Fire Country’s Diane Farr Addresses Backlash Over Death of Billy Burke’s Vince: ‘I Feel You’

Fire Country fans received a message from one of the show’s stars after Vince’s death sparked backlash.

During the Friday, October 17, episode of the hit CBS series, Billy Burke‘s character was killed off. Burke’s onscreen wife subsequently took to Instagram to address viewers who were upset with the show’s decision.

“I know some of y’all are angry. I see those notes also. And I FEEL you,” the actress, who plays Sharon, wrote. “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, 56, defended Fire Country‘s writing choice.

“42’s chief is not going away easily or silently. Our writers have much to share on this. That honors the impact this character and this actor has made,” she continued. “Big feelings for the exit of Billy and Vince are a testament to his beautiful work. We have filmed half of Season4 @firecountrycbs so far and we are honoring it all year long. 🧡🚒.”

Earlier this year, Fire Country’s third season ended on a cliffhanger with Vince, Sharon and Walter’s (Jeff Fahey) lives left in the balance. News broke hours after the finale aired in April that budget cuts led to Burke, 58, and Stephanie Arcila‘s exits. (Burke has yet to address his departure.)

“I had no idea ever. But at the same time, I know that this is the nature of the industry that I’m in, and I have accepted the flow of release and acceptance throughout my journey and knowing that when one door closes, another one always opens,” Arcila, 35, exclusively told Us Weekly in April. “We have this beautiful eternal door of revolving desires in what we love in life. I believe that if we put resistance towards that, sometimes it stops us from fulfilling other things that we love.”

While speaking to Us, showrunner Tia Napolitano defended the vision for the series going forward.

“It’s a fire show. Anyone can go at any time,” she said earlier this month about the character deaths and departures. “But in terms of losing people, we’re also adding some really fun guest cast. It’s a revolving door of people from Sharon’s past and new faces that are exciting to bring conflict and secrets and twists and turns.”

While there are plans for “really spicing it up” this season, the show still has to walk a “fine line” of paying tribute to the loss experienced on screen.

“What we’ve done is really thread the needle of honoring — especially Vince — because Gabriella is gone, but she’s gone to a happy and successful life. She’s still out there. But we really walk this line of honoring Vince while also finding hope rather quickly,” she noted. “Looking forward, the theme of the season is rising from the ashes and recovery.”

Napolitano continued: “How do you recover from something like this? And we’re really going to see everybody rise to the occasion, in celebration of Vince, of his life and in honoring the sacrifice that he made.”

Fire Country airs on CBS Fridays at 9 p.m. ET. New episodes will be streaming the next day on Paramount+.