Fire Country is facing some shake-ups.
Over the weekend, Tia Napolitano, the series’ showrunner for its first four seasons, departed the show, after joining right after its pilot in 2022.
Her departure comes following a slew of other exits the show is dealing with, including that of Stephanie Arcila and Billy Bourke, who starred as Gabriela and Vince.
In a statement announcing her exit, Tia shared: “I am beyond proud of the past four seasons of Fire Country. All of my gratitude to our cast, crew, writers, producers, fans, and of course CBS and CBS Studios. It’s been a beautiful ride!”
CBS, which airs Fire Country, also released their own statement, via CBS Entertainment President Amy Reisenbach and CBS Studios President David Stapf, who said in a joint statement to TVLine: “Tia has been instrumental in helping both build and steer Fire Country, which not only became a top series, but is also the foundation of a growing universe.”
“We’re grateful for all her contributions and tireless work, and look forward to collaborating with her on future projects,” they added.
© FilmMagicMultiple outlets have since reported that the search for a replacement for Tia remains ongoing.
Tia’s exit comes a few months after she stood by the ending of Stephanie and Billy’s characters — spoiler alert, Gabriela chose to leave Edgewater, while Billy died — in the April 2025 season finale, and it was later revealed their exits were due to budget cuts.
“It’s a fire show. Anyone can go at any time,” she told Us Weekly at the time, adding: “But in terms of losing people, we’re also adding some really fun guest cast.”
© CBS“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,” she emphasized.
© CBSShe moreover opened up about how they would be “spicing” up the season, while honoring the departed characters. “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 said. “Looking forward, the theme of the season is rising from the ashes and recovery.”
“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,” she noted.
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