We’ve said goodbye to many firefighters over the course of Chicago Fire’s 13 seasons. While some happily left to chart new horizons, every once in a while, a firefighter is fired after failing to become “Firehouse 51 material.”
Jack Damon (Michael Bradway), a rookie in Season 12 who initially hid the secret that he was Kelly Severide’s (Taylor Kinney) long-lost brother, is a prime example of a firefighter who fell short of 51’s gold standard. Under the supervision of Lieutenant Stella Kidd (Miranda Rae Mayo), Damon started more metaphorical fires than he put out real ones. Between hiding his identity as Severide’s brother in Season 12 and deliberately disobeying Stella’s orders in Season 13, Stella found herself in hot water after attempting to report Damon for misconduct, only for the complaint to backfire catastrophically.
RELATED: Breaking Down the Current Cast of Chicago Fire After learning of the incident, new police chief Dom Pascal (Dermot Mulroney) was tasked with replacing either Stella or Damon from 51, and it was a decision that left viewers holding their breath. Find out what happened in Season 13, Episode 3 (“All Kinds of Crazy”), below.
Stella has had a rough time on 51 this season. Not only is there a new, serious police chief she’s worried about at 51, but she’s also struggled to get Damon on board with her. Although Damon idolizes his brother, he tends to ignore Stella’s orders when he calls, even lying about not hearing orders during a rescue mission. After learning from Severide that Damon lied about mishearing her, she stops making excuses for him. Despite Pascal’s recent complaint that her rig has “more lost balls than the Cubs’ bullpen,” Stella has told Severide that she wants Damon back in the float pool.
Severide had given Damon a heads-up about telling Stella, so he’s eager to talk to his lieutenant after seeing her at the station. Stella turns him down; she has a bigger conversation on her mind. Stella Pascal’s office.
“I need to get Jack Damon back in the float pool,” she tells her superior.
“You’ve never mentioned any problems with him in your reports,” Pascal notes. “From what I’ve seen, Damon’s a good firefighter.”
“He could, yes,” Stella admits. “But I just found out that he disobeyed a direct order on the speedboat call last shift, and then lied about it. And there have been some questions about his honesty in the past.”
“If there was a problem, I shouldn’t be hearing about it now,” Pascal joked. Pascal was right—but Stella didn’t complain about Damon because she knew how much Severide cared about her brother. Stella wouldn’t throw her husband under the bus, but at this point, Damon had manipulated her into keeping quiet.
“You’re right,” Stella agreed. “I should have sounded the alarm sooner.”
“And again, there was a change in your rig,” Pascal said sternly.
“That’s right, and I don’t want to make excuses—” “Then don’t,” Pascal interrupted her. “As the chief, I have the final say on who stays and who goes into the fire station. And I will decide whether your leadership is part of the problem or not.”
