Christopher Hermann
“It’s My Job As An Old Firefighter To Teach The Young Firefighters How To Become Old Ones.”
If there is one thing Christopher Herrmann is proud to call himself other than a firefighter, it’s a father. When he’s not at 51 or tending to his second job as owner of Molly’s bar, he’s at home with his wife and five children. Often, his knack for fatherly advice bleeds out into his role as Lieutenant in charge of Engine 51. When Herrmann says these words to Gabby Dawson in season 3, episode 6, “Madmen and Fools,” he’s expressing the fundamental elements of who he is: father, firefighter, mentor.
Kelly Severide
“You Deserve A Better Man Than Me. So I’ve Decided, I’ve Decided I’m Going To Be The Man You Deserve.”
Lieutenant Kelly Severide is a man who cares deeply, but often struggle with healthy emotional expression. His father, who was also a firefighter, cheated on Severide’s mom and eventually abandoned them for a new family. This childhood trauma left Severide with a low sense of self-worth when it comes to romantic relationships. Nothing scares Severide more than the idea of becoming like his father, so he keeps his love interests at a distance to avoid the possibility. But all the avoidance in the world couldn’t stop the love he feels for Stella Kidd. With this one quote, delivered to Kidd in the season 7 finally, Severide speaks to his awareness that in trying to be unlike his father, he was becoming more like him. In deciding to be the man Stella Kidd deserves, Severide embodies his need to be a better man than his father.
Matthew Casey
“There Is No Greater Love Than To Lay Down One’s Life For Another.”
Although this quote carries a quality that could be attributed to many characters from Firehouse 51, Captain Matthew Casey lives and breathes this mindset. Casey will go out of his way to put the needs of others over his own in any situation. Casey speaks these words to Griffin Darden in season 2, episode 6, “Joyriding,” to help the boy process the death of his father, who was a fellow firefighter at Firehouse 51 and Casey’s best friend. In season 10, Casey proves these are words he lives by, when he sacrifices his station at Firehouse 51 and risks his loving relationship with Sylvie Brett, in order to move to Oregon and become guardian to Griffin and his brother Ben, who are now at-risk teens, their mom incarcerated due to repeated drunk-driving incidents. Casey literally lays down his life in Chicago, a life he loves, to give his deceased best friend’s children the support they need.
