The new main conflict in Chicago Fire has far-reaching consequences across the city that may set up the biggest One Chicago crossover to

date. Amid a frustrating twist regarding Stellaride’s baby and ill-advised relationship setup between Novak and the 51’s new troublemaker,

the Chicago Fire season 14 premiere managed to end on a strong note with Pascal delivering horrifying news.

 

 

After six years of waiting since the last major franchise event, the One Chicago 2025 crossover didn’t really deliver the high-octane thrills it seemed to promise. Its central building collapse meant several characters were stuck in place for three hours, but new details corroborated by the Chicago PD season 13 premiere suggest this year could see things unfold much differently.

 

 

Chicago Fire season 14 opens with a strong focus on criminal activity. The CPD shows up late after a mugging leads to a gas station fire, and they don’t show up at all when suspected gang members open fire on the 51. This leads Pascal to discover a secret report that 49% of Chicago emergency calls are currently being ignored.

 

 

Even Dwayne falls victim to a gunshot wound, setting up Darren Ritter’s Chicago Fire season 14 exit when he’s forced to reevaluate his feelings about commitment. But while this latter shooting takes place in New York, the new Chicago mayor’s office is aware of the issues plaguing their own city. In fact, it appears to have been an ongoing concern.

 

 

Annette Davis, the new mayor’s chief of staff, tells Pascal that the problem was inherited from the previous office. Violet learns from a friend that the unanswered calls are the result of massive dispatch layoffs at 911. Davis also reveals that the mayor has a plan, but it seems like a counterintuitive solution given the very nature of the issue.

In response to budgetary concerns and overworked first responders, Chicago is cutting back on emergency services on a rolling schedule. They’ll almost always be short on Truck, Engine, or Squad, while remaining firefighting and rescue teams will have to cover more ground to accommodate other houses’ closures. And it’s not too hard to see where the worst-case scenario could lead.

While explaining why Kiana Cook left Chicago PD in season 13, Voight reveals that the Intelligence Unit still hasn’t been reinstated. This has led to a 9% increase in homicides and 22% rise in gun violence, the latter of which plays directly into the main conflict of Chicago PD’s season 13 premiere. Davis mentions this same uptick in Chicago Fire.

Voight’s conversation with IAD Commander Mark Devlin curiously doesn’t mention that nearly half of emergency calls aren’t receiving responses (more on that later), but the combination of rising crime rates and scaling back of firehouse staff could lead to widespread destruction if Chicago’s criminal element realizes they currently have the upper hand. It happened in another show just last season.

In ABC’s The Rookie season 7, episode 12, a prank tweet convinces Los Angeles criminals they have free rein without risk of police interference, immediately engulfing the city in riots. However, the current reality of One Chicago is that the police literally aren’t responding, meaning a similar outbreak of destructive violence could take much longer than 42 minutes to resolve.

Previously, the biggest of all One Chicago crossovers was arguably 2014’s event comprising Chicago Fire, Law & Order: SVU, and Chicago PD. It was Dick Wolf’s first three-part franchise crossover, unfolding across two cities. But a 2026 One Chicago crossover could deliver non-stop suspense, with Gaffney overrun as Intelligence and the 51 race to save Chicago from widespread, catastrophic anarchy.