Fire Country’s Diane Farr Reacts to Backlash After Billy Burke’s Surprising Exit
Diane Farr is calming the flames surrounding Fire Country’s shocking reveal.
Shortly after the show’s season four premiere confirmed that beloved firefighter Vince Leone (played by
Billy Burke) didn’t survive the building collapse in season three, his onscreen wife addressed fans’ reaction to her costar’s exit from the show.“I know some of y’all are angry,” Diane wrote on her Oct. 19 Instagram post, honoring her ’s role. “I see those notes also. And I FEEL you. 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?”
Fire Country’s season three finale in April, when he and Sharon got trapped in a massive house fire.
That same month, rumors that that Billy, 58, and Stephanie Arcila
While the Twilight alum didn’t address his exit at the time, the season four trailer—which released earlier this month—confirmed that Vincent didn’t make it out of the accident unscathed. And in the premiere’s latest episode, his son Bode Leone (
Max Thieriot) gave a touching eulogy at his funeral.Though a heartbreaking opening for fans, Diane noted this send-off isn’t the end of Vince’s legacy at Station 42.
“42’s chief is not going away easily or silently,” she continued in her post. “Our writers have much to share on this. That honors the impact this character and this actor has made. 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.”
Sergei Bachlakov/CBS via Getty ImagesDiane’s heartfelt tribute comes days after showrunner Tia Napolitano detailed how the cast mourned Billy’s departure from the show.
“It was very sad, there were a lot of tears on set,” she told
Deadline on Oct. 17. “Everyone was very sad to lose Vince, the character, and to lose Billy Burke, the wonderful actor. We wanted Bode’s speech about his dad to feel really off-the-cuff and not scripted, and the emotion that Max brought to it was just beautiful. I think it really, in many ways, felt like an actual funeral, and you see it in the episode; it’s just heartbreaking, you feel the pain from everybody.”
