Chicago Fire Fans Still Can't Forgive Fire Chief For Stripping Severide Of His Rank

Summary:

• In Season 4, Kelly Severide was unjustly stripped of his rank due to “high turnover rate” in Squad 3.
• Severide couldn’t influence most people’s reasons to leave, and the ones he did were the right calls.
• If Kelly was demoted for such a bizarre reason, so should have been Casey and Gabby, but they weren’t.

Kelly Severide has been a Lieutenant for the absolute majority of Chicago Fire, but at one point, he was stripped of his rank on the most bizarre charges imaginable. Despite it happening eight whole seasons ago, some fans are still frustrated over that decision as it made no sense and served merely as a dramatic plot point.

Kelly Severide Lost His Rank In Season 4

Let’s take a trip down the memory lane all the way back to 2015. It’s Season 4 Episode 1 “Let It Burn,” and it starts with the Fire Chief coming in and messing up Severide’s career out of nowhere. He claims that under Kelly’s “poor leadership,” the turnover rate in Squad 3 became too problematic, and strips him of the rank.

Except that such accusations shouldn’t have survived even the laziest research!

The firefighters that left Squad 3 under Severide at that point were: Vargas, Mills (twice), Clarke, Hadley, Newhouse, and Rice. The reasons they left were all out of Severide’s control: one promotion, two injuries, two left for family reasons, and two relieved of duty for being unprofessional — which is a sign of good leadership.

If Severide’s Demoted, So Should Be Others

The justification for stripping Kelly of his rank was blatantly bizarre and unbelievable as he could not have done anything better than he did regarding the turnover in Squad 3. But even if we, just for the sake of discussion, assume that the Fire Chief was so principled and didn’t allow the slightest faults, this just doesn’t make sense.

By that same logic, Matt Casey and Gabby Dawson should have lost their ranks multiple times over even before this questionable honor reached Severide. Breaking the rules and going against the superiors’ will have always been common practices in Firehouse 51, and all the Lieutenants were equally guilty. But they weren’t!

Fortunately, Severide’s demotion didn’t last long at all. Unfortunately, it’s this kind of filler drama that’s been an issue with Chicago Fire for years now, annoying the fans.