Chicago Fire Fans Can’t Stand The Series’ OFI Storylines
Mention OFI narrative arcs to many “Chicago Fire” Chi-Hards and what do you get? A scorching backdraft blast of pure, 100% “No way.” So, why such a super-heated response? Well, for the uninitiated, OFI stands for Office of Fire Investigations. As detailed by the real-life Chicago Fire Department, the city’s OFI Division is charged with determining “the cause and origin all fires within the limits of the City of Chicago [using] the most up-to-date techniques in fire investigation.” And while OFI storylines on the show in and of themselves may not seem like anything to get particularly hot under the collar about, the truth is “Chicago Fire” is first and foremost an action-drama, with the emphasis for many fans squarely on the blaze-battling, victim-rescuing action.
So, when a question posed on the series’ subreddit asked fans what they’d think about an OFI show, the response was less than positive. Redditor u/FiveBookSet, for instance, replied, “Nope. That would get incredibly boring very quickly.” And for series’ fan u/sarg7ant, the mere thought of an OFI show was downright appalling. They then went on to say the One Chicago universe is already packed with plenty of sister series, saying “There are/were enough spinoff’s [sic]. Med, Justice, pd… Enough is enough.” And that’s just the start of “Chicago Fire” viewers venting their anti-OFI feelings.
Many Chicago Fire fans think OFI stories would be downright tedious
One possible reason “Chicago Fire” viewers so strongly resist the idea of OFI stories or spin offs appears to be character-related. As it turns out, the de facto Firehouse 51 OFI point-person so far on the show is Taylor Kinney’s Rescue Truck 3 leader, Kelly Severide. A popular presence on the series since it debuted, Severide is someone fans expect to see charging into danger as the show’s alpha-dude hero, not lounging at a desk analyzing incident data on a laptop. Even worse for fans, Kinney recently stepped away from the show for personal reasons, with his absence explained by Severide being sent to Alabama for (uh oh) intensive training in arson investigation techniques.
In this respect, Redditor u/BrokenMineCart responded to the OFI question posted on the above thread to say, “I think it would end up being boring after a few episodes, fire investigation probably is interesting more because of severide than the fire itself.” User u/okay234576 felt the same way, referencing the OFI work of Severide’s father Benny (Treat Williams). “Yeah, ‘some’ of the cases like the one where Severide finished his dad’s work but otherwise most cases were dull,” they wrote. And for “Chicago Fire” fan u/lkjhggfd1, investigation plotlines are basically anathema to Kelly’s first-responder action-hero persona. “OFI made severide boring. I’d rather he stays far away from it,” they opined.
