trained to perform these heroic actions on a daily basis. So going face to face with a little sabotage should be no problem for them, right? Right. While there was no shortage of eviliciousness on tonight's brand-new episode of Cutthroat Kitchen, featuring four firefighters at the helm, the dishes turned out shockingly stellar, according to judge Antonia Lofaso, who was on hand to sample the plates of the day.

"This whole day, everything was cooked well," Antonia said during the After-Show, and not just because she had just learned what challenges these cooks had to endure: burned chicken in a blazing building and fries that had to travel the length of a 50-foot hose. "All of their dishes were legitimately really good," she said. According to host Alton Brown, the chefs gave stellar performances because the demands of a Cutthroat battle aren't unlike what they're used to. "They're very resourceful and they don't panic under pressure," he explained to Antonia.

Even in the final round when it came time to pick a winner, Antonia explained, "It was really a tossup at the end." But she said simply of Chef Manny's flambe, "I just liked it better."

Click the play button on the video above to hear more from Alton and Antonia as they break down the ins and outs of the special firefighter episode of Cutthroat Kitchen.

Tune in to Cutthroat Kitchen on Sundays at 10|9c, and don't miss Camp Cutthroat every Wednesday at 9|8c.