3 Chicago Fire deaths that left us emotionally devastated

Chicago Fire is such an effective show because it balances the extremes of firefighting. The characters who make up the Firehouse 51 team are given time to develop, and we root for them when they come across a personal setback or even a funny misunderstanding. They’re fun to hang out with.

The flip side of the coin, of course, is the risks they take on the job. Characters put their lives on the line whenever they respond to a call, and the results can be devastating to watch. Since the beloved Mouch (Christian Stolte) is on the brink of death heading into season 12, we decided to revisit the characters deaths that left us emotionally reeling after they happened.

What happened to Shay on Chicago Fire?

Leslie Shay (Lauren German) was a big part of the first Chicago Fire seasons. She was a paramedic who brought a unique intensity to the 51, and her friendship with Severide (Taylor Kinney) made her easy to like when she was still being established as a character.

Shay was also responsible for some of the show’s most dramatic arcs. There was her attempt to have a baby with Severide’s help, her fraught relationship with her ex, Clarice, (Shiri Appleby), and love/hate dynamic with Gabby Dawson (Monica Raymund). All the drama ceased, however, when Shay turned up dead in the season 3 premiere. Shay was hit in the head by a pipe during a building explosion, and a bereaved Dawson gave the eulogy at her funeral.

What happened to Rebecca Jones on Chicago Fire?

Rebecca Jones (Daisy Betts) was another troubled character. She struggled to get her footing as a firefighting candidate because her father, a CFD officer, tried to talk her out of it. He pushed to get her a desk job, instead, and eventually got his way, as a dejected Jones decided to turn down a chance to become a firefighter to make her father happy.

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At least, that was the plan. Shortly after telling Herrmann (David Eigenberg) about her decision, Jones went home, wrote a suicide note, and took her own life. Once more, Gabby was a point of focus, as the note was addressed to her. Jones remains the only major suicide on the show, and it still hurts to think about when we revisit old episodes.

How did Otis die on Chicago Fire?

The apex for tragic Chicago Fire deaths. Shay and Jones were inherently tragic characters, so it at least made sense to have them meet tragic endings (as unpleasant as the endings might’ve been). Otis (Yuri Sardarov), on the other hand, was borderline comic relief. He was the guy who released the tension in the room when the other characters were going through turmoil.

The fact that he died as a result of injuries sustained in an explosion was almost too much for fans to handle. The funeral, which took place in season 8, gave us some of the saddest moments of the entire show courtesy of the emotionally ravaged Cruz (Joe Minoso). The silver lining is that Cruz would eventually name his son Otis in his friend’s memory.

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