Season 4 of CBS’ Fire Country started with an imaginable loss as Station 42 Battalion Chief Vince, played by Billy Burke, was revealed to have died in the Edgewater memory care facility fire he had been trapped in alongside his wife, Cal Fire Division Chief Sharon (Diane Farr), and his father, retired battalion chief Walter Leone (Jeff Fahey), who both survived.
While Vince’s death had been rumored since the Season 3 finale and confirmed in the Season 4 trailer released earlier this month, it still hit fans hard. They took to social media to share their feelings after the emotional premiere, which featured Vince’s funeral as well as Sharon and their firefighter son Bode (Max Thieriot) being overcome by grief.
In an Instagram post Sunday, Farr shared online posts by viewers not happy about Vince’s demise.
“I know some of y’all are angry. I see those notes also. And I FEEL you,” Farr wrote to them. “But let me ask an honest question. If we only show the risk in this vocation, week after week, without at least attempting to portray the profound loss that comes to both a firehouse and a family when a key player – when one of their own – falls … wouldn’t we be skipping the deepest part of portraying firefighters?”
Farr’s statement echoes the comments by Fire Country executive producer/showrunner Tia Napolitano about the death following the Season 3 finale.
“That’s a reality, there’s danger in this sort of job, so we wanted to honor that and really up the stakes,” she said at the time.
Farr also shared a photo from the funeral of her uncle, a retired firefighter, which she had shared with Napolitano.
“You might see the photo is matched pretty closely in last night’s premiere,” Farr wrote.
She prayed Burke’s work on Fire Country and promised fans that he would not be forgotten.
“Big feelings for the exit of Billy and Vince are a testament to his beautiful work,” Farr said. “We have filmed half of Fire Country’s Season 4 so far and we are honoring it all year long.”
In an interview with Deadline about the Season 4 premiere, Napolitano addressed the impact of Vince’s death on Sharon, Bode and the rest.
“They will continue to deal with it throughout the season,” she said. “The entire series, in small ways, we are still recovering from the death of Riley, and that was years ago. Now we’ve lost Vince, who is much more on screen in our lives. It’s a huge loss. That being said, the season does not wallow in grief there. There are consequences for the death of Vince, both emotional and action wise, but Fire Country, as you know and love it, will return to your screen this season. It’s just we both honor the death and are able to, life moves on.”
Here is Farr’s post:
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