Chicago Fire’s Official Cruz Replacement Continues A 13-Year Firehouse 51 Trend

Published Nov 13, 2026, 2:00 PM EST Laura Hurley has been writing about the entertainment industry for more than twelve years, after a decade as a content producer and editor at CinemaBlend after writing for WhatCulture and Examiner. Attending events like SCAD TVfest and San Diego Comic-Con over the course of her career, she has been immersed in the world of network, streaming, and cable TV. Warning: This article contains spoilers for Chicago Fire season 15, episode 6, "Over the Edge."Chicago Fire started season 15 with a massive cast change, and the effects are still rippling through Firehouse 51 in the wake of the character's departure. Cruz left NBC's long-running drama in the 300th episode to focus on recovering from his devastating injury, leaving both a hole in the ensemble and a vacancy in Severide's Squad 3 crew. Severide's reluctance to replace his friend drew the attention of the CFD brass, and the captain has to choose a new candidate. The problem is that his choice might not pan out as he hopes. In "Over the Edge," Kidd finished training her trio of probies by sending them out on a call with Severide and Squad 3, and the young firefighters weren't entirely prepared for how Squad crises raise the stakes from what they faced on Truck. They were already stressed out while waiting to learn whether they'd be assigned to a new firehouse or relegated to the floater pool. Despite Burke's exemplary performance under Severide's leadership, he was the only probie who ended the episode without a position at another house. This wasn't the end of Burke's story in Dick Wolf's TV universe, however. In fact, he has much better odds of getting substantial screen time in the rest of NBC's 2026 fall schedule (and in early 2027) than any of the other characters who played firefighters-in-training in season 15. Severide made a big decision about how to handle replacing Cruz, but the positive twist for Burke now might not be the best for the show as the season continues. Chicago Fire Already Did It With More Popular Characters Image via MovieStillsDB Reluctant to add a new firefighter to 51 and wanting to give Burke a permanent home, Severide decided that the young firefighter would be the ideal replacement for Cruz on Squad 3. On the one hand, Severide's decision made sense. Trust is paramount for calls with the life-or-death stakes Squad faces regularly, and Burke proved in "Over the Edge" that he can work well with Capp and Tony, as well as Severide himself. It's also a practical decision for Chicago Fire; instead of sending off a season 15 newcomer and bringing in another, training Burke to join Squad keeps Da'Vinchi on board with the rest of the cast. Even though the actor hasn't been much more important than Truck 81's forgotten firefighter this fall, keeping Burke is the straightforward choice. After all, Fire promoted existing characters to Squad from Truck twice before, with Mills in season 2 and Cruz in season 3. On the other hand, Chicago Fire had already invested a lot of time into Mills and Cruz before they began their journeys to join Squad. Mills got his promotion in 2014, after 35 episodes as a series regular. Cruz got his promotion in 2015, after 69 episodes had aired on NBC. As of "Over the Edge," Burke has appeared in six episodes. Even though the storyline of an existing firefighter working toward a Squad 3 appointment has worked before, Chicago Fire fans just haven't had enough time to really invest in Burke. Mills and Cruz were already popular characters. Admittedly, Burke's storyline is slightly different, since he's starting fresh off his time as a probie rather than a firefighter with years on Truck 81, but the storyline only works if it's as much about Severide as it is about Burke. After 15 seasons, fans have far more reasons to care about Severide's struggles training a new member of his crew than about Burke's. Why Severide Might Not Get His Way George Burns Jr/NBC Severide's struggles may be considerable. While his decision to keep a familiar face from Firehouse 51 on board to replace Cruz is understandable for him as the longtime officer on Squad 3, it's less understandable coming from the leader of Firehouse 51. Severide was already facing pressure from the brass to fill the vacancy on his crew, with the implication that he'd need to recruit a firefighter from elsewhere in the CFD who was already qualified for a Squad assignment. Any higher-ups in the Chicago Fire Department who have been keeping a close eye on Severide's approach to running 51 might not let him have free rein once they see his decision about Burke. Even though Burke has demonstrated the kind of nerve, bravery, and skill that would eventually make him a good fit for Squad, he's not exactly ready for Severide, Capp, and Tony to fully lean on in a crisis. Chicago Fire was clear with Mills and Cruz that it takes time and hard work to transition from Truck to Squad, and part of that included spending a solid amount of time under Casey's leadership first. Burke may be willing to put in the hard work, but he simply hasn't accumulated much experience. If the show is going to put him through the same kind of paces on his journey to join Squad as it did with Mills and Cruz, then Burke won't be entirely ready for a while, and Squad 3 will be operating at a disadvantage. Through no fault of his own, he could be a major liability. A lot can go wrong with Severide deciding to add Burke to Squad because Burke didn't get assigned to another firehouse, and his vision of a fully functioning unit with Cruz's replacement might not work out any time soon. Scratch & Peek Identify the cover art while scratching off as little foil as possible. Find out with new episodes of Chicago Fire on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET, between Chicago Med and Chicago P.D., on NBC. Earlier episodes of One Chicago are available streaming on Peacock. Release Date October 10, 2012 Network NBC Showrunner Andrea Newman Cast Taylor Kinney Kelly Severide David Eigenberg Christopher Herrmann Directors Michael Brandt Writers Michael Brandt Creator(s) Michael Brandt, Derek Haas