Andrea Newman is stepping away from Chicago Fire after 14 years with the drama, and season 14, episode 21, “Thank You,” is the final episode she oversaw as showrunner. That makes the season 14 finale her last episode on the series for now.
Newman said working on Chicago Fire with “the absolute best cast and crew in the business” had been the highlight of her career. She added that after 14 years, the people on the show had become a family and would always feel like home.
Her departure answers the question behind who is leaving chicago fire 2026: Newman, one of the creative forces behind the series since its first season, is moving on to pursue new creative endeavors. She did not come to the show as a cast member, but as part of the creative team, and over the years she helped shape Chicago Fire in multiple roles.
That influence was especially clear across the last five seasons, when her guiding voice helped drive storylines for Severide, Kidd, Herrmann, Mouch, Cruz, Violet and other characters who came through Firehouse 51. She also said she was inspired to get into TV writing because of Dick, and called it a thrill to work with him and the Wolf team of Peter Jankowski, Rebecca McGill and Anastasia Puglisi.
Newman also thanked Derek Haas and NBC and Universal executives for supporting the show along the way. No replacement has been named, leaving the series to move into its next chapter without one of the people who helped define it from the start.
