Billy Burke’s Shocking “Fire Country” Departure Explained — What Really Happened to Vince? md11

Fire Country fans are still burning for Billy Burke.

When the CBS action drama premiered in 2022, the actor was introduced as Station 42 Battalion Chief Vince. The character was at the helm of a local California firefighting team as they confronted intense blazes and complicated rescues.

However, season 3 of Fire Country concluded on a cliffhanger when Vince was trapped inside a burning memory care facility, leaving viewers to wonder whether he would survive. Unfortunately, his fatal fate was confirmed at the beginning of season 4, which premiered on Oct. 17.

After it was revealed that Vince didn’t make it out of the inferno, his son Bode (Max Thieriot) and wife Sharon (Diane Farr) were devastated by the loss. Off-screen, viewers are still coming to terms with the character’s sudden absence in the latest episodes.

So, why did Billy Burke leave Fire Country? Here’s everything to know about the actor’s exit and what it means for the show’s future.

Burke’s character died in Fire Country season 3

In the season 3 finale, Vince, Bode and Sharon rushed to save Vince’s father, Walter (Jeff Fahey), whose care facility was engulfed in flames.

Bode made it out of the fire, but as Vince, Sharon and Walter attempted to escape, part of the building collapsed on them.

In the season 4 trailer, it was revealed that Vince was killed in the fire, but even the actors were unsure which of their characters would survive.

“Billy and I went into the fire [in Fire Country season 3] and our producers didn’t tell us who was coming out,” Farr told Good Housekeeping in October 2025. “We spent the whole summer, and then it was Billy who told us he was let go.

“Losing my scene partner in Billy,” she continued. “We built a really strong unit in a show that already has an original wound. And now we’re re-arranging our family, both on and off-screen.”

Vince’s death on Fire Country was a creative decision

The choice to kill off Vince was a decision made by the series’ creative team, as co-creators Tony Phelan and Joan Rater revealed to TV Insider in September 2025.

Fire Country has maintained most of its original cast since it premiered, and going into season 4, the creators wanted to stay “truthful to the work” firefighters do, and the danger they regularly put themselves in.

“We felt like it was time for the show and the characters to have a loss,” Phelan told the outlet. “As we were talking about the end of the season, we felt like the thing that was really going to shake up the show and shake up our characters in the best way possible and force them to really reassess where they were and what they were doing was this kind of loss.”

In an October 2025 Deadline interview, executive producer and showrunner Tia Napolitano added that there were “so many conversations” about killing Vince.

“So much thought and care went into making the decision,” she explained. “I’m a decisive girl … so there was no take backsies.”

Telling Burke about Vince’s death was “very difficult”

Phelan revealed to TV Insider that it was “very difficult” to tell Burke about Vince’s death, “because we love the character and love him so much.”

Still, Phelan isn’t ruling out the idea of bringing back Vice through flashbacks.

“That’s always a possibility. There’s always, if the storytelling leads there,” he said. “And I won’t say never. I’ll never say never. Right now, that’s not in the immediate plans, but could certainly happen.”

Burke’s character is “not going away easily or silently”

After the Fire Country season 4 premiere confirmed Vince’s death and Burke’s exit from the show, Farr addressed viewers’ upset reaction to the news.

“I see those notes … and I FEEL you,” she wrote on Instagram on Oct. 18. “But let me ask an honest question.”

Farr continued, “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?”

The actress added that Vince was “not going away easily or silently” and that the series will honor “the impact this character and this actor has made.”

The show also hinted that Burke’s Vince wouldn’t soon be forgotten, as Bode said in his eulogy, “I’m gonna spend the rest of my career protecting my father’s town, my father’s stations, and my father’s mission.”

In an interview with TV Insider, Phelan said that “the loss of Vince is going to echo through the entire season.”

He explained, “We are going to see our younger firefighters really have to begin to grapple with growing up and what is the next step for them.”

Burke has not made a statement about leaving the series

Burke has not made a public statement about his exit from Fire Country, but in the past, he has spoken about how much he enjoyed working with his costars.

According to Screen Rant, at a 2022 Television Critics Association panel, Burke said Fire Country is “the best cast he’s worked with in a long time.”