Heading into Chicago Fire season 14, episode 4 we knew it was going to be a hard episode to watch for Herrmann fans. This was because the promo teased that a fire was going to break out at his home.
As the episode began, we see Herrmann at home with Cindy and the kids before they head out for the day. He’s logging the kids’ heights on the wall as his daughter, Annabelle, enters the room and mentions not feeling well and staying home from school. Cindy, meanwhile, is excited to begin a new job and wants nothing more than to make a good first impression.
Shortly after Herrmann arrives for his shift, a call comes through about a fire at his address, and 51 quickly races into action despite not being called to respond to the fire. Herrmann races into the house trying to find Annabelle when she doesn’t answer the phone, and 51 works to clear the scene.
That’s when Cindy arrives and informs them that Annabelle went to school and wasn’t in the house. While no one is injured in the fire, Herrmann and his family lose everything in the fire.
Mouch is able to find an apartment for Herrmann and his family to stay in and helps them get settled into the place as they begin rebuilding their lives. As the kids take the place in, Cindy asks Herrmann if he’s heard any news about what caused the fire as she’s puzzled by what could have happened with no one home.
Herrmann calls in Severide for help in investigating the cause of the fire. When they meet at Molly’s, Severide mentions that the fire seems to have started in the kitchen, but they’re unclear what caused the fire to begin. That’s when Herrmann mentions he recently put in some new wiring and worries that he’s to blame for the fire.
As Cindy and Herrmann tackle the overwhelming list of tasks they need to complete, the kids begin to express disbelief in losing so many of their personal belongings. Cindy comforts the kids as best she can, but it's clear Herrmann is struggling with the pain his family in and blaming himself.
Severide begins looking into the fire as Isaiah arrives at the firehouse to get his key for the apartment. He’s intrigued by Severide’s investigation, and Severide begins to talk him through his investigation. Seeing the spark of excitement in Isaiah, Severide invites him to tag along on a fire investigation to see if they can get answers.
Meanwhile, Herrmann is working through his checklist at the firehouse when Mouch comes in to check on him. He asks how they’re holding up and Herrmann opens up about the kids being torn up over losing their personal items. Mouch tries to offer up words of encouragement, noting that at least everyone made it out safely and that it’s just stuff they’ve lost. This is when Herrmann lashes out about it not just being stuff, storming off.
Pivoting back to Severide, he and Isaiah meet up with Van Meter to look into the appliances in the kitchen to see if they can find out what caused the fire. As they examine things, they find that the stove ignition had a short which caused the fire.
Mouch finds Herrmann at the house trying to find anything salvageable and tells him that the fire wasn’t his fault, it was the stove ignition. He then pitches in to help look around the house for any belongings that survived the fire.
As the episode comes to a close, Herrmann apologizes to Cindy for scaring her and lets her know he and Mouch searched the home. While there wasn’t much they could save, Mouch found Cindy’s mom’s ring, which meant the world to her. The episode ends with the pair embracing, unsure of what the future will hold.
Elsewhere in the episode…
Violet and Novak began their new protocol of training firefighters as paramedics. While the original plan was to train Herrmann, they ended up turning to Capp for help after the fire. While the pair were worried at first, Capp ended up surprising them and the first training went well hinting that their new plan has some legs and could work out nicely.
Meanwhile, Vasquez began looking into his father’s case as we learned that the case his father was working on was made with help from a screwdriver found at the scene. It’s that same screwdriver which his dad seems to be in prison for, having been accused of planting evidence.
After a conversation with Novak, Vasquez goes to see his dad in prison as the episode ends and tells him he was looking through the case files and noticed the medic report from the scene were missing. As Novak confirmed, the medics would have reported anything they saw in the house including potential weapons, and if Vasquez can find the missing report, they can prove the screwdriver was there and wasn’t planted by his dad.