Original 'Chicago Fire' Star Officially Exits Series After 15 Seasons

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Chicago Fire marked a major milestone with its 300th episode, which aired last night on NBC, but the celebration also signaled the departure of an original star. The procedural drama returned for its fifteenth season on October 7, 2026, with familiar faces: Taylor Kinney as Captain Kelly Severide; David Eigenberg as Firefighter Christopher Herrmann; Joe Miñoso as Firefighter Josef “Joe” Cruz; Christian Stolte as Lieutenant Randall “Mouch” McHolland; Miranda Rae Mayo as Lieutenant Stella Kidd; and Hanako Greensmith as Paramedic in Charge Violet Mikami.

The season has also introduced several changes, from major character departures to leadership shifts. Victor Teran took over as showrunner, succeeding Andrea Newman, who stepped down at the end of Season 14. Dermot Mulroney also departed after two seasons as Battalion Chief Dominic “Dom” Pascal. However, the biggest development came in Chicago Fire‘s 300th episode, titled “Three Hundred.”

As Deadline confirmed, Miñoso, who has played firefighter Joe since Season 1, exited the series in Season 15, Episode 5, with his character’s storyline coming to a bittersweet conclusion. In the Chicago Fire Season 15 episode, Joe decides not to return to Firehouse 51 and instead prioritizes his family, especially after his wife, Chloe (Kristen Gutoskie), gives birth. He therefore chooses to relocate with his family to Minneapolis, where they can be closer to Chloe’s mother and where he can continue his rehabilitation at a specialized recovery center.

• Meaning over drama, honesty over aesthetics.
• The discipline to stay present when the department is at its worst.
• A tolerance for weight that does not get put down at the end of the day.

• Each episode covers roughly one hour of the same emergency-department shift, in order.
• Noah Wyle has now won the lead drama actor Emmy for it twice, in 2025 and again in 2026.
• It reunites the ER team of Wyle, John Wells and R. Scott Gemmill, thirty years on.

• Reliability above brilliance, every single shift.
• Faith in a structure that is visibly imperfect.
• The stamina to treat the hundredth patient like the first.

• Fifteen seasons and 331 episodes, from 1994 to 2009, created by Michael Crichton.
• It holds the record for the most Emmy nominations of any drama series, with 124.
• George Clooney, Julianna Margulies and Noah Wyle all broke out of County General.

• A willingness to feel all of it rather than seal any of it off.
• Colleagues who become family, with everything that costs.
• Comfort with mess, in the OR and everywhere else.

• Shonda Rhimes’ series passed ER to become the longest-running primetime medical drama
  on US television.
• It is on season 22, with ABC having already renewed it for a twenty-third.
• Ellen Pompeo has played Meredith Grey across three decades of television.

• Thinking harder than anyone else in the room, then defending it.
• A high tolerance for being disliked while you are right.
• Interest in the puzzle that outlasts your interest in being comfortable.

• Eight seasons built on Sherlock Holmes: House and Holmes, Wilson and Watson, and an
  apartment at 221B.
• Hugh Laurie taped his audition in a hotel bathroom in Namibia while shooting another film.
• By 2008 it was the most-watched television show on earth, with an audience around 82
  million.

• Humor that never curdles into cruelty.
• The honesty to admit you are still learning how to do this.
• People you can lean on, and the willingness to be leaned on.

• Nine seasons from Bill Lawrence, filmed largely inside a real decommissioned hospital in
  North Hollywood.
• Working doctors have repeatedly named it the most accurate medical show on television.
• Zach Braff, Donald Faison and Sarah Chalke returned for an ABC revival that premiered in
  February 2026.

What Happened in ‘Chicago Fire’s 300th Milestone Episode?

• Image via NBC

• Image via NBC

• Image via NBC

• Image via NBC

• Image via: NBC

• Image via NBC

• Image via NBC

• Image via NBC

• Image via NBC

• Image via: NBC

Since the Chicago Fire Season 15 premiere, Joe hasn’t had it easy after suffering a spine injury. In “Three Hundred,” he shows his progress in physical therapy, demonstrating how far he’s come in learning to walk again. He also visits his colleagues at Firehouse 51, expressing hope that he can return to duty within a few months.

Meanwhile, Chloe, who is heavily pregnant with twins, struggles with the responsibilities of caring for their family while her husband recovers. She airs her frustrations to Joe, during which she goes into labor and eventually welcomes their twin daughters. The newborns’ arrival prompts Joe to begin reconsidering his plans to return to firefighting.

Dr. Dean Archer (Steven Weber) from Chicago Med later visits the family and discusses Joe’s recovery. He explains that Joe has a promising chance of returning, but although the news initially gives Joe hope, his family’s reaction makes him think twice. Even his young son, Otis, asks why someone else’s father cannot do the job, leading Joe to recognize how much his family needs him at home.

Joe later tells Severide (Kinney) he will not be returning to Firehouse 51 and explains why. But before leaving, he shares an emotional farewell with his colleagues and visits the memorial for his late friend and former firefighter, Brian “Otis” Zvonecek (Yuri Sardarov).

Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays on NBC, with new episodes streaming on Peacock the following day.

Chicago Fire