12 Actors Who Left Chicago Fire. Here's Why

For well over a decade, "Chicago Fire" has consistently been one of the most popular shows in the sprawling Dick Wolf TV universe. After its premiere in 2012, viewers quickly became invested in the personal and professional lives of characters such as Matthew Casey, Kelly Severide, Wallace Boden, Gabriela Dawson, Leslie Shay, and countless others. On a professional level, these characters have been presented as some of the most heroic firefighters and paramedics in Chicago. However, on a personal level, they are all incredibly flawed, which has led to extensive drama and has made "Chicago Fire" intriguing enough to run for 14 seasons and counting.

Since "Chicago Fire" has been on the air for so many years, it almost feels like a completely different show today than it did in its first season. This is because so many cast members have either been written out of the show or decided to leave. Some "Chicago Fire" character departures were expected, while others came as a complete surprise to audiences, leaving fans in mourning. Let's explore why 12 notable "Chicago Fire" actors decided to leave the series.

Lauren German played Leslie Shay in "Chicago Fire" for two full seasons. Leslie was a paramedic assigned to Ambulance 61, where her name remains to this day, proving how much of an impact she made on the series. Even though she was a core character in the first two seasons of "Chicago Fire," the writers decided to kill her off. Leslie died in the Season 2 finale due to injuries she sustained in a partial building collapse.

It wasn't actually German's decision to leave the show. Instead, the writers wanted to kill off a major character to shock viewers. After the episode aired, executive producer Matt Olmstead told TVLine, "Going into it, we knew if we were going to do it, it had to be someone who was going to give us a big impact, as opposed to going for a lesser-known character, which would equate to a pulled punch. So, as opposed to approaching it with timidity, we thought we'd go for it." After dying quite early on in "Chicago Fire," German ended up landing the role of Chloe Decker on "Lucifer." She played the homicide detective in the fantasy-drama series, which ran from 2016 to 2021.

Lauren German was one of the first core actors to leave "Chicago Fire," but she was far from the last. One season after Leslie was killed off, Peter Mills, who was played by actor Charlie Barnett, was written off the show. In Season 3 of "Chicago Fire," he decided to leave firefighting behind to focus on his family and moved to North Carolina with his mother and sister. Even though Peter received a happier ending than Leslie, Barnett admitted that he was devastated that the writers decided to no longer focus on his character so early into the show's run.

Reflecting on his "Chicago Fire" exit in an interview with Digital Spy, Barnett said, "[The show] was a behemoth that I never really saw coming. I was thankful to be a part of it. I really was sad to be let go. It broke me for quite a long time." However, despite his initial heartbreak, he has realized that being written out of "Chicago Fire" was a "blessing in disguise" and is now thankful it happened. Since starring on "Chicago Fire," Barnett has appeared in "Arrow" and "The Acolyte," and has had prominent roles in various Netflix series, such as "Tales of the City," "You," and "Russian Doll."

Steven R. McQueen's "Chicago Fire" character, Jimmy Borrelli, was introduced in the Season 4 premiere. Even though McQueen's time on the show was quite short, his character was involved in some fascinating storylines that explored his complicated relationship with his brother and his feud with Firehouse 51 chief Wallace Boden. In early Season 5, Jimmy suffered severe burns and lost one eye after disobeying Boden's orders and attempting to save someone in a truck right before it exploded. This meant he could no longer work as a firefighter, and McQueen was written off the show.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly (via PEOPLE), "Chicago Fire" co-creator Michael Brandt explained that the writers decided to write McQueen's character out of the show because they were struggling to balance all the members of the growing cast. "I think Steven has an incredibly bright future and deserves to be a bigger part on a show than probably we can give him," he said. "We were, as writers, finding it hard to feed all the mouths that we have on the show. ... We wanted to get a little leaner and meaner in terms of our storytelling and what characters we were focusing on. So Jimmy leaving was a byproduct of that."

In the years since playing Jimmy Borrelli, McQueen has appeared in a couple of television films, such as the Hallmark movie "Home by Spring" and the Western film "The Warrant." However, it seems like he has struggled to land many new projects since his time on "Chicago Fire" came to a shocking end.

Monica Raymund played Gabriela Dawson, a central character in the first six seasons of "Chicago Fire." During her time on the show, Gabriela had a romance with Matthew Casey, and the couple actually got married in the 100th episode. However, even though she played one of the main characters on the series, Raymund decided to depart once her initial contract came to an end. Speaking with the Chicago Tribune, she said, "I knew that my six-year contract was coming to an end, and I felt like I was hungry to explore a different role, a different story. I wanted to explore a different world. I had been in Chicago for five years, and just personally, where I was in my life, I was ready to create my home and kind of plant some roots in Los Angeles."

Her "Chicago Fire" character decided to move to Puerto Rico at the end of Season 6 to help with relief efforts. Even though Gabriela and Casey were still married when she moved, they later divorced after Raymund made a guest appearance in Season 7. Raymund also made a guest appearance in Season 8. Since her time on "Chicago Fire," Raymund played the main role in the crime-drama series "Hightown," which ran from 2020 to 2024, and has also returned to the Dick Wolf TV universe by directing episodes of shows like "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," "Law & Order: Organized Crime," and "FBI."

Just like Gabriela, Yuriy Sardarov's Brian 'Otis' Zvonecek was a fan-favorite on "Chicago Fire" from Season 1. He was stationed at Firehouse 51 and was the driver of Truck 81. Otis was always a positive, calming presence on the show, even during incredibly stressful situations, which is why it was so heartbreaking when he was killed off in the Season 8 premiere. Otis died from injuries sustained during a mattress factory fire after heroically shutting a steel door, saving the factory workers and the rest of his crew.

In an interview with PEOPLE, Derek Haas, the previous "Chicago Fire" showrunner, revealed that deciding to kill off Otis was incredibly difficult since he had known Sardarov since he was in college. "We did a movie together before 'Chicago Fire' and it's been awesome watching him develop into the actor that he is," he said. "It was tough making that call [to kill off Otis]," he added, "but I knew it was right for the show. I tried to make it not meaningless."

Sardarov posted a poem dedicated to Otis on Instagram after the Season 8 premiere aired and thanked fans "for the greatest seven years of [his] life." In the years since his time on "Chicago Fire," he has appeared in episodes of shows like "The Rookie" and "FBI: International."

Jesse Spencer is yet another original "Chicago Fire" cast member who left the show later into its run. Spencer's exit in the middle of Season 10 was even more impactful than Raymund's or Sardarov's, since he had played one of the show's main characters since its inception.

Spencer successfully led the cast of "Chicago Fire" for 10 seasons and was a fan favorite, but ultimately made the decision to leave after realizing he had been on network TV for 18 years. In an interview with Us Weekly, 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, and 18 years is a long time."

Episode 200 of "Chicago Fire" marked Spencer's final outing as a main cast member. His character, Matthew Casey, left Chicago and moved to Portland to become the legal guardian of the teenage sons of his best friend Andy Darden, who died in the show's pilot episode. Therefore, Casey's exit acted as a sort of full-circle moment for the show. Spencer has since returned to the series for a few episodes, one of which featured his long-awaited wedding to Sylvie Brett, but it can't be denied that his departure changed "Chicago Fire" forever.

Alberto Rosende joined "Chicago Fire" as Blake Gallo in Season 8. Blake has a tragic origin story, since he lost his entire family in a fire when he was just a child. For this reason, he quickly became a sympathetic character on "Chicago Fire." However, after several seasons on the show, Rosende made the decision to leave "Chicago Fire." As such, Blake reunited with an aunt towards the end of Season 11 and learned he had more relatives in Detroit, which led to him leaving Chicago in the Season 12 premiere.

Rosende opened up about his decision to leave "Chicago Fire" in an Instagram story (via Deadline), writing, "When I decided to end my time with Chicago, it wasn't easy. The people I've met were truly special, the friendships I've made will last a lifetime, and the story I got to tell was one that made me proud."

After Monica Raymund left "Chicago Fire" and her character got a divorce from Matthew Casey, there was a chance to give him a new love interest. Kara Killmer's Sylvie Brett had been a paramedic working out of Firehouse 51 since Season 3, and the pair had undeniable chemistry, so exploring a romantic connection made perfect sense. Matthew and Sylvie quickly became a fan-favorite couple on "Chicago Fire," but Killmer remained on the show after Spencer decided to leave halfway through Season 10.

Due to the hardships of maintaining a long-distance relationship, the couple broke up in "Chicago Fire" Season 11. However, this was short-lived, and Matthew actually returned to propose to Sylvie in the Season 11 finale. Since Matthew was permanently living in Portland at this point, it wasn't necessarily surprising when it was announced that Sylvie would be written out of the show, as well. Sylvie received her happy ending and got married to Casey during Season 12, which also saw her leave Chicago for good.

Speaking about her departure from "Chicago Fire" in an interview with PEOPLE, Killmer said, "The writing's been on the wall for a long time. Sylvie and Matt, their saga, that relationship had been building up for three years, and then Jesse exits the show. ... [She and Matt becoming a family] is for sure the most natural, inevitable conclusion for the arc of her character."

Similar to various other actors on this list, Eamonn Walker's stunning exit from "Chicago Fire" changed the show forever, especially since he was the first actor cast in the hit series. After portraying Wallace Boden, the Battalion Chief of Firehouse 51, for 12 years, Walker decided it was time to say goodbye to the show. In an interview with TVLine, "Chicago Fire" showrunner Andrea Newman said, "Actor-wise, 12 years is a long [time]. Nobody expects in TV [that] they're going to be anywhere for 12 years, I can say that for sure, from all sides."

Since Walker had been a main cast member since the very beginning of the series, some fans were surprised and even heartbroken that he decided to leave. However, based on Newman's comments, it seems like he simply decided he had given all he could to the show and wanted to pursue other projects.

At the end of Season 12, Wallace was promoted to Deputy Commissioner of the Chicago Fire Department. Despite him no longer being a main cast member, he returned as a guest star for one episode in Season 13. Since his character is now in a major position of power, the door is surely open for him to reprise his role again in the future.

In the wake of Kara Killmer and Eamonn Walker's exits from "Chicago Fire" in Season 12, there was an opportunity for supporting characters to receive more screentime moving forward. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case for Daniel Kyri's Darren Ritter, who was a firefighter at Firehouse 51 since Season 7. Kyri was promoted to series regular in Season 9 and had several intriguing storylines, but he was written out of "Chicago Fire" in Season 14 in what was reportedly a bid to slash the show's budget.

After filming his last scene as Ritter, Kyri took to Instagram to reflect on his time on "Chicago Fire." He wrote, "'Chicago Fire' changed my life. Bringing Darren Ritter to the screen has transformed & healed me in equal measure. He is a man who embodies empathy, humility, compassion, and unwavering bravery to save lives. His heroism is further fortified by the way he navigates the world — a gay Black firefighter who is proud, fierce, loyal, & whole — a possibility I never got to see onscreen in my childhood but desperately craved."

When it was announced that Daniel Kyri would be leaving the show, it was also revealed that Jake Lockett's Sam Carver would no longer be working at Firehouse 51 in Season 14. Lockett joined the show in Season 11, so he was not a member of the Firehouse 51 crew for nearly as long as most of the characters on this list. At the end of "Chicago Fire" Season 13, not long after the news of Lockett's departure broke, it was revealed that Carver was transferring to the Denver Fire Department to get a fresh start and focus on his sobriety.

In an Instagram post following the announcement that he wouldn't be returning to "Chicago Fire," Lockett wrote, "While I don't exactly know what the future looks like, I do know that it won't be exactly what it was and I am going to miss the hell out of that. ... It's been an honor bringing Sam to life and to every one of you, thank you for the love and support over the past three years."

Since his debut in Season 12, Michael Bradway's Jack Damon has been one of the most intriguing characters on "Chicago Fire," especially after it was revealed that he is the half-brother of Kelly Severide (Taylor Kinney), who is one of the only original cast members still on the show. It seemed like there were plenty of potential storylines for Jack, but Bradway wasn't able to return for Season 14 after getting cast in Prime Video's adaptation of Carley Fortune's popular novel "Every Summer After," which will be called "Every Year After."

Bradway's exit presented yet another challenge for the writers of "Chicago Fire" and once again proves that the show's cast is constantly changing. However, while he definitely won't return in Season 14, there's a chance that Bradway will reprise his role at some point in the future.