Tonight on NBC Chicago Fire returns with an all-new Wednesday, January 17, 2024, season 12 episode 1 premiere called, “Barely Gone” and we have your Chicago Fire recap below. In tonight’s Chicago Fire season 11 episode 22 as per the NBC synopsis, “BFirehouse 51 is forced to share its space with Firehouse 17. Kidd and Herrmann fight over Ritter. An arson case tests Kidd and Severide’s relationship. Firehouse 51 says goodbye to one of its own.”
Tonight’s Chicago Fire season 12 episode 1 looks like it is going to be great and you won’t want to miss it. While you’re waiting for our recap, check out all our Chicago Fire recaps, news, spoilers & more, right here!
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In tonight’s Chicago Fire episode, Severide was back! There were only a few people who knew how close he was to not returning. The others all thought that Severide was getting field experience in Alabama and the truth was that he’s fallen in love with arson investigation. He intentionally stayed on down there to get fully qualified.
Meaning Severide could leave Firehouse 51 to join the OFI unit only he couldn’t leave his team now. Not when Gallo was gone. Gallo moved to Michigan to help his aunt. He doesn’t have any other blood family and he didn’t want to pass on the chance of living with her. He moved to Detroit. He was going to help his aunt get clean.
With Gallo gone, certain teams had to be rearranged. Herrmann loaned Ritter out to Kidd. She was down Gallo and Mouch for a while. Remember Mouch got shot last season.
He was in the hospital. He then had to do six months of rehabilitation and he returned a hero tonight. Mouch came in amongst change as well as a lot of new faces. Firehouse 17 was temporarily closed. They had a kitchen fire. Their people were forced to move into Firehouse 51 while their place gets rebuilt and there’s been tension over food.
Firehouse 17 had labelled all their food with the number “17”. Yet, they were constantly left half-emptied bags of chips. 51 claimed it wasn’t them. They said they wouldn’t want that bargain basement chips.
They prefer the ones that didn’t cost a dollar even if it wasn’t stale. The two firehouses were arguing when they both got bad news. They learned that a man they had saved earlier that day had passed away at the hospital. The victim owned a food truck. What no one could understand was why didn’t he get out in time.
A simple kitchen fire would have started small. Severide was one of the few people that didn’t think it was a simple kitchen fire. He said the smoke was purple and the fire was volatile. He mentioned this to a captain from Firehouse 17. They said the fire that destroyed their kitchen was also had purple smoke.
Severide came to believe that the two fires were connected. He ran it past his wife. He knew he couldn’t investigate an arson without her say so because she had to fly out to Alabama to drag him back to Chicago. And so arson investigations have become a touchy subject for them.
Kidd agreed to let him work this one. She was hoping it was just the one. Severide promised it would just be the one and so he investigated what happened.
He was later able to determine that the fire was caused by an arsonist. Someone who deliberately fire bombed both locations. The only reason for doing so was if the target was firefighters. Severide brought the case to Severide. They checked both scenes. They even looked through photographs that were taken after the initial fire. They figured out that the person was using mouse traps as a detonator.
Once OFI took lead on the arson investigations, firefighters were warned to remain vigilante. Someone was targeting them and so they had to look out for any new faces. Something that was hard to do what with them sharing a house with a bunch of strangers. The only upside was all the great news.
Gallo made a brief visit to the firehouse. He told them how much he loves living with his family for the first time in years. Brett also had great news. She accepted Casey’s proposal from last season. They were getting married and she was moving to Oregan with baby Julia so that her family could finally get their happy ending.
Brett was dress shopping with Violet while she still had the chance to do so. Their internet shopping was put on hold when they got called to the scene of a car accident. They went with Kidd and her team and everyone thought it could be a trap because they were so on edge. It thankfully wasn’t.
It was just a case of drunk driving. The guy was drinking behind the wheel. He crashed his car. He then tried to flee the scene in spite of the bones poking through the skin on one leg as well as on his skull. Everyone thought he was dead until he moved.
He frightened Violet so much that she shrieked when he moved. She was still embarrassed by that when they transferred the guy to a hospital. Everyone was returning back to the firehouse when they saw a commotion. The arsonist had struck again. This time Severide realized his motives.
He knew that the arsonist was targeting Firehouse 17 directly. He even knew how the guy was doing it. He was leaving boxes at the firehouse set to go off. It was supposed to be 17 that responded to the food truck bombing. And so the man got desperate.
He targeted Firehouse 51 directly in order to hurt 17. Severide realized what he was doing. He called his firehouse to warn them and they searched the property.
Herrmann found the box. He was taking it outside while Chief Boden hunted down the arsonist. The man tried to flee in his car only Boden dragged him out of it before he could take off. Herrmann meanwhile was a little too close to the bomb when it went off. He got thrown. Only he was checked out. He was going to be fine. The arsonist was also identified.
His name is Allen John Webber. He was a hotshot firefighter himself when CFD cut him loose. His life spiraled out of control after that. He began drinking.
He couldn’t hold down ajob. He did petty crimes and got arrested. His wife had recently left him. She took the kids with her. He somehow blamed Firehouse 17 for his life going to hell and that’s what the bombings have been about. And now the man was going to jail for attempted murder.
Herrmann saving the day ensured that he got Ritter back on his team. Kidd wanted to hold onto him and the only reason she didn’t was because she Herrmann almost died saving everyone.
Kidd also realized that arson investigating is something Severide loves. She talked him out of accepting a job with National Arson Investigations, but they both knew this case wasn’t going to be the end of it and that Kidd was going to have to make her peace with it if she wants to save her marriage.
THE END!