Fire Country season 3 is on the way, and if it’s anything like the first two seasons of the hit show, then it’s set to light a spark in viewers’ hearts. The show’s co-creator Max Thieriot is set to return as Bode Donovan, the young convict who joined a prison release firefighting program in Northern California in a bid to redeem himself from his past mistakes. As Bode battles huge wildfires, he returns to his hometown with the reputation of a criminal and the desire for forgiveness.
The show set the streaming world ablaze after the first season of the CBS firefighter drama landed on Netflix in the US in 2023 – one year after its premiere on the broadcasting channel. According to Decider, CBS Studios had signed a deal with the world’s best streaming service in July 2024 to attract a fresh viewership ahead of the show’s season 3 premiere on CBS and Paramount Plus, but you can also find the first two seasons of the show on Paramount Plus in the US, Sky and Now TV in the UK, and Netflix and Paramount Plus in Australia.
Fire Country has been likened to one of the best Netflix shows Virgin River with its soapy small town drama, so it sounds like the answer to all your Virgin River prayers while you wait for the new season. We can expect the drama of Fire Country season 3 to be sizzling hot, especially since Supernatural star Jared Padalecki will be joining in a three-episode guest arc.
Here’s everything we know about Fire Country season 3 so far.
Fire Country season 3: release date
Fire Country season 3 will premiere on Friday, October 18 at 9pm ET/PT on CBS after S.W.A.T. and before Blue Bloods. If you don’t have access to satellite or cable TV, CBS is available on a number of streaming services, including FuboTV, Hulu with Live TV, YouTube TV, and DirectTV.
Episodes of Fire Country season 3 will also debut on the same day on Paramount Plus. If you want to catch up on the first two seasons, here’s how to watch Fire Country season 2, which is currently streaming on Paramount Plus along with the first season for those in the US and Australia.
At the moment, only the first season of Fire Country is available to stream on Netflix, and there’s been no news on whether season two or season three will be released on the platform.
There’s also been no official announcement on when Fire Country season 3 will land in the UK, but it’s possible that it will join seasons one and two on Sky Witness and NOW TV when/if it does.
Virgin River season 3: rumored cast
While nothing official has been announced, according to TV Guide, speculation about who will be in Fire Country’s season 3 cast, includes:
- Max Thieriot as Bode Leone
- Diane Farr as Sharon Leone
- Billy Burke as Vince Leone
- Stephanie Arcila as Gabriela Perez
- Kevin Alejandro as Manny Perez
- Jordan Calloway as Jake Crawford
- Jules Latimer as Eve Edwards
Jared Padalecki, best known for playing Sam Winchester in Supernatural and fresh off his lead role in CW series Walker, is also expected to join the Fire Country season 3 cast in a three-episode guest stint.
He will play a character called Camden, with Deadline describing him as: “a SoCal firefighter and maverick with a surfer swagger who is a force to be reckoned with and immediately recognizes Bode’s raw talent.”
Meanwhile, showrunner Tia Napolitano confirmed to TV Line that Morena Baccarin will also make an appearance in season 3 as Sharon Leone’s stepsister Mickey Fox, who runs the Edgewater sheriff’s department, and that Rafael de la Fuente is also returning as Diego Moreno.
Fire Country season 3: plot speculation
The basis of the procedural drama is about a group of volunteer and professional firefighters combating wildfires across Northern California. Not only do they have to contend with huge blazes, but also their dramatic personal lives – in particular, for the main character Bode Donovan.
The heat is turned up when Bode is assigned back to his hometown, where he was once the all-American golden boy with a perfect reputation. However, he returns with a criminal record and hoping to prove everyone’s misconceptions wrong.
While there’s no official plot details for Fire Country season 3 yet, we know that the new installment will be a continuation from the explosive season two finale which saw Bode finish his five-year prison sentence early after saving his father from a dangerous campaign fire.
According to TV Guide, season 3 will follow Bode’s difficult journey to becoming a full-time firefighter and finding his way in the world now that he’s out of prison. Napolitano told the publication: “He can have a lot more fun. He can have some joy at Smokey’s and go to Jake’s apartment and do things that a normal 30-year-old man can do. It’ll feel very refreshing and a breath of fresh air because Bode hasn’t been able to do those things for basically our entire show.”
Although Bode is no longer at Three Rock, Fire Country will still focus on the inmates there, as Napolitano added: “We will continue to see the inmates on calls. These programs are always sort of in question. What does it mean to work there? What are inmates getting to learn? We’ll see their connection to 42. It’ll still be part of the show’s DNA, but we might tweak it a little bit.”
It looks like Bode has got his professional life back on course, but the same can’t be said for his love life. In season two, Bode and his ex-girlfriend Gabriela Perez kissed on the final night of the campaign fire, but we were left on a cliffhanger of Gabriela potentially saying “I do” to her fiancé Diego Moreno at their wedding.
The good news is that we will definitely get the answers we’ve been waiting for as Napolitano revealed in an interview with TV Line: “Everyone’s going to get all the answers that they were itching for at the end of our season two finale.”
We’ll also be introduced to Padalecki’s new character Camden, so we’ll have to see how his story plays out when he interacts with Bode. Meanwhile, Thieriot teased to Deadline that there could be some floods involved in season three as he revealed: “I hope to do more stuff with floods. Those are obviously pretty massive and I grew up in an area that was not far from the Russian River, which would flood at times.
“The fire departments are intimately involved in dealing with that. I think it would be fun to do if we can figure out how to do it in a big scale. As a director, it is definitely something I’ve been wanting to do. I’ve thought through a lot of different ways that we can accomplish some of those scenes without it getting too crazy expensive, but still have it feel like a big scale.”
Fire Country season 3: future seasons
While there has been no news on whether Fire Country will be renewed for season four, it’s been revealed that spin-off series Sheriff Country is in the works for the 2025-2026 TV season.
An episode from Fire Country season two served as a backdoor pilot for the new show Sheriff Country, which will follow Edgewater sheriff Mickey Fox, who is also the stepsister of Cal Fire division chief Sharon Leone. In the spin-off, Variety writes that Mickey “investigates criminal activity as she patrols the streets of small-town Edgewater while contending with her ex-con father and a mysterious incident involving her wayward daughter.”
Deadline reported that Jared Padalecki’s three-episode arc in season three could also lead to his own spin-off. However, the idea is still in early development.
Similar shows to Fire Country
Fans can’t wait for season three to debut in October, but if you’ve already watched our pick of three small town dramas, then check out these three other similar shows that weren’t on the list.
Chicago Fire
Chicago Fire paved the way for firefighter dramas like Fire Country. The show lifts the lid on the professional and personal lives of the firefighters and rescue team of the Chicago Fire Department working in the fictional Chicago Firehouse 51.
Available to stream on Prime Video in the US, UK and Australia.
S.W.A.T.
Emmy-nominated procedural CBS drama S.W.A.T. follows former Marine Daniel Hondo (Shemar Moore) and his elite team of LAPD officers as they fight dangerous criminals in Los Angeles.
Available to stream on Netflix in the US, UK and Binge in Australia.
9-1-1
9-1-1 follows the lives of Los Angeles police officers, paramedics and firefighters as they put their lives at risk everyday to save people. However, they also have to contend with their personal problems.
Available to stream on Hulu in the US and Disney Plus in the UK and Australia.
