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\n Related: <\/span>Chicago Fire’s Cruz Will Suffer ‘Ramifications’ From Near-Death Experience<\/span><\/a>
\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n\t\t\tChicago Fire\u2019s Joe Cruz survived a near-death experience during the One Chicago crossover \u2014 and the aftermath will continue to haunt him this season. Warning: Spoilers below from season 14, episode 13, of Chicago Fire and the One Chicago crossover. \u201cThere\u2019s an after effect of this [case] that kind of shifts a little bit [of] [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
During the Wednesday, October 7, premiere, the cameras picked back up as all of Firehouse 51 responded to the season 14 finale<\/a>\u2019s warehouse fire.<\/p>\nFans watched as Truck 81, led by Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo<\/strong><\/a>), called for her team to evacuate the roof before it caved in. The group made it onto the firetruck ladder as a blast of fire followed, but all survived.<\/p>\nAfter regrouping, they heard a call from inside the building from Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney<\/strong><\/a>) asking for help to extricate Squad 3 and Engine 51, who were trapped.<\/p>\n\n![\"Chicago](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Chicago-Fire-Boss-Breaks-Down-Spoilers-Life-Changing-Injury-Who-Is-Affected-Most-NUP_211437_01100.jpg?w=1000&quality=86&strip=all\")
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\n Leroy Williams III as Ballard, David Eigenberg as Christopher Herrmann.<\/span> Elizabeth Sisson\/NBC<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAmid the chaos, Joe Cruz (Joe Mi\u00f1oso<\/strong><\/a>) heard screams and realized that seven people were still in the building behind a stone wall. He started to break down part of the wall to give the victims a hole to crawl through.<\/p>\nChristopher Herrmann (David Eigenberg<\/strong>) arrived to help, but Cruz told him to get the people out as he crawled under the wall to find the two unconscious victims. As soon as Cruz started to crawl, part of the roof and beam came down seemingly crushing Cruz.<\/p>\n\u201cMayday, firefighter down,\u201d Herrmann screamed.<\/p>\n
It was eventually revealed that Cruz survived, but was paralyzed (at least temporarily) after the accident.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n![\"Chicago](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/NUP_206558_00973.jpg?crop=0px%2C0px%2C1000px%2C565px&resize=400%2C225&quality=86&strip=all\")
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\n Related: <\/span>‘Chicago Fire\u2019 Star Hints How Season 15 Will Address Surprise Cast Exits<\/span><\/a>
\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n\t\t\tChicago Fire is going through multiple cast changes in season 15 \u2014 but how does the show plan to address the shakeups? Brandon Larracuente teased how the hit NBC series, which returns Wednesday, October 7, will address writing off Dermot Mulroney\u2018s Pascal. (Joe Mi\u00f1oso\u2018s Cruz is also leaving later in the season in a shocking [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
During his three-month check-up, Dr. Dean Archer (Steven Weber<\/strong>) told Cruz and his pregnant wife that he felt activation in his quad, suggesting that the fractured portion of his spine could heal depending the MRI results.<\/p>\n\u201cIn this case, I thought it\u2019d be more interesting to deal with the acute phase of [Cruz\u2019s injury] and really dig into it and use the tragedy to tell some really interesting stories<\/a>, and I think that\u2019s what we did,\u201d Teran told Us<\/em>, revealing that they did consider killing off the character but decided to explore how his injury would affect the group instead.<\/p>\nThe showrunner explained that Cruz is \u201cobviously the most affected\u201d by the accident, confirming that the writers plan to tell the story \u201cthrough Cruz\u2019s eyes\u201d as well as the rest of the firehouse.<\/p>\n\n![\"Chicago](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Chicago-Fire-Boss-Breaks-Down-Spoilers-Life-Changing-Injury-Who-Is-Affected-Most-NUP_208619_00860.jpg?w=1000&quality=86&strip=all\")
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\n Taylor Kinney and Joe Mi\u00f1oso.<\/span> Peter Gordon\/NBC<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAs the episode progressed, viewers learned that while Cruz was cleared of any wrongdoing at the fire \u2014 he was accused of being responsible for the deaths of two civilians when the beam fell \u2014 his MRI wasn\u2019t as promising as he\u2019d hoped.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey got the MRI results. There\u2019s like a sliver of healthy tissue across the fracture,\u201d Cruz told Herrmann. \u201cEven if I get out of this chair at some point, I\u2019m never going to be a firefighter again.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Cruz grapples with not being a firefighter ahead of his exit from the series, the gravity of the situation will plague everyone he works with. (News broke earlier this year that Mi\u00f1oso, 47, is leaving the show<\/a> mid-season after 14 years.)<\/p>\n\u201cIn terms of the long tail of this event and who it\u2019ll affect in our world going forward in the deepest and longest lasting way. I would say it\u2019s Severide,\u201d the showrunner told Us<\/em>. \u201cHe made some choices based on it, and he will be struggling with that probably through the whole season. And anything that affects Severide so deeply affects Kidd, of course, who\u2019s got her own journey.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/themes\/us-weekly\/assets\/img\/newsletter-bg-narrow.jpg\")
\n\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/themes\/us-weekly\/assets\/img\/newsletter-bg-wide.jpg\")
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Fans watched as Truck 81, led by Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo<\/strong><\/a>), called for her team to evacuate the roof before it caved in. The group made it onto the firetruck ladder as a blast of fire followed, but all survived.<\/p>\n After regrouping, they heard a call from inside the building from Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney<\/strong><\/a>) asking for help to extricate Squad 3 and Engine 51, who were trapped.<\/p>\n Amid the chaos, Joe Cruz (Joe Mi\u00f1oso<\/strong><\/a>) heard screams and realized that seven people were still in the building behind a stone wall. He started to break down part of the wall to give the victims a hole to crawl through.<\/p>\n Christopher Herrmann (David Eigenberg<\/strong>) arrived to help, but Cruz told him to get the people out as he crawled under the wall to find the two unconscious victims. As soon as Cruz started to crawl, part of the roof and beam came down seemingly crushing Cruz.<\/p>\n \u201cMayday, firefighter down,\u201d Herrmann screamed.<\/p>\n It was eventually revealed that Cruz survived, but was paralyzed (at least temporarily) after the accident.<\/p>\n \t\t<\/a><\/p>\n \n\t\t\tChicago Fire is going through multiple cast changes in season 15 \u2014 but how does the show plan to address the shakeups? Brandon Larracuente teased how the hit NBC series, which returns Wednesday, October 7, will address writing off Dermot Mulroney\u2018s Pascal. (Joe Mi\u00f1oso\u2018s Cruz is also leaving later in the season in a shocking [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n During his three-month check-up, Dr. Dean Archer (Steven Weber<\/strong>) told Cruz and his pregnant wife that he felt activation in his quad, suggesting that the fractured portion of his spine could heal depending the MRI results.<\/p>\n \u201cIn this case, I thought it\u2019d be more interesting to deal with the acute phase of [Cruz\u2019s injury] and really dig into it and use the tragedy to tell some really interesting stories<\/a>, and I think that\u2019s what we did,\u201d Teran told Us<\/em>, revealing that they did consider killing off the character but decided to explore how his injury would affect the group instead.<\/p>\n The showrunner explained that Cruz is \u201cobviously the most affected\u201d by the accident, confirming that the writers plan to tell the story \u201cthrough Cruz\u2019s eyes\u201d as well as the rest of the firehouse.<\/p>\n As the episode progressed, viewers learned that while Cruz was cleared of any wrongdoing at the fire \u2014 he was accused of being responsible for the deaths of two civilians when the beam fell \u2014 his MRI wasn\u2019t as promising as he\u2019d hoped.<\/p>\n \u201cThey got the MRI results. There\u2019s like a sliver of healthy tissue across the fracture,\u201d Cruz told Herrmann. \u201cEven if I get out of this chair at some point, I\u2019m never going to be a firefighter again.\u201d<\/p>\n As Cruz grapples with not being a firefighter ahead of his exit from the series, the gravity of the situation will plague everyone he works with. (News broke earlier this year that Mi\u00f1oso, 47, is leaving the show<\/a> mid-season after 14 years.)<\/p>\n \u201cIn terms of the long tail of this event and who it\u2019ll affect in our world going forward in the deepest and longest lasting way. I would say it\u2019s Severide,\u201d the showrunner told Us<\/em>. \u201cHe made some choices based on it, and he will be struggling with that probably through the whole season. And anything that affects Severide so deeply affects Kidd, of course, who\u2019s got her own journey.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>
\n Leroy Williams III as Ballard, David Eigenberg as Christopher Herrmann.<\/span> Elizabeth Sisson\/NBC<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n\n\t\t\t
\n Related: <\/span>‘Chicago Fire\u2019 Star Hints How Season 15 Will Address Surprise Cast Exits<\/span><\/a>
\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>
\n Taylor Kinney and Joe Mi\u00f1oso.<\/span> Peter Gordon\/NBC<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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