Does Kelly Severide Die on Chicago Fire? Is Taylor Kinney Leaving?

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Kelly Severide’s future on Chicago Fire has been up in the air for months, and fans are worried that he may actually be leaving the show for good this time. Does Kelly Severide die on Chicago Fire? Keep reading to see if Severide will be written off the show permanently. 

Chicago Fire is NBC’s hit procedural that follows the professional and personal lives of the firefighters, rescue personnel, and paramedics at the Chicago Fire Department’s fictional Firehouse 51. Produced by Dick Wolf, the series is the first installment of the One Chicago franchise, which includes the spinoffs Chicago P.D., Chicago Med and the now-canceled Chicago Justice. It first premiered in 2012 and is currently on its 12th season.

Taylor Kinney has starred as fan-favorite Kelly Severide since Season 1. It’s nearly impossible to picture the show without Severide, but his status at Firehouse 51 has been shaky ever since he took a leave of absence halfway through Season 11. Though he is currently back on the show, a new promo for an upcoming episode of Season 12 has fans worried that Severide could potentially be killed off. Here’s everything we know about Severide’s future.

Does Kelly Severide die on Chicago Fire?

Does Kelly Severide die on Chicago Fire? Although we don’t know for sure, the beloved character’s life appears to be at risk in the upcoming episode “Inside Man,” which airs on May 8. 

In the promo, several armed men hijack Truck 81 while Severide is secretly on board. The gunmen are later seen sneaking up on him as he tries to help a wounded civilian. The promo then cuts to Severide driving the rig at gunpoint and losing control of the wheel, all while Violet Mikami (Hanako Greensmith) can be heard saying: “If anyone can handle it, it’s Severide.” The clip ends with an explosion going off and the Firehouse 51 team coming across the wreckage, which has no survivors in sight.

Several fans commented their theories underneath the promo, with one writing: “I have a feeling next weeks episode will not end well for Severide.” Another fan commented: “I’m a little worried about the truck wrecking + exploding … Especially with Kelly handcuffed inside it.”

While it certainly doesn’t look good for Severide, we already know that he’ll make it alive based on the synopsis for Episode 12. The episode’s description reads: “Severide and Violet risk clashing with Paramedic Chief Robinson after Lennox makes a dangerous decision on a call. Capp and Tony attempt to break a world record. Cruz and Chloe’s marriage problems come to a head.” With Severide seemingly back in action, we can assume that he survives the hijack, though he could still be seriously injured. One fan wrote: “Honestly its been a while since we had a good Severide injury/hospital scene so I hope, of course, that my boi is gonna be fine, but would be good to have a thrilling scene like that again.”

Other fans think that the new firefighter, Jack Damon (played by Michael Bradway), may have something to do with the hijacking. Damon joined Firehouse 51 in Episode 10 and was seemingly off to a good start, but then Darren Ritter (Daniel Kyri) overheard him making a suspicious phone call. “That isn’t the only reason why I’m here,” Damon said into the phone. “No, no, nobody here knows. And I’ll keep it that way for as long as I want.” Is it possible that Damon orchestrated the hijacking? It’s unclear how the gunmen got into the firehouse in the first place, so perhaps someone gave them a key.

In an interview NBC Insider, Greensmith hinted that Damon is someone to watch out for. “We have to have someone pass a series of tests until they can really be absorbed by the family. So there may be a couple of red flags that come with this suspicious newcomer, and I think you’ll have to stick with us for the rest of the season to see what they may be,” she told the outlet.

Showrunner Andrea Newman also told Parade in May 2024 about the idea behind Truck 81’s hijacking. “That the first responder rigs can go anywhere has been used in real life as ways to try and get access,” she said. “This happened in Denver and Detroit, bad guys taking these rigs so that they could gain access to public events that they otherwise would be screened for. They don’t screen the trucks, they just let them right in.”

She also credited writer Matt Whitney for ripping the episode from real-life headlines. “We really did want to do a Severide-centric action, 250th episode, so it’s so great to have him back in peak form,” she said. “He’s such a great action star, Taylor. He does stunts, he is always doing fire training work. He’s so ready for this kind of thing, and as a character, Severide is so ready for this because he’s been desk-bound for a couple episodes, so he definitely is ready to throw himself into the action. So yeah, we embraced all that for that episode.”

Neman also told the site about the detail from the episode she had the hardest time writing, which was when Damon admits to losing the firetruck’s keys. “It’s so funny because we become consumed with the littlest details and that’s probably the one we’ve talked about in the room the most,” Newman said. “That is crazy, but it makes so much sense. You can’t lose the keys, what if you lose the keys? It just can’t happen. But it’s a very intricate button switch situation to get it started, I think it’s called a Kaiser switch, but it’s complicated and certainly no layman would know how to do it. But somebody scheming could figure it out.”

Newman also addressed theories that Damon could be harboring the secret of being a Firehouse 51 member’s unknown child. “You’re the first person to ask that,” Newman told Parade. “Yeah, he’s young so I could see where that comes from. That’s a fun theory, I like that. We’ll see some twists and turns with him where we find out some things he isn’t, and then we find out more things about who he is at the very end.”

Chicago Fire airs on NBC on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST and streams on Peacock.

For more on Chicago Fire, check out this timeline of Kelly Severide and Miranda Kidd’s relationship. 

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