Fire Country star and co-creator Max Thieriot is frankly worried “how poorly” Bode will respond if his firefighter father, Vince, winds up dying in the blaze that closed out Season 3.

When last we tuned into the Friday-night CBS drama, the scene at Walter’s memory care center was mayhem. Racing to the facility after realizing it was in the path of the Zabel Ridge wildfire, Bode and Walter (Jeff Fahey) spent a lot of time hunting for Walter’s pal Otto, eventually finding him sheltered in a closet.

But then Bode’s trick knee gave out while lugging Walter through the halls. Vince and Sharon (Billy Burke and Diane Farr) arrived on the scene and, leaving Jake (Jordan Calloway) in charge, dashed inside to find Bode and Walter, though that took time. And then once they did, Walter went missing!

Vince located Walter, but before they and Sharon could find their way to safety, the roof collapsed — as a horrified and helpless Bode watched from outside….

As if the cliffhanger wasn’t harrowing enough, as soon as the finale ended on the East Coast, the news broke that Burke, who has played Vince since Day 1, was exiting the CBS drama after three seasons. (Stephanie Arcila is also done as a series regular, though producers hope her Gabriela might pop up now and again as a guest star.)

Meaning, it sure seems like Season 4 will reveal that Vince in fact perished in the blaze. If true, Bode will certainly be left “very broken,” Thieriot tells TVLine in the red carpet video above.

“Bode has obviously gone through a lot of hardship in his life,” his portrayer notes, “and it seems like every time he feels like he’s coming out the other side, something happens. So I worry what [Vince’s death] would to do him, and how poorly he would respond.

“We know [Bode has] made leaps and bounds as far as the person he is after being incarcerated,” Thieriot continues, “but has he come fare enough to deal with something like that or not…? It’s heavy.”