Original subtitles

You think that I got

what it takes to lead this house?

Boden practically knighted you as his successor.

I don't even think Herrmann wants to be chief,

even if he doesn't realize it yet himself.

I need to take some time away.

I worked my whole life for this job.

I don't wanna risk losing it.

I'm proud of you, Carver.

[dramatic music]

I know people thought I came back

too soon after Monica, but I needed to be here.

We're frontliners.

We run toward the danger, not away from it.

[water whooshing]

[indistinct radio chatter]

All firefighters evacuate immediately.

- Let's move! - Let's go!

Move it! - [screams]

Battalion 25 to Main, we got a firefighter down,

critical condition.

[sirens wailing]

[tense music]

♪

Hey, I thought you were off to a birthday party.

You listening to the radio?

No, just got off the phone. Why? What's going on?

There was a house fire in the West Loop.

A roof collapsed, and a firefighter was inside.

He's being rushed to the hospital now.

Which firehouse?

♪

What's the update?

They just took him back to the OR.

Do the doctors know what they're dealing with?

Possible compression fractures,

internal bleeding, respiratory burns.

He's fighting for his life right now.

How's the firehouse holding up?

- As well as you'd expect. - Where are they now?

I told them to go get cleaned up.

They'll be back before he's out of surgery.

Commissioner Grissom called on the way here.

I'm gonna need you to gather the officers.

Tell them to meet us at the firehouse.

Okay?

Lawmakers met today, but the budget

is still yet to be approved.

Now to the scene of a house fire

overnight in the West Loop neighborhood

of downtown Chicago.

Firefighters managed to rescue the family inside,

but one firefighter was left critically injured.

Officials are still unclear as to what started the blaze.

[remote clatters]

Any update?

No, it's still touch and go.

How the hell did this happen?

I don't know.

We cleared that house.

You know, what the hell are we doing here?

If Pascal is looking for any answers,

I don't have any.

He didn't ask for you.

I did.

Look, I know you'd much rather be at Med right now.

I'll get you back there as soon as I can, but...

This can't wait.

What is going on?

♪

Commissioner Grissom has requested

I run a post-incident analysis on the West Loop fire.

The commissioner?

Yes, he wants a critical assessment.

Now, he has done this before,

when a firefighter gets severely injured,

or when the fire scene goes south.

In this case, it's both.

By assessment, you mean report?

It's an investigation.

I'm gonna need statements from each officer

individually, including the chief.

Is Grissom looking for somebody to blame here?

They wanna know what went wrong.

That's not a no.

I will do what I can to protect this firehouse,

but to do that, I need to know exactly

what happened out there.

I know you'll do what you can,

but let's be clear,

if the CFD is calling an investigation,

then someone here is gonna be held accountable

for what happened last night.

♪

Captain Herrmann.

Now, we really gotta do all this?

Yes, I'm afraid we do.

Unless you can explain to the committee exactly

what happened after the emergency evacuation?

No, sir, I cannot.

Well, I have to.

So we are gonna talk through the incident,

beat by beat, from the beginning.

Yeah.

I have the call coming in at 2104.

Sound right to you? - Yeah, it does.

What were you doing at the time?

Uh, I was cleaning up.

Hey, all good there?

Yeah, I just didn't sleep at all last night.

Otis has a fever.

I'm running on fumes.

That's what coffee is for. Just aim better than I did.

Oh, you know, I thought I was done with

the sleepless nights after the whole baby part.

Yeah, well, I have not had a decent night's sleep

since Lee Henry was born.

Yeah, Severide and Kidd have no idea

what they're in store for.

[laughs] God help them.

They don't have a clue.

Damn, I'm just making the stain bigger.

[alarm blares]

Squad 3, Truck 81, Engine 51.

Did you notice Cruz was flagging?

Cruz seemed fine to me.

Apparently he hadn't slept the night before.

Like I said, he appeared fit for duty.

If he didn't, I would have sent him home.

Look, if this is about what happened

with Cruz on the call... - Let's not jump ahead.

Go back to the alarm.

You said you were finishing a report.

Still at it?

Yeah, I gotta get it done. You need something?

Yeah, you hear of this technical ropes course

at the academy?

Uh, yeah, Kaffee teaches that, right?

He's good. - So you know him?

I could use a recommendation.

There's not enough action for you here?

The more, the better, you know?

I guess it just runs in the family.

- You clear it with Herrmann? - Yeah.

He said it's cool, as long as it doesn't interfere.

Doesn't have to be a letter or anything like that, does it?

I got enough paperwork as it is.

I think a phone call is good.

- Get me his number. - Copy that.

Thanks, Kelly.

[alarm blares]

Squad 3, Truck 81...

Remind me, Carver had been gone from 51 for how long?

30 days.

This was Carver's first shift back?

Yes.

How were you feeling about that?

I was looking forward to it.

CFD floaters are great, but I wanted my company back.

Carver's furlough, what was the reason?

It was personal.

I had heard rehab was a lot of talking.

They weren't kidding about that.

That can be a good thing, though.

No, it was.

Helped make sense of some things I've been dealing with,

brought some other stuff into focus.

It was the right move.

Well, we are happy to have you back in rotation.

Violet and Novak are bummed to miss you,

but they're pulling a shift over at 90.

Huh.

I'll catch 'em next time. - Mm-hmm.

Hey, will you let Ritter and Mouch know

that Chief wants to see us after breakfast?

- Will do. - Great.

Hey, how's it been?

I mean, with Chief, since...

Complicated.

Anything I can do?

He just wants everybody to do their jobs.

Well, I'm more than ready for that.

Good.

Did you have any concern about Carver's

fitness for duty?

No.

He'd been gone for a month.

Well, he'd been on furlough before,

and he had no trouble jumping back in.

And Lieutenant Kidd seemed to think he was ready.

And you just took her word for it?

No, I had her run drills with the whole team

so I could see for myself. - And?

She was right.

And that's where you were when the call came in?

Watching drills?

No, I was in my office, approving equipment repairs.

[somber music]

♪

[watch ticking]

[knock at door]

Yeah. - Hey, Chief.

Damon made spaghetti if you're hungry.

I'm good.

Anything else? - Uh, yeah.

You know Davis, third shift Engine guy?

Okay.

I ran into him during shift change.

He said they've been seeing a lot of you around the office

the last couple weeks.

Well, this may come as a surprise to both of you,

but I do work here.

Well, he only mentioned it because,

technically, you're off-shift then.

Yeah, work's been keeping me from getting home.

Sure. Makes sense.

Okay, then. I will leave you to it.

Mouch.

Can you tell Davis not to concern himself

with the hours I keep?

Hmm? - Yeah, Chief.

[alarm blares]

Squad 3, Truck 81, Engine 51.

The call came in at 2104.

It was all-units, 410 West Randolph.

We were there by 2109.

[sirens wailing]

Going to work!

[dramatic music]

♪

Get those people back. Make some room!

I saw flames rolling out of multiple first floor windows,

heavy smoke pushing from the chimney and the attic.

So the basement and the first floor

were already fully involved.

We had minutes, maybe.

What were your orders?

Chief?

What happened next?

Everything went to hell.

- Sir! - Yes?

The Marshalls live there.

I didn't see if they got out. - How many?

Two parents, two kids.

[glass shatters]

[coughing]

Hold on!

[coughs] Help!

Help!

[people scream]

♪

It was 2110 now.

The jumper was confirmation enough for me

that the family didn't make it out.

You were told it was a family of four?

Yes, which meant there were three more still inside.

Engine 51, run a hose line to the fire

and hold it down until we clear the upstairs.

- Copy that. - Let's go!

33, I need you to attack that basement fire from the rear.

Copy!

Squad 3, primary search on two.

Don't overstay your welcome. - Copy that.

You heard him, let's move, Squad.

Truck 81, vent, enter, and search

from the bravo side and delta side.

Copy that, Chief. Let's get those ladders up.

Copy that.

Battalion 25 to Main, I need a still

and box alarm and an EMS Plan I.

Copy, Battalion 25.

Chief gave the order, vent, enter, search.

I told Mouch and Ritter to go to the delta side.

Carver was with me. - You split up your team?

We knew we had small rescue potential.

We had a lot of ground to cover.

So you attack from both sides.

Gives you more time.

Except I got waylaid.

Lieutenant, he said his brother's still up there.

Hey, hey. Stop, stop.

I couldn't get to him!

Please, you have to! - It's okay.

Tell us where he is.

Back bedroom. He's in his crib.

Please! - Hey, we're gonna get him.

- 81, let's move! - [sobbing]

And now we knew there was a baby inside,

as if every second didn't already count.

And Pascal was on you about it.

That's kind of his style.

For you or for everyone?

I don't know, I can't speak for the others.

Then don't.

Speak for yourself.

Things have been tricky since you left.

But he wasn't wrong.

We were losing time,

and we weren't the only ones.

Engine was having problems?

Yeah, we shouldn't have been.

I mean, we led out, we were ready to go.

We were just waiting for water, and...

[exhales]

It was chaos out there. - Chaos how?

Well, it seemed like the whole neighborhood was out.

We had EMS coming in from every direction.

We had interference on the radio.

I was yelling to send the water.

Doherty couldn't hear me.

And to top it off,

we did not have traffic control yet.

Let's move.

[groans] Son of a bitch.

You gotta be kidding me.

Hey! Move your car, idiot!

What happened?

The rubbernecker stopped on the damn hose line.

PD, where's our traffic control, huh?

- Units en route. - Go!

Let's go. Doherty, send me some water!

Copy that!

It was 2111.

Engine 33 was attacking the basement fire from the rear,

but we hadn't yet started our primary search and rescue.

You were waiting on Engine 51.

Squad couldn't get in until they cleared a path.

Jack Damon, he hadn't worked on Engine before.

He had, as a floater.

No, before that, under Gregory, under Kidd,

his experience was primarily on Truck.

You put him on an Engine.

Well, I wouldn't do that if I didn't trust

Damon could do the job.

And the family connection?

What about it?

Well, you brought him back,

knowing that he was Severide's brother,

Kidd's brother-in-law. - You hired him first.

I didn't know.

Well, you knew about Kidd and Severide's relationship.

You let them work together.

This isn't about me.

This is about the call, whether the family element

had an effect on it.

[tense music]

Well, I'm not the person you should be asking.

Damon wasn't an issue.

Firehouse 20 kicked his ass, made him stronger.

He could stand on his own now.

And I knew that Herrmann would take care of him.

So you weren't distracted?

Worrying about Damon? No.

That's not why this call went sideways.

Then why did it?

I can't tell you why.

But I can tell you when.

For us, it was the moment we got to that second floor.

[dramatic music]

♪

Hey, Chief, Squad's heading to the second floor.

Copy, Squad 3.

Tony, Capp, you guys take the alpha side.

Cruz, you're with me.

Copy!

Cruz!

Cruz!

Cruz, do you copy?

[static crackling]

Cruz!

It's 2112 now. 81 has ladders up.

Engine 51 and Squad 3 had just entered the premises.

What's the condition of the fire?

Angry.

33's keeping it at bay, at least for the time being.

You finally caught a break?

[sighs] No, that's when we lost Cruz.

Get that crowd back right now.

And I want Randolph closed at both ends.

I don't wanna have to ask you again.

- Yes, sir. - Cruz, do you copy?

[dramatic music]

Cruz?

[coughing]

Cruz, what's happening?

I couldn't... I couldn't breathe in there.

- What's wrong? - I don't know.

Cruz, you all right?

Yeah, something's wrong with my tank.

Damn, your regulator is frozen.

Squad 3X to Squad 3, we have two victims unconscious.

Need some help up here.

Head back inside. I'll take care of him.

Oh, Chief, no, I'm good, I swear.

I just need a new tank. - Well, get it fast.

Carver and me were on the bravo side,

and Ritter and Mouch

were on the delta.

Squad had ID'd two victims,

but they still hadn't found the baby.

Carver and I entered the second floor

on the bravo side.

♪

Carver, baby's room should be on the left.

- Copy. - Go!

♪

Carver, you copy?

[static crackling]

Carver?

[static crackling]

Sorry, hands were full.

- Okay. - [crying]

Hi, sweetie. All right. Hey.

Sweep the room, then follow me down.

Copy.

[crying]

He was alive,

but his breathing was shallow. He was lethargic.

He needed to be treated right away.

Carver took him to the medics?

No, I did.

As soon as I hit the ground.

Medics! - [crying]

He needs oxygen now.

We got him.

♪

Truck 81X to Truck 81, we need someone

to heel our ladder on delta.

Hey, copy that, Mouch. I'm on my way.

How many victims were still inside?

Two.

Tony and Capp were in the primary bedroom here

trying to extricate an adult male

who had fallen under some debris.

And you and Cruz?

We'd just made it back inside.

[water whooshing]

♪

[oxygen tank hissing]

This way.

Lieutenant!

- Damon? - Herrmann sent us.

What can we do?

Check the attic down the hall.

[wood crashing]

Move! - Copy!

Hey, Lieutenant, I got another victim in here.

Cruz and I pulled an adult female

from the second bedroom.

And Clarence and Damon, they went up to the attic?

Yeah, they never made it.

That's when the floor gave way, and one of them fell.

Chief called for the emergency evacuation

at that point.

I yelled out to Damon and Clarence

to get the hell out, and that was that.

And you're sure you counted six men up there?

Tony and Capp, me and Cruz, Damon and Clarence.

That makes six.

Six went up and six came down.

I counted them myself.

Show me.

Yeah, well, me and Damon,

we posted up here in the front room.

I could see everybody come and go.

Squad was first.

Severide says Damon was upstairs

on the second floor with him.

Yeah, he was, but not at first.

♪

We have another victim. Could use a hand.

Captain!

All right, go! You too!

Clarence, follow him!

Why split up Clarence and Doherty?

Because Damon had search and rescue experience,

but it doesn't really matter because those two

got booted out just as fast as they went up.

Because of the evac order.

Yeah, Chief thought it was time to call it.

But you didn't.

You thought you had more time.

- I don't know, maybe. - Maybe.

Maybe if there'd been more time,

there wouldn't have been a firefighter left behind.

Maybe you would have given that extra time

if you were chief.

But I'm not chief.

I'm glad I didn't have to make that call.

I made the call.

It was time to evacuate.

Had they cleared every room?

You know they hadn't.

Do you think if you had more time...

There was no more time.

Captain Herrmann seems to think maybe there was.

It doesn't matter. He's not chief.

Unless that's what this post-mortem's

really all about.

I'm just doing what the commissioner asked.

Or you're worried that I'm gonna put up a fight

when Herrmann makes rank,

so this is your way of pushing me out.

That has got nothing to do with this.

All I'm after is the truth.

Well, the truth, Deputy, is if Captain Herrmann

was standing where I was, he'd have been able

to see that we were already on borrowed time.

The structure was failing.

Flames were blowing through the roof.

I sure as hell wasn't gonna stand there

and let my men get buried under two stories of rubble.

It was time to call it.

♪

Emergency, all firefighters evacuate immediately.

Herrmann, hold your position until all firefighters

have cleared and then back out.

Copy that.

Chief, what's the update?

We've got one jumper from the second floor,

three rescues.

I just called an emergency evac.

I'm about to order a personnel accountability report.

Six in and six out, Chief.

Copy that. PAR to follow.

Looks like you got everyone out just in time.

[alarm blaring]

Someone's still inside.

♪

It was 2113.

DDC had just arrived.

I had deck guns standing by, ready to go defensive.

I'd just received confirmation

that all the firefighters were out.

Then I heard the mayday.

[suspenseful music]

One of our own had been left behind.

And we knew how dangerous it was,

but it wasn't a question,

we were going back in to get him.

I knew it was gonna be Squad first,

with Kelly leading the way.

♪

Doesn't matter how many times I've watched him do it,

it never gets easier.

But that's what we signed up for.

So we raised the aerial, Squad went up.

Kelly disappeared.

[alarm blaring]

[dramatic music]

♪

[objects clattering, oxygen hissing]

Capp!

♪

He was in bad shape.

We knew there was internal bleeding from the collapse,

but then I saw his mask got knocked loose.

There was smoke in his lungs. We didn't know how bad.

We just knew we had to move fast.

We put him in the Stokes, flew him down the aerial,

loaded him up in the ambo,

and the whole time I'm thinking,

how the hell did this happen?

Six went up and six came down.

I swear to you, we never would have left

if we knew somebody was still up there.

I know that.

Can you prove it?

'Cause this is the kind of mistake

the white shirts want somebody's head for.

And I'd prefer that it not be any of ours.

I will do my best.

Dismissed.

[tense music]

♪

Chief.

I feel like I'm waiting for the jury

to come back with a verdict.

We gave our statements.

Nothing else we can do.

Except second-guess everything.

Including the emergency evacuation?

I wasn't questioning your order.

I just thought that maybe we had more time.

Maybe we did.

We'll never know.

Someone had to make the call.

I know.

And like I told Boden, I'm glad it wasn't me.

You wanna be Chief, that's the job.

You have to make the calls nobody else wants to make.

And you live with the fallout.

[apprehensive music]

Because at the end of the day, when you're in that seat...

It's on you, no one else.

Remember that.

Yeah, just let him know that I'm wrapping up.

Yeah. Thanks.

Lieutenant.

I said something earlier.

I don't feel good about it. - Okay.

I told you that things with me and Pascal were tricky.

I shouldn't have said that.

It... it doesn't matter.

What matters, what... what is important,

Pascal is a very capable Chief.

He's shown up for everybody here, including me.

I know that he has my back,

and I hope he knows that I have his too.

I appreciate you saying that.

I just needed you to know before you...

you came to any conclusions.

I already have.

Will you get the others to meet me in the briefing room?

Yes.

♪

What happened last night

was every firefighter's worst nightmare.

One of our own was left behind.

The question is, how?

Truck 81 was ordered to vent, enter, and search.

Lieutenant Kidd supervised her team

on the bravo and delta sides.

Truck 81X to Truck 81, we need someone

to heel our ladder on delta.

Hey, copy that, Mouch. I'm on my way.

Lieutenant Severide led the primary search and rescue,

saving two victims on the inside.

[oxygen tank hissing]

Come on!

He accounted for six firefighters on the inside

before being evacuated.

Emergency, all firefighters evacuate immediately.

Herrmann, hold your position until all firefighters

are clear and then back out.

Let's move!

[suspenseful music]

♪

Captain Herrmann was ordered to track every firefighter

in and out of the front entrance.

♪

Six in and six out, Chief!

Herrmann's math was correct.

I'm confused.

I don't understand.

If six came down, how was someone left behind?

There weren't six firefighters

on the second floor.

I believe there was seven.

Who was the seventh?

Carver.

Herrmann sent Damon and Clarence up.

All right, go!

Clarence, follow him!

Severide gave them their orders.

What can we do?

Check the attic down the hall.

Lieutenant Kidd said that Carver

had been ordered to retreat.

That's when the floor... - Down the hall!

- Gave way. - Copy!

Carver saw Clarence go down,

and I think he did what any one of us

in this room would do.

He went in after him.

But that's when Pascal gave the emergency evacuation.

Emergency, all firefighters evacuate immediately.

Severide looked down the hall.

He thought he saw Damon and Clarence,

but one of those firefighters was Carver.

[groans]

When the floor gave way,

Damon and Clarence got separated.

Damon didn't realize Clarence fell through the floor.

And Clarence didn't realize that Damon had moved on.

You thought no one had made it to the attic.

Someone had.

♪

Six in and six out, Chief!

[alarm blaring]

Hey. You got yours?

♪

Okay, so what happens now?

I present my findings to the committee.

They'll make their judgment. [phone chimes]

What is it?

Damon's out of surgery. He's awake.

- That's great news. - Go.

I'll update you when I have something.

Thanks, Chief.

[apprehensive music]

♪

I'm coming with you.

Is that a request?

This is my firehouse.

If the CFD's looking for someone to blame,

I wanna be the one they see.

Fair enough.

After you.

This guy has an attic fall in on him,

and he's still better looking than me.

It's good to see your face.

It's good to be seen.

Hey, so take your time, you rest up.

Your spot's not going anywhere.

Okay.

We'll give you guys a minute.

What'd the doctors say?

They said I got really lucky,

that it could have been a lot worse.

Yeah, they're right about that.

There was evidence of lung breakdown in my X-ray.

They won't know how extensive until I get a CT.

♪

What if it's bad, Kelly?

Hey.

Hey.

They got treatments.

I know guys who never came back from this.

I know guys who did.

Look, whatever happens, we'll...

we'll figure it out together.

♪

We've reviewed the documents you've provided

from the West Loop fire...

dispatch logs, after-action reports.

A lot of detail here, but not a lot of answers.

What we need, Deputy, is clarity...

specifically, how this fire went wrong

and who's responsible.

We're hoping you can provide that to us today.

I believe I can.

This call was unique in the worst possible way.

It was the kind of call where everything

that could go wrong did.

And as a result, a firefighter was left behind,

which is tragic, but the only blame

to be laid here is at the fog of the fireground.

I'm sorry, Deputy,

but we're gonna need more than that.

Look at the reports.

They tell the story.

Radios had interference.

Crowd control arrived late, equipment failed.

The structure was barely holding.

It was 1,300 degrees inside.

Visibility was down to zero.

But despite all that, Firehouse 51 saved four lives,

mounted a successful rescue on borrowed time.

Now, that can only happen when every firefighter operates

at the highest caliber

and when there is a strong leader at the helm.

Tough decisions had to be made

under immense pressure and on the fly.

Having reviewed the incident,

I can say with absolute certainty...

I wouldn't have done it any differently.

Chief Pascal and his officers made all the right calls.

[soft dramatic music]

♪

[elevator bell dings]

Hey, you just missed him.

He's off for tests.

So, um, we got news?

We do.

Committee was unanimous.

51 has been cleared of any wrongdoing.

I thought somebody's head was gonna roll.

Well, once I walked them through the call,

they understood.

This was nobody's fault.

How the hell you put that all together is beyond me.

You think of calls differently when you're Chief.

You'll see.

If that's still what you want.

Uh, come on.

The rest of the crew is gonna wanna see you.

[indistinct chatter]

Oh, here he is.

Nice move.

Just got off the phone with Commissioner Grissom.

Oh, so you heard the decision?

I did.

He wanted me to know that the investigation wasn't personal.

It was just... just protocol.

Yeah, well, protocol or not,

it never feels good to have the finger pointed at you.

Well, I appreciate what you did back there.

All I did was tell the truth.

Keep up the good work.

Thank you.

I'll make sure that you do.

♪

[dramatic music]

♪

[wolf howls]