‘Chicago Fire’ Shocker: Joe Miñoso Is Exiting in Season 15 — Find Out When

Meredith JacobsWed, July 29, 2026 at 6:52 PM UTC

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Joe Miñoso as Joe Cruz — 'Chicago Fire' Season 13 Episode 2 "Ride the Blade" - George Burns Jr/NBC

Oh, this one is going to hurt: Chicago Fire is losing one of the cast who has been there since the beginning in the upcoming 15th season, set to premiere on Wednesday, October 7.

Joe Miñoso, who has starred as Joe Cruz, now part of Squad, since the first episode — he recurred in Season 1 and became a series regular the following year — will be exiting Chicago Fire after “a handful of episodes,” according to Deadline.

The good news is that since he’s returning for more than one episode to be written out onscreen, it means that he won’t be dying in the resolution of the Season 14 finale cliffhanger, which saw Cruz and most of the rest of Firehouse 51 trapped in a fire. After the finale revealed that Cruz and Chloe’s (Kristen Lee Gutoskie) family is growing, with her having twins, it felt like that could very well put him on the chopping block, should someone die.

Peter Gordon/NBC

Miranda Rae Mayo, whose Lieutenant Stella Kidd also was in a precarious position at the end of the finale, warned TV Insider, “Nobody’s safe.”

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But perhaps whatever does happen in the Season 15 premiere leads to Cruz realizing that he needs to take a step back from 51 because he doesn’t want to risk leaving his children without a father — maybe he could get into arson and follow in his lieutenant Kelly Severide’s (Taylor Kinney) footsteps but make it his full-time job — but he sticks around to be with his fellow firefighters in the aftermath of losing one of their own. Or he has a close call in the premiere that leads to him realizing the same.

However he is written out, it feels like since he’s returning for “a handful of episodes” that Cruz won’t be killed off, and considering all the tragedy that has already befallen 51 and could still at the beginning of Chicago Fire Season 15, that’s a good thing.

How do you think Chicago Fire will be writing out Cruz? Let us know your theories in the comments section below.

Chicago Fire, Season 15 Premiere, Wednesday, October 7, 9/8c, NBC

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Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”