After debuting in 2012, NBC’s Chicago Fire is currently gearing up for its 14th season of sooty firefights, white-knuckle rescue missions, and steamy romances.
Only a handful of the original cast members are still around, but that’s inevitable for a show that’s been on the air as long as Chicago Fire. After all, it’s better to burn out than to fade away.
The show’s seen a particularly high departure rate following the season 13 finale, with cast members Daniel Kyri, Jake Lockett, and Michael Bradway all hanging up their hoses.
A new class of firefighters and paramedics will no doubt rise in their place, but for now, let’s honor the series’ heroes on their way out the door. Here’s a look back at the main cast members who left Chicago Fire — and what they’ve been up to since.
Teri Reeves as Dr. Hallie Thomas (season 1)
Teri Reeves was a main cast member in Chicago Fire season 1 as Dr. Hallie Thomas. A physician and the ex-fiancée of Lieutenant Matt Casey, Reeves’ Hallie dies in episode 22, “Leaders Lead,” after a fire erupts at the clinic where she works.
It turned out, however, that it wasn’t the fire that killed her, but rather a strike to the head from a criminal named Timothy Campbell (James Anthony Zoccoli), who was using the clinic to traffic drugs.
Since leaving Chicago Fire, Reeves has guested on some of TV’s most popular shows, including NCIS (2013), Grey’s Anatomy (2015), and Lucifer (2021). She also had recurring roles on Once Upon a Time (2016) and The Punisher (2019), the former of which found her playing The Wizard of Oz‘s Dorothy Gale.
Lauren German as Leslie Shay (seasons 1-2)
Lauren German helped lead the cast of Chicago Fire‘s first two seasons as paramedic Leslie Shay, but died in the season 3 premiere’s opening moments.
At the time, executive producer Matt Olmstead told Entertainment Weekly that the decision to kill Shay was motivated by a desire to up the emotional stakes.
“The conversation came up, ‘What about killing one of the characters?’ Not too far-fetched, because it’s one of the most dangerous jobs in America, working as a firefighter,” he said. “That started to gain traction because you invariably get a lot of material from the emotional ramifications.”
He continued, “We started to map out what it would look like, who it would involve, and at a certain point we all looked around and said this is the way to go. Some people are going to be pissed off. Hopefully people are emotionally affected by the storyline.”
German went on to help lead Fox’s Lucifer (2016–2021) as Detective Chloe Decker, appearing in all 93 episodes of the hit series.
Charlie Barnett as Peter Mills (seasons 1-3)
Charlie Barnett played firefighter Peter Mills in the first three seasons of Chicago Fire. His last appearance was in “You Know Where to Find Me,” the 20th episode of season 3, with Mills torn between work and family. In the end, he chose to move to North Carolina with his family to open a restaurant.
“It felt like the character had really completed a whole journey,” Olmstead told EW of the decision to bid Mills farewell. “We realized that also on the show, as in a firehouse, there are so many guys and two women on the show, that we [had] exhausted all the permutations of romantic entanglements.”
Barnett has been busy since departing Chicago Fire a decade ago, with leading roles on Tales of the City (2019), Russian Doll (2019–2022), and the Star Wars series The Acolyte (2024).
Monica Raymund as Gabriela Dawson (seasons 1-6)
After six seasons playing paramedic Gabriela Dawson, Monica Raymund announced her departure from Chicago Fire in May 2018.
“It has been an honor to play Dawson on Chicago Fire and one of the most meaningful experiences of my life,” she wrote on social media. “I am so thankful for the journey and especially to all of you for watching, but I have made the decision that it’s time for me to move on to the next chapter in life.”
Season 6 ended with Dawson choosing to join relief efforts in Puerto Rico, and she popped up in the season 7 premiere to reveal she’d taken a full-time job there. She asked Casey to join her, but he opted to stay in Chicago.
Raymund reprised the character in the season 8 finale, resulting in a queasy reunion for her and Casey — or “Dawsey,” as some fans called them.
Over the last several years, Raymund produced and starred in three seasons of Starz’s Hightown (2021–2024), on which she also occasionally directed. She appeared in Nicholas Stoller’s Bros (2022) and William Friedkin’s final film, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (2023).
Yuri Sardarov as Otis Zvonecek (seasons 1-8)
After appearing in season 1 of Chicago Fire, Yuri Sardarov’s firefighter Otis Zvonecek was promoted to a main cast member in season 2. He stuck with the series until season 8, when his character died in an explosion at a mattress factory.
After the episode aired, Sardarov took to social media with a poem for his departed character:
“A fond farewell to Otis
he’ll forever be my friend
And to all of you that knew him
and loved him to the end
He had a bushy mustache
and a soul patch to boot
It’s never really over
he’ll always love you too.”
Since leaving the show, Sardarov guested on series such as The Rookie (2022) and FBI: International (2023), and appeared opposite Aaron Paul and Jeff Daniels in the 2020 film Adam.
Jesse Spencer as Matthew Casey (seasons 1-10)
Jesse Spencer led the first 10 seasons of Chicago Fire as Lieutenant Matthew Casey, departing in the show’s 200th episode. The character moved from Chicago to the West Coast to care for the abandoned sons of his late colleague and best friend, Andy Darden (Corey Sorenson).
Spencer returned for the season 10 finale, and again for a season 11 episode.
In 2022, the Australian actor discussed his decision to move on from the series in an interview with Us Weekly. “I realized I’ve been doing TV for a long time,” he said. “It was a difficult decision because I’ve loved the show from the start, but there are other things that I would like to do in the future, and there’s some family that I need to take care of.”
Since leaving Chicago Fire behind, Spencer has led the cast of Disney+’s Last Days of the Space Age (2024).
Spencer got married to Kali Woodruff Carr, a research scientist at the Boston Children’s Hospital, the year after leaving Chicago Fire. In 2022, they welcomed their first child.
Eamonn Walker as Wallace Boden (seasons 1-12)
Eamonn Walker is among the longest-serving performers on Chicago Fire, having played Battalion Chief Wallace Boden for 12 seasons.
Walker stepped down as a main cast member after his character was appointed the new Deputy Commissioner of the Chicago Fire Department in the season 12 finale. He returned as a guest for the season 13 episode, “Post-Mortem.”
In 2025, Walker starred in Liberation, a new stage play premiering at the Royal Exchange Theater as part of the Manchester International Festival.
Kara Killmer as Sylvie Brett (seasons 3-12)
Kara Killmer joined Chicago Fire in season 3 as EMT Sylvie Brett, a replacement for German’s Leslie Shay. After more than 190 episodes, she departed the series in season 12, wrapping her storyline with her marriage to Spencer’s Matt Casey.
“I’m selfishly delighted that she started her journey in Chicago when she was left at the altar by her high school boyfriend, and I love that she ends up across the aisle from the love of her life and the most eligible bachelor in Chicago and Portland,” she told EW. “It’s very much the natural end for the arc of her character. So she does wind up with everything that she always wanted.”
