‘Fire Country’ Shocker: Two Original Cast Members Leaving CBS Drama After 3 Seasons

The series had been setting up a possible exit for Jordan Calloway, whose ambitious Station 42 Captain Jake Crawford had given a two-week notice in pursuit of better career opportunities elsewhere. Instead, sources tell Deadline it will be Stephanie Arcila, who plays firefighter, paramedic and Bode Leone’s (Max Thieriot) on- and off- love interest Gabriela Perez, and Billy Burke, who portrays Jake’s boss and Bode’s father, Cal Fire Battalion Chief Vince Leone, who will be leaving the series.

In an exclusive interview with Deadline, which you can read here, Fire Country co-creators/executive producers Joan Rater and Tony Phelan and executive producer/showrunner Tia Napolitano confirmed Arcila’s exit as a series regular but would not comment on Burke’s departure as they want to keep fans guessing who exactly would be leaving the show alongside her.

While fans had been worried for Gabriela after the episode before the April 25 two-part Season 3 finale ended with her deranged stalker Finn (Blake Lee) on the loose, that storyline did not directly spell out Arcila’s exit as Gabriela survived the stalker ordeal unscathed – at least physically.

In fact, unlike the recent exit of Peter Krause from another firefighter drama, ABC’s 9-1-1, neither Arcila not Burke’s departures were revealed in Fire Country‘s two-hour Season 3 finale, which ended in a cliffhanger Friday with three characters’ lives in the balance at the Buena Vista memory care facility where Vince’s father Walter (Jeff Fahey) was being treated. Engulfed by fire, the building collapsed with Vince, his wife Cal Fire Division Chief Sharon (Diane Farr), and retired battalion chief Walter in it.

Not properly equipped, Vince and Sharon had rushed in to help Bode and Walter with the evacuation of the facility, which found itself in the path of a devastating wildfire. Already out, distraught Bode had to be restrained by Jake from going back in to help his family as the building started to crumble.

Gabriela was at the scene, last seen watching the raging fire in horror after her stalker storyline was resolved, with Audrey (Leven Rambin) shooting Finn in the chest as he tried to abduct Gabriela. The latter’s father Manny (Kevin Alejandro) — with assist from Gabriela and Audrey — raced to save Finn’s life. In the final minutes of the finale, Finn was getting medical attention while Audrey was taken away by police, with her fate unknown.

Broadcast series are under pressure to reduce budgets, and cast reductions are one way to cut costs. This was not case for Fire Country, the executive producers said in the interview.

“It really just comes down to what’s the best creatively,” Rater said.

Added Napolitano, “That’s a reality, there’s danger in this sort of job, so we wanted to honor that and really up the stakes,” noting that the show is “leaning into the authenticity of the real-life heroes that our characters are playing, people die, they leave.”

Given where Gabriela is at the end of Season 3, the series’ executive producers plan to have Arcila return next season — and possibly beyond — as guest star.

“We love Stephanie, and we are committed to saying that the Bode-Gabriela story does not end here, it goes on,” Phelan said. “We’re hoping that that we can bring that character back, because we think that they have such great chemistry, and the audience is really invested in the two of them.”

Added Napolitano, “We hope to see her back very soon, to give her a proper not goodbye, but see you later. In the epic love story of Bode and Gabriela, sometimes it’s very useful for a longing, to miss her, to miss them, to really crave seeing them on screen together, whatever they mean to each other.”

Asked by Deadline in a separate interview whether she would come back, Arcila simply said, “I never say never.” (You can read the exclusive interview here.)

Burke, who has since signed on for a guest role on the Peacock’s crime thriller M.I.A., is believed to be among several Fire Country series regulars who earlier this year were asked to reduce their episodes for next season in what has become a common cost-saving measure by studios. I hear the actors all declined and, ultimately, no one’s episodes are being reduced for next season.

Asked whether any cast departure is connected to that development, the executive producers dismissed any correlation.

“No, it’s really coming out of us wanting to be exciting storytellers,” Rater said.

Gabriela, of course, will remain connected to the show through her father, Manny, who in the finale was encouraged by Sharon to apply for the Station 42 Captain position. That post became vacant after Jake, following some soul-searching, took a captain job in a neighboring town that came with the prospect of a promotion to battalion chief, something Vince had bluntly told him was not in the cards at 42 anytime soon.

That would likely change following Vince’s presumed death, and Calloway is believed to be staying on the show, making Jake a top candidate to succeed Vince as battalion chief.

Gabriela became known for her messy love life. Her tenure on the show included the high-profile — and fan-favorite — romance with Bode as well as her involvement with Jake, the almost-marriage to Diego and, most recently, the toxic relationship Finn. Throughout it all, she has maintained a close bond with her father who was ready to take the blame for Finn’s shooting when he initially thought it was Gabriela who had pulled the trigger.

In the interview with Deadline, Arcila speaks about the conclusion of the stalker story arc, her time on Fire Country, and what she hopes the future holds for Gabriela.

“I think that she could continue as a firefighter, I think that she could continue as an EMT, but I definitely think she will never stop learning and growing,” Arcila said.

A third-generation Cal Fire veteran, Vince was great at his job but often pulled toward danger and tragedy. He also was rough around the edges and had communication problems so, while he cared for those around him, he sometimes ended up hurting them.

Vince’s exit arc was highlighted by the reconciliation with his father following Walter’s dementia diagnosis, which Vince initially found hard to accept. The process culminated in the recent “Fire and Ice” episode, guest-starring Jelly Roll in his acting debut.

Elsewhere in the Season 3 finale, Eve (Jules Latimer) and her crew fought hard but could not save Three Rock from the raging wildfire, while Sharon and Renée (Constance Zimmer) scored a major victory against chemical company Oxalta.

In the postmortem interview with Deadline, Rater and Phelan and Napolitano discuss the reasons for the cast shakeup and how the departures came about. They address the events in the finale and how it resets the series going forward.

Fire Country, which launched as the most watched new series of the 2022-23 broadcast season, remains one of CBS’ most popular series and an anchor of the network’s Friday lineup. It was quickly identified by CBS brass for its mass-appeal franchise potential, with a spinoff series, Sheriff Country, starring Morena Baccarin, premiering next fall.

The mothership series stars Thieriot as a young convict seeking redemption and a shortened prison sentence by joining a prison-release firefighting program in his rural Northern California hometown. Returning Fire Country series regulars alongside Thieriot are believed to include Alejandro, Calloway, Farr and Latimer.

Fire Country, from Jerry Bruckheimer Television and CBS Studios, is inspired by Thieriot’s experiences growing up in fire country and stems from an original idea by the actor, who co-created the series with Phelan and Rater. The three executive produce alongside showrunner Napolitano and JBTV’s Jerry Bruckheimer and KristieAnne Reed.